Sparrows In The Barn - Help?

Mosey2003

Crowing
7 Years
Apr 13, 2016
3,243
5,392
431
North-Central IL
I have a sparrow problem in my barn. I winter the chickens in there and also that's where I keep my grow outs. I do not want the sparrows in the barn for the winter. I realize there is very little I can do about them coming and going in the outdoor coop and run, but this over-wintering and sharing my chicken feed and water is not something I want to continue. It's an old cattle barn with sliding doors and the roof needs some help, so there honestly is no feasible way that I can prevent their access.

Is there anything I can do to make them not happy to be in there? I've seen sparrow traps for sale online, do these actually work? If they do, is it even feasible that I would even make a good dent in the population? I fear not, but I'm open to trying if so.

I do plan to make pens that will prevent their access this year, but if that doesn't end up happening, I'd like to know if anyone has any methods that have been successful at discouraging the feathered disease-and-pest vectors.
 
Do you have feeders out for free choice all day? We found if we fed the birds twice a day instead of having the food available all the time, that all the birds left because the ducks never left anything behind. The barn might be a little bit of a different situation though, because it might not only be food that's attracting them, but the shelter itself.
 
Do you have feeders out for free choice all day? We found if we fed the birds twice a day instead of having the food available all the time, that all the birds left because the ducks never left anything behind. The barn might be a little bit of a different situation though, because it might not only be food that's attracting them, but the shelter itself.
Yeah, I'm feeding pellets so they can't really eat the feed anymore, but they're still visiting the waterer.

I think it probably will come down to making pens being the only solution, sadly...
 
Educate me please, why can't the sparrows eat the pellets?

Wild birds usually have to hustle hard to survive on natural food. I would check the amount of feed per bird per day to see if you are feeding more than chickens. Adult laying hens will eat about a quarter pound of pellets or other high protein feed per day. Ignore the roosters as they usually eat very little. If you figure out you are feeding more than that it is almost certainly the sparrows reason for sticking around. Get a properly designed treadle feeder with an inward swinging door and make sure the door is spring loaded. The bird will leave and make an honest living on natural feed once you cut off the free buffet.
 
I suppose I just assumed that the pellets are too large for sparrows to swallow, but I certainly could be wrong about that.

That barn sees plenty of months of no use and no feed out and yet, they always come check often enough that they move right back in. I'll have to build pens is all, was probably a vain hope that there could be another deterrent. Treadle feeders are a great idea, but they're just not something I'm going to convert to with the way I raise birds.
 

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