The attack of the squirrels HELP!

[Al Gerhart]

Our problem is not squirrels it's all the wild birds. We have an open top run and leave the feeder inside the coop, but even with the coop completely closed (except for a window with chicken wire and the small door for the chickens), and all the wild birds just go in and make themselves at home. We are amazed how much food we go through for just 7 girls. In our area, we have a LOT of doves and starlings along with the normal small birds.
We are also concerned about disease from the wild flock.
Suggestions please.

A proper treadle feeder stops wild birds. Spring loaded door, narrow and distant treadle, heavy counterweight, nothing else works for the most persistent vermin. Do a forum search, this problem was solved back in 2012, people are just too reluctant to spend the money on a decent feeder.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Thanx for this post ya’ll !
I’ve been here for 2 years learning & planning for my first coop and read just about everything . We have 5 acres & I use 5-6 feeding stations for
Birds , so squirrels are ABUNDANT !!
sounds like the “grandpa” treadle is the way to go ? Was on the fence til this post .. .

Uhhhh, no. Those guillotine feeders are so slow to train that the rats and squirrels find out where the feed is and just push the lid open on the grandpa feeders. Look on the Amazon reviews for their feeder, you will find this video posted and others.

And squirrels are fairly large critters, up to two pounds, so you have to have full sized birds and have the spring tension set for a five pound bird. Let the bantams and silkies eat from the side when the larger birds are eating. But even a ground squirrel can open the grandpa feeder and they weigh in ounces, not pounds. Like two ounces, one eight of a pound for the small ones and up to 8 ounces or half a pound for the larger varieties. Here is one video showing two chipmunks pushing open a grandpa feeder and chowing away.

The grandpa feeder will work for light infestations or if you don't already have rats, mice, wild birds, or a squirrel problem. They work sometimes with light infestations where the flock owner just gets lucky and has a bird that doesn't take two weeks to get over its fear of that guillotine lid coming down on its head. But look at their Amazon reviews, between 72 and 66% five star rating. If you have a product that fails to meet expectations 28 to 34% of the time you need to redesign your product. Yes, there will always be idiots like the one lady complaining that her kid jumped on the treadle and ruined it, but at the same time a treadle ought to be able to handle the abuse, our feeder could take that abuse, a single robust flat steel bar instead of five flimsy parts pop riveted together including two 1/2" pvc pipes. If you are just selling a chicken feeder, 72% five star rating wouldn't be bad, but if you are claiming to be rat proof, wild bird proof, mouse proof, and squirrel proof and nearly one third of your customers are upset you have a design failure. https://www.amazon.com/Grandpas-Fee...ll_reviews&filterByStar=critical&pageNumber=1 And do a search on Amazon, why does the same manufacture have multiple product listings? Spreading out the bad reviews is my opinion.

But if you do go with the grandpa design look at the clones like Rent a coop or Neatfil, much cheaper, they fixed a few of the problems with the Grandpa design, they are cheaper than the grandpa feeder, then again they still have that same 25% or worse disapproval rating. Not sure of the Neatfil seller, they are claiming that raccoons can't get to the feed, that has to be an outright lie. But you have these Chinese sellers coming in hoping to make a quick buck on a copy of a product that costs them 15% of what it sells for, they can handle some returns.

 

[The Kooky Kiwi]

Our problem is not squirrels it's all the wild birds. We have an open top run and leave the feeder inside the coop, but even with the coop completely closed (except for a window with chicken wire and the small door for the chickens), and all the wild birds just go in and make themselves at home. We are amazed how much food we go through for just 7 girls. In our area, we have a LOT of doves and starlings along with the normal small birds.
We are also concerned about disease from the wild flock.
Suggestions please.

To "reduce" the incidents of wild birds coming down into your coop you could try flying a dark kite or flag outside your coop but nearby. The dark shape it casts suggests to any bird below it that a predator is flying and generally they avoid hanging about under it. We put one up on the corner of our orchard to deter wood pigeons from marauding and feasting on the trees. The chickens quickly acclimatised to it (their coop is next to the orchard) and now ignore it but it certainly reduces the number of wild birds coming into both the orchard and coop. Of Note.. sparrows don't care.. I guess they figure they're quick enough to get in and out and hide .. but the bigger wild birds certainly are more wary.

 

[The Kooky Kiwi]

I'd just like to say I have a great deal of empathy for all on these forums who have persistent pests to deal with.. Not only can it be a tiresome job trying to keep the various predators and nuisance visitors out but it can also b e devastating when a flock that you've taken so much care to nurture suffers from a predation or introduced illness.

Thank you to all those who offer suggestions and helpful hints on here... I know I've personally tried several, some which work and some which don't, but the information is always gratefully received!!

 

[goldenyears]

Several possible ideas:

Chickens often enjoy having their feed served wet. Do the squirrels leave it alone that way? Maybe get a cup or two of feed wet and watch who eats it. (You'd have to put it out fresh each day, to avoid spoilage).

It's also possible for chickens to eat enough in two good feeds per day, when the food is wet enough that they can easily swallow it without choking. So you could serve the chickens a big "breakfast" and a big "dinner" and not have much available in between times.

Depending on the size of the chickens' heads and the size of the squirrels, there might be a size of fence wire you could wrap around the feeder that chickens could reach through but squirrels could not go through.

It might be possible to serve the chicken food in something like a plastic 1-gallon jug with holes cut in the sides, if there is a size of hole that will permit chicken heads. (The squirrel may not be willing to climb all the way inside to get the feed, because it might then feel trapped--probably depends on the squirrel.)

Can the chickens fly a few feet? Maybe an oversize "bird feeder" type setup, with the feeder and a perch on top of a slick pole to prevent climbing, or hanging from a wire/rope. I know I've seen ideas for squirrel-proof bird feeders, and chickens are birds...

I put 6” pvc pipe that’s 8 feet long over the in ground pole bird feeder. Those little hands can’t get a grip. No more squirrels or raccoons since.

 

[PhillyDelcoChix]

Instead of flakes, try spraying the feed with a hot pepper spray. This could be cheap or expensive depending on what you use. There are prepackaged additives, or simply cayenne powder or make your own spray to mist the feed with.
I'm going to grow Carolina Reaper peppers this year, so may be using that to make my own spray, if they grow well.
For adding cayenne powder, it should help if it sticks to the feed. Mix well. With a light oil mist first on the day's feed, such as for non stick cooking, it should be easy to make a dusting of hotness stick to the food.
Also deters other rodents from eating it.

What do you use? Large windex type bottle filled with hot sauce?

 

[cluckmecoop7]

SSS

 

[Boonie Stomper]

The idea came from having bought Hot Meats at TS store. They are sunflower kernels with such hot pepper oil coating that they were too hot for me to munch on. I did use some in my chili though.
If i have the world's hottest peppers growing, an extract could go into a mister or other pump sprayer and misted over the feed after put out.
Alternate ideas abound depending on your needs.

 

[Chickenclaude]

I’m in ct and squirrels carry disease so there is no way I’m eating them.. but get yourself some Saracha...toss the food in it and an inexpensive tarp or sheet of clear plastic. And put over your run. Blocks the birds...I have an old metal box spring that I wrap with a tarp as a roof for the run and it keeps the ladies out of the eye view of the hawks. Hot sauce does work for squirrels. I also feed my 6girls 4 cups of dry food at random times so that outliers don’t expect a predictable early feed. Squirrels hate the hot pepper. It works. One caveat: if you use powder...watch your eyes. Airborn? Ouch! I don’t know about effectiveness with rodents though.

 

[Boonie Stomper]

SSS

Can you rephrase that? Parcel tongue is too confusing.