The BIRDS are having a feast on Layer Pellets! Any Ideas?

[Val3rie]

Hi...
The wild birds are feasting on the Chicken Food I have been putting out for my chickens... Anyone have good ideas to keep them off? Do you think if I get a plastic Owl, that would keep them away? Or might it scare my chickens too? Any better ideas??
Thanks!

 

[fordmommy]

The owl will not scare them.

 

[Val3rie]

The owl will not scare the chickens or the birds? or both?

 

[chickenlittle77]

whre r u feeding them? outside? i assume because the birds have access to the food. have u tried a chicken feeder? might contain the birds a bit. good luck

 

[Nikki28]

lol my chickens kill and eat any bird smaller than them that goes into the run.
The owl probably wouldn't scare your chickens it may work on the birds.....

 

[Junkmanme]

Nikki28,

I WISH my chickens would kill and eat all the wild birds that eat their food! (sparrows, dove, grackles, etc.)

IF my chickens would do that, I could feed my 21 chickens on one cup of layer feed per month! (lotsa wild birds)

I figure, right now, 50% of my feed bill is wild birds!

I've gotta design and build a more efficient feeder!

-Junkmanme-

 

[Val3rie]

Well if you design and build a better feeder... make two I'll buy one!

 

[Nikki28]

Junkmanme,

It was a bit of a shock when I first saw them do it. I wondered why more birds didn't take advantage of the seed right there. I was watching the chickens in their run and saw a cute yello song bird flitter down by their scratch to grab some food. My lead hen grabbed it and the others were there in no time. It was all over in about 10 seconds and reminded me of something from Jurassic Park. I haven't seen a bird even near the run in about 4 months.

 

[gritsar]

Keep your feed in a feeder inside the coop only. Feed no more treats outside than your chickens can clean up in 5 to 10 minutes. A fake owl will only work for a short time. Once the birds realize that it's not moving they'll ignore it. The fake owls with moving heads will work for a little longer, but eventually the birds figure those out too.

 

[Mrs MIA]

We have our run covered with 1" chicken wire, so only the smallest critters can get in or out. No problems with other birds eating the feed. Now if I could just get my chickens to go on a diet...