Sparrow snuck into my coop

[Ted Brown]

... It's not the amount of feed consumed, although it does add up, it's the mites they bring in!
Mary

This is the biggest risk. My flock got infested with mites by a friend feeding sparrows from her hand at home and then coming here to help look after my birds. Both of us total ignorant of that possibility.. Took two months of constant work and worry to get rid of them.

 

[Sycamore Hill Chicks]

I'd love to be able to keep the house wrens out of my coop! When the door is open, they fly in to eat the chicken feed. It's not the amount of feed consumed, although it does add up, it's the mites they bring in! Only keeping the coop closed will keep them out, and my birds like their free range time.
There are sparrow traps available online, but then what? Then it's necessary to shoot them, something I haven't been willing to do. Yet.
Mary

That’s really annoying! Luckily these little birdies weren’t in there long.

 

[RiverOtter]

Mites are easy to get rid of if you know the trick.
Old fashioned whitewash. One scoop of salt, 3 scoops of barn/masonry/hydrated lime (NOT garden lime!!) mixed with enough water to make it the consistency of milk. Slop it onto every surface with a masonry brush (link below) and scrub it into the cracks. Stir it often as you use it. Scrape out all the bedding, do the floor, get it on the perches, everywhere. It goes on looking watery and awful, and dries to a crisp white - but your ancestors didn't do it to pretty the place up, they did it to kill mites and other pests, kill odors and make it easy to clean. Do it once a year.

Then, either sevin dust the birds themselves, or give them a dust bath with wood ash to use as they like.

oops, link didn't post
https://www.paintsupply.com/product...Bqw_sfn4dP2U0HPRfnmBXG1QjpGzjFoBoC2n8QAvD_BwE

 

[Sycamore Hill Chicks]

Thanks! I doubt the sparrows were in there long enough to spread anything but good to know!

 

[AprilsZoo]

In some (most?) areas there is also the possibility of Newcastle Disease. If you are free-ranging, there’s a chance they can come in contact with a wild bird that is infected— of course, there’s also the chance a predator could eat them, they could wander into the street, fly up into the treetops & refuse to come down, or be mistaken for oddly-shaped skeet by some half-blind, shotgun-wielding eccentric neighbor. <ok, that last one was tongue-in-cheek>

The point is, there is always risk of wild birds spreading disease to your birds... but unless you keep them in a non-mesh-covered run (i.e. a board, roof, or tarp) in a protected area where wild birds aren’t getting anywhere near them... you can only do your best to keep tabs on what avian diseases are prevalent in your area, and do what you can to minimize risk. If you discover you are in a hotspot, then change your husbandry practices accordingly.

FYI... you can look on the CDC website to find what diseases they are tracking in which animal species & in which areas. Look for the Veterinary Division.... or maybe don’t— there is some weird stuff out there, really weird stuff.

 

[Folly's place]

What, you don't want to know about African swine fever?! Rift Valley fever? Some of those names hard to pronounce?
Scarey stuff there!
Mary

 

[Sycamore Hill Chicks]

Thanks for the help! I will check that out. My girls do not free range full time, but I will be sure to see whether we are in a hotspot

 

[Sycamore Hill Chicks]

Yay! It looks like my area is in the clear.

 

[AprilsZoo]

Yay! It looks like my area is in the clear.