Wild rabbits stealing food

[Baikinman]

I have seen several cotton tails hanging out in my yard since we started keeping our 2 Orpingtons and they seem to LOVE the feed we are giving our girls. Looking online I have seen some modified bucket feeders that people claim will prevent rodents from eating the feed but another thought occurred to me and I was wondering if anyone else has tried this. Cayenne Pepper! I made a Cayenne oil spray a couple of years back to spray on my tomatoes when the local raccoons and opossums were munching on those and one of the reasons I went with that is I heard that birds are not affected by peppers the way mammals are. Can anyone confirm? Has anyone tried? Also there is a thing going around the internet about using chunks of Irish Spring soap around the coop as a deterrent (supposedly rabbits are not keen on being clean as a whistle...). Has anyone tried either of these solutions and if so, what were the results.

--David

 

[Speedychicken27]

I have not had trouble with bunnies (I personally love them) that is strang, good luck

 

[wamtazlady]

I had a similar problem but with domestic rabbits that had escaped from my neighbor's place. The domestic rabbits also began to undermine the foundation of my entry room. I'll have to have the room repaired this summer. One corner is a couple inches lower than the other corners. The domestic rabbits were also having babies in the habitat meant for the wild cottontails. I didn't try any of the methods you have asked about. Rabbits trap pretty easily, especially if you know their entry and exit spots. I also bought electric netting. Neighbor saw and heard one of the rabbits touch the netting. It ran quite a distance before it stopped.

 

[centrarchid]

Cottontail Rabbits also consuming a good amount of my feed as well. They will jump into buckets to get feed. Not normal for me either. Rabbit abundance I have is several per acre.

 

[Baikinman]

Cottontail Rabbits also consuming a good amount of my feed as well. They will jump into buckets to get feed. Not normal for me either. Rabbit abundance I have is several per acre.

I live in Southern California and my yard is SMALL! I have less than 1500 sq ft of grass and it seems like I have a bunny for every 100 sq ft.

I've been tempted to grab a pellet gun and limit the population myself. Darn things are not afraid of anything!!

 

[Zack S Connell]

I have seen several cotton tails hanging out in my yard since we started keeping our 2 Orpingtons and they seem to LOVE the feed we are giving our girls. Looking online I have seen some modified bucket feeders that people claim will prevent rodents from eating the feed but another thought occurred to me and I was wondering if anyone else has tried this. Cayenne Pepper! I made a Cayenne oil spray a couple of years back to spray on my tomatoes when the local raccoons and opossums were munching on those and one of the reasons I went with that is I heard that birds are not affected by peppers the way mammals are. Can anyone confirm? Has anyone tried? Also there is a thing going around the internet about using chunks of Irish Spring soap around the coop as a deterrent (supposedly rabbits are not keen on being clean as a whistle...). Has anyone tried either of these solutions and if so, what were the results.

--David

All you have to do is trap and relocate, or trap and kill the rabbits. use a live trap method for both

 

[X_and_Z]

...I was wondering if anyone else has tried this. Cayenne Pepper! I made a Cayenne oil spray a couple of years back to spray on my tomatoes when the local raccoons and opossums were munching on those and one of the reasons I went with that is I heard that birds are not affected by peppers the way mammals are. Can anyone confirm? Has anyone tried?...

--David

Adding a hot powdered pepper to birdseed is often recommended by people with aviary birds since birds do not taste Capsaicin. I can verify that this applies to chickens - my girls get hot red pepper flakes (like the kind that you sprinkle on pizza) as a treat and they love it. It has the added benefit of making nice deep orange yolks.

As for how effective it would be at controlling rodents, I suspect it would depend on a number of factors but it is worth a try. Bulk cayenne pepper (or other hot pepper powder) is available from Amazon - as an example, this is what I feed my girls as a treat:

https://www.amazon.com/Spicy-World-...srs=2601076011&ie=UTF8&qid=1523674947&sr=8-11

 

[Abriana]

I have a similar problem, only with ground hogs lol

 

[21hens-incharge]

Seems simple enough to fix by securing the feed inside the run.
If it's when the birds are roaming then leave the coop door for humans open and the feed in the run. The birds will figure out that they need to go through their house to get to it.

 

[RWise]

My dogs take care of rabbit and ground hogs, they are easy to trap also. Before relocating check your local laws on that. Rabbits are good eating as well,,,,