Over run by chickadees :((

[moniquem]

How on earth does everyone deal with wild chickdees/sparrows whatever theyre called??

I have hundreds waiting for me in the morning. I hang new feed every morning when I open the coop to let the girls out. The minute I walk away here come the chickadees. By afternoon the feeder is empty. I've been toping it up when I get home from work but soon it will be dark by the time I get home and I'm worried my girls will go to bed hungry, not good when its cold around here.

 

[DobieLover]

How on earth does everyone deal with wild chickdees/sparrows whatever theyre called??

I have hundreds waiting for me in the morning. I hang new feed every morning when I open the coop to let the girls out. The minute I walk away here come the chickadees. By afternoon the feeder is empty. I've been toping it up when I get home from work but soon it will be dark by the time I get home and I'm worried my girls will go to bed hungry, not good when its cold around here.

Are you free ranging or letting the chickens into a run that is not covered?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Where are you hanging the feed?

Are your birds penned?

If your wire has openings they can go through I recommend adding smaller wire or bird netting to keep them out.

They can bring mites, lice and disease to your chickens.

 

[Morrigan]

Starting this month, through winter, my yard slowly becomes overrun with migrating yellow and white crowned sparrows. Unless I were to confine my chickens to a hardware cloth enclosed space, there is no way to keep them away from my chickens. It's just something I have to live with. I do make a couple of change when the sparrow population peaks.

I stop offering free-choice food outside during the day. I offer fermented feed three times a day and have learned to estimate an amount that the chickens will eat in an hour. I pick up and wash the food dishes at the end of each day. I do have a no-spill feeder with dry feed inside the coop and, so far, the sparrows have stayed away from it.

I make sure they have good dust-bathing areas and check for lice more frequently.

 

[ValerieJ]

I have a lot of wild birds, not just chickadees, in my yard. I set out feeders especially for them far away from my chickens. I get the occasional wild bird in the run from time to time, but for the most part they like their wild bird food better.

 

[moniquem]

I have a covered run thats left open so the chickens have free access to the yard. I hang the feeder in the opened run....

I work so I can't offer them food during the day. ....

 

[21hens-incharge]

I have a covered run thats left open so the chickens have free access to the yard. I hang the feeder in the opened run....

I work so I can't offer them food during the day. ....

Do you have room to move the feeder to the coop?

Maybe a treadle feeder?

There are lots of versions of these. Prices vary widely.

 

[ValerieJ]

I have a covered run thats left open so the chickens have free access to the yard. I hang the feeder in the opened run....

I work so I can't offer them food during the day. ....

They probably do okay with the free ranging, eating bugs and greens. In your situation I think I would feed a wet food in the morning in a quantity that they will eat and finish before they go out to free range, and then again in the evening. Maybe you could leave dry food in the closed run overnight so they have it first thing in the morning without the chickadee competition, then pick that up before letting them out for the day. All this because I assume the run is too small to keep them in all day.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Another option......

Our a chicken sized door on the run so the wild birds would have to go to ground before going in.

Most wild birds do not like going to ground.....

Maybe even make it so any bird going in has to make it the a tunnel with a turn in it.
Wild birds certainly dislike what looks like a "dead end".
Chickens figure it out pretty fast.

 

[GC-Raptor]

My coops are big enough to keep feed and water in 24/7. They are rodent and predator proof when I close the pop door after sunset.
I only open the pop door during the day. In more than 3 years I've only seen 3 song birds in my first coop and none in my year old coop.
I do give Scratch Grains as a treat mid-morning tossed on the ground. What they consume in 20 minutes or so. I also give them a wet mash early afternoon as long as temps are above freezing. If your coop is big enough with a pop door, this could be an option. As 21 hens-incharge said, maybe add a pop door to the run. GC