"Uninvited" guests.....

[cfortier]

Hi everyone. We have two different flocks in our yard. 7 Welsh Harlequin Ducks and 4 Welsummer Chickens. They are in their separate areas. Chickens in a covered pen so they can't fly away, and the ducks in an uncovered pen. We are getting a blizzard here today, and bad weather has brought in some very unwanted guests - European Starlings. They are a nuisance! They are eating all the ducks/chickens food, drinking their water and pooping all over.

Does anyone know of a good method for removing them? I am assuming that a predator decoy might help...but those are quite costly.

Any input/thoughts would be much appreciated!

Thanks everyone,


Cheryl

 

[justplainbatty]

Hi everyone. We have two different flocks in our yard. 7 Welsh Harlequin Ducks and 4 Welsummer Chickens. They are in their separate areas. Chickens in a covered pen so they can't fly away, and the ducks in an uncovered pen. We are getting a blizzard here today, and bad weather has brought in some very unwanted guests - European Starlings. They are a nuisance! They are eating all the ducks/chickens food, drinking their water and pooping all over.

Does anyone know of a good method for removing them? I am assuming that a predator decoy might help...but those are quite costly.

Any input/thoughts would be much appreciated!

Thanks everyone,


Cheryl

Starlings are just awful! I quit filling my wild bird feeders when they and the cow birds come. Is there a way you can cover the food with a tarp leaving room for your birds to get in but making it less visible to the starlings? I don't know what else to say except if I had to pick a bird to hate, the starling is it!

 

[Rocky64]

Take a .22 and pick em off one by one, although more will probably take the place of the fallen.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

If the issue is truly only weather related I would suggest riding this bit out and then assessing if the problem persists once the weather clears. The birds *may* move on, but it is more likely they will decide they like the all-you-can-eat buffet your setup offers. If that happens, I would suggest considering an alteration to your feeding setup to eliminate the "bird bait" - no more buffet/no more birds. Treadle feeders are one great way to deal with nuisance animals, especially small birds, as they are unable to trigger the mechanism that gives access to the feed - larger birds such as the ducks and chickens you WANT to be feeding have no such problem.