Starlings & Sparrows invading coop and feed

[CedarRanch]

Having what feels like a longer and colder than usual winter here. Second winter with chickens. We are dealing with an overwhelm of wild birds. We keep all chicken feed outside of the coop but we noticed hundreds of wild birds (sparrows, starlings, cardinals, and bluejays) swarming the feed. In response we built a bird proof feeder that the chickens have to step on to open. Another big snow just hit which pushed us to move a food container (not bird proof) & water into the coop. Birds are now going into the coop. My husband found a dead starling on the coop floor this morning. I'm not sure how or why it died, it's possible the rooster killed it as I'm guessing it was stuck in there overnight. We have an automatic coop door. I think that's how they're getting in. I just opened the coop to check for eggs and about 30 of them came flying out. How do I stop this? The only way to completely stop them from getting in would be to keep the automatic door shut all day, which isn't ideal. I'm worried of potential disease/parasites/flu.

 

[Al Gerhart]

You are right to be worried. Is there a reason not to bring the homemade treadle feeder inside the coop?

Once you stop feeding the wild birds they will have to hustle all day to stay alive as natural food is tough to come by. They cannot hang around during winter unless they can steal your feed.

 

[Bawkbok]

It's really important to not allow the wild birds access to any chicken feed. They will be impossible to get rid of and you don't want them pooping on the ground or in the coop where your chickens eat and scratch. Definitely bring the chicken feeder into the coop and store any extra feed in an airtight container in your house or garage. There is no mention of a run so do your birds go from the coop to the outside to range all day? You may need to build a run so birds cannot access the coop through the auto door. A run adjacent to the coop would eliminate the birds flying through the coop door. To keep the birds from flying into the run you would need to use a garden cloth mesh, screen or preferably 1/2" hardware cloth to keep other predators out.