Sparrows

[Ilovemychicks08]

We have alwyas had sparrows and starlings around our house. They make nest everywhere. And since they cant nest in our house anymore they moved to the chicken coop especially for food.
How do i stop them from going into the coop without hurting them. Will a mirror work? I have snakes and owl statues standing by the door. Most of the run is fenced in. Thanks for any help

 

[BarnyardChaos]

The only thing I can think of is a fully enclosed pen including the roof, with no gaps bigger than 1/2" so they can't squeeze through. Just like your chickens, they can soon learn that the owl and snake statues are fake and can't hurt them.
Or, you could try this:
https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...FE94EAD42D2B4ECB9DF5FE94EAD42D2B&&FORM=VRDGAR

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

The only thing I can think of is a fully enclosed pen including the roof, with no gaps bigger than 1/2" so they can't squeeze through. Just like your chickens, they can soon learn that the owl and snake statues are fake and can't hurt them.
Or, you could try this:
https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...FE94EAD42D2B4ECB9DF5FE94EAD42D2B&&FORM=VRDGAR

Im working on fully enclosing my run. I move the snakes and the owl every other day. Thanks for the ideas.

 

[nuthatched]

Move the feed inside the coop if possible, limit attraction.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Move the feed inside the coop if possible, limit attraction.

The feed is inside the coop. The sparrows are going inside the coop to get it. I did find a sparrow nest up in the coop so thats being taken down. Im hoping that they will find elsewhere to build there nest...

 

[RitzvilleHen]

We have alwyas had sparrows and starlings around our house. They make nest everywhere. And since they cant nest in our house anymore they moved to the chicken coop especially for food.
How do i stop them from going into the coop without hurting them. Will a mirror work? I have snakes and owl statues standing by the door. Most of the run is fenced in. Thanks for any help

 

[RitzvilleHen]

I came here to ask the same question today! Our run has "hardware cloth" on the sides, but chicken wire over the top. We have a huge flock of sparrows that come through the chicken door into the inner run where the food and water is, and then spend hours fluttering around inside the run, freaking out the hens. We end up going through way more food than I want to "donate to the cause"!
Any suggestions would be helpful. The fake owl just gets used as a perch.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

I move the owl a lot. Cds have actually helped i still get a few but my cockerel chases them off now.

 

[Al Gerhart]

You need a treadle feeder which will pay for itself in feed savings in a few months. Once you stop feeding the sparrows they will be forced to move on and forage natural food which is always in short supply. That reduces their numbers or disperses the flock over a wider area.

 

[Folly's place]

Al's treadle feeds are great, if you only have standard sized chickens. Youngsters and bantams can't use them because they aren't heavy enough to trip the openings.
I'd love to eliminate the sparrows and wrens too!!! They also get into our coop when the birds free range, and bring mites to our flock way to often. Also, other diseases can come in with those wild birds, always a concern.
There are sparrow live traps out there, a neighbor had good success with them. You then have to shoot any that you catch, don't trap and release. I only had mice visiting that trap when I tried it here. And the mice could get back out after eating the bait, a total fail for us.
Mary