Sparrows

I hate the mess they make in our barn and I love one of our barn cats named 'Rafter' because she helps keep them in check.

 

i have had eighteen hens now for eight weeks now and get average 16 eggs a day .but have gone thru five fifty lbs of pellet feed with an automated feeder at that rate thats about ten bucks an egg.just kidding but i dont think the chicks are eating all the food.what can i do to keep birds mice etc.out???help cant afford this for long.i am currently using a built in auto feeder in wall with about a 16 inch feeding trough about ten inches off ground and on wall.thanks for any good ideas here..mike

 

Quote:You definatly NOT be called a natural born killer!

 

Aww, Heather, you softie!

 

House sparrows (English sparrows) will not only eat up all your feed, but they will also kill the native birds in their nests -- especially bluebirds and tree swallows. It's an endless battle, but I do all I can to trap them. The primary ways to do that are with nest box traps and feed traps. The situation in your barn is perfect for a feed trap. This one is the greatest; I have had excellent luck with it: http://sparrowtrap.net/

The increasing population of bluebirds in my nest boxes as I improve the habitat for them by trapping the house sparrows is very rewarding. You can remove any native species that get into the trap so that you only trap the non-native house sparrows. Make sure you're getting the correct species. I drown them, and then the dogs have them for a treat. Other solutions are to give them to a local Raptor Rehab group; falconers often want them, too. At least they don't go to waste that way. For the best source of information on identifying and trapping your target species (also its nests and nestlings), go to: www.sialis.org/

 

English sparrows should be killed at every chance.

 

I find it hard to kill the sparrows but I do. I was reminded of the need to do so when I found the blue bird nest box had become a coffin for 3-4 baby blue birds.They must have been dead for a week or more.So sad as I remember the blue bird parents working so hard.Whenever I get *soft* I look at the pic of those dead babies. If I don't kill sparrows then that is the only type bird I will have in my yard. I don't want that.

Babies are cute.Birds,bunnies,coons....all very cute,but then they grow up to become a pest. I have lost a lot of vegetation to wild animals.You work so hard to care for your plants and animals only to wake up to it all gone. If animals are smart they will stay out of my yard.

I use the nest box trap and the repeating trap too. When I get a nest box bird I will put it in the repeating trap to attract the sparrows. Lol, you will get some chipmunks in that trap too!

 

Quote:Glad to hear you have good luck with that repeating trap, too. I don't have chipmunks here so never got any in it. I do wish it would trap ground squirrels, though! Yes, what these English house sparrows can do to baby bluebirds is horrid. They are such vicious things -- like the raccoons of the bird world.