Wild Birds in Coop

[lsingy]

First year chicken owner. Rainy season has hit California, so I keep my coop door open during the day so my girls can get out of the rain as they free range in my backyard. Wild sparrows are coming into the coop in droves and eating the feed. My concern is them spreading disease to my hens? Is this a valid concern? Any input would be welcome.. Thanks.

 

[Offshoreorca]

Yes, wild birds have the potential of spreading both nasty diseases and parasites - you'll have to come up with a plan to keep the wild birds out of the coop....

 

[mcdze]

same situation, i get cardinals and other birds in my coop occasionally .. yeah wild birds can introduce lice and disease .. two things, 1) i measure my feed so theres not much left in there and for sure so its cleaned out by evening when birds are most active, that will eliminate most of it .. and 2) its good practice anyway to spray the coop out daily with water, i hose it down good that eliminates most pests believe it or not, but in the warmer months while the chickens are out free roaming about every 2 months or sooner if theres an issue, i get a pump up sprayer and some good pesticide like Bifen and coat the entire coop, corners rafters everything and ground around it, nest boxes to and redo those .. there needs to be time for it to dry before they get back in it .. that works beautiful, controls flies and mosquitos around the coop to ..

 

[JCaseyHammond]

First year chicken owner. Rainy season has hit California, so I keep my coop door open during the day so my girls can get out of the rain as they free range in my backyard. Wild sparrows are coming into the coop in droves and eating the feed. My concern is them spreading disease to my hens? Is this a valid concern? Any input would be welcome.. Thanks.

Yes hello from the CA delta where we have similar concerns. Roost mites are the worst! You have discovered that leaving food in the coop gives songbirds a reason to enter the coop. Try to figure a way to prevent songbirds from stealing food. It’s a challenge because we are on the Pacific Flyway. Perhaps relocate the food to a place in your yard where songbirds don’t want to be. I have battled roost mites twice since beginning with chickens, and those horrible
mites appeared during rainy winters when sparrows, finches and starlings entered the coop. Now I have plastic storage totes inside the coop half filled with sand and wood ashes for the chickens to dust bathe in. Once a week I put each chicken in the tote and pat a couple handfuls of wood ash/sand over her body and under her wings (not the head). I got some 1/2 inch welded wire mesh, cut it to fit over the windows and zip-tied it in place to exclude the small birds. Hope that helps!

 

[Howard E]

Rat Proof treadle feeder solves both types of rat and mice problems......the rodent kind (rats and mice) and flying kind (starlings and sparrows).

 

[aart]

First year chicken owner. Rainy season has hit California, so I keep my coop door open during the day so my girls can get out of the rain as they free range in my backyard. Wild sparrows are coming into the coop in droves and eating the feed. My concern is them spreading disease to my hens? Is this a valid concern? Any input would be welcome.. Thanks.

Only keep a pop door open...and cover with this:
Pet strip door

 

[lsingy]

Only keep a pop door open...and cover with this:
Pet strip door

That looks lie a great solution. THANK YOU