Unwanted sparrows in coop

[shi1807]

Any suggestions on how to keep sparrows and other small flying birds out of my chicken coop? They fly in through the little chicken door and fly all around, hitting the walls and upsetting my chickens. I do feed in the coop because when I was feeding outside in the run, the food would get wet and sour. Horrible smell. I am having to go out several times a day and open the bigger door that I walk through so they can fly out. Any suggestions appreciated!

 

[Jcbdc]

An old neighbor got a couple of rubber snakes and put around where they came in! We moved before I could find out if they worked or not. He was worried about some type of germ the chicks were not used to.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Sparrows can be maddening. I would put vinyl strips up over the pop door. I put strips of shade cloth up over the pop door which kept out larger doves and pigeons, but the sparrows went right through it. I think the vinyl would prevent that. Look at "My Coop" page to see what I did to keep wild birds out of the coop. You can also make an auto feeder that allows chickens access but keeps other things out. See the plans for a treadle feeder in my sig. line and also this thread for an easier and less expensive trigger style feeder. If the wild birds can't get to the chicken feed they are much less likely to come inside. Good luck!

 

[4 the Birds]

Any suggestions on how to keep sparrows and other small flying birds out of my chicken coop? They fly in through the little chicken door and fly all around, hitting the walls and upsetting my chickens. I do feed in the coop because when I was feeding outside in the run, the food would get wet and sour. Horrible smell. I am having to go out several times a day and open the bigger door that I walk through so they can fly out. Any suggestions appreciated!

Don't bother with decoy Owls or hanging CD's. Been there done that. The few Winter months when we have snow ground cover is the worst time for invading birds to get to feed in the run or coop. They are looking to survive and will even squeeze under door frames to get to food. About the only option is to have hardware cloth (sparrows can go through chicken wire) and a well sealed run. This will allow you to set out feed in the coop and or run and keep out scavengers. If you free range like me then you will have to deal with some small feed loss. I will often throw feed out on the ground outside the run daily which keeps scavengers out of the run.

 

[shi1807]

Well--I hung some lightweight clear vinyl and cut strips in it yesterday. It took time and some dried meal worms but some of my hens started going through it. My rooster and 2 of my hens are afraid of it and will not walk through. It has kept the sparrows out. I had to go out last night at dark and move it out of the way for my Fred and his 2 girls to go into the coop and roost. I thought he would realize that it would not harm him if he watched the other girls go through this morning. Apparently, his fear is greater than I thought--he was still in the coop this morning at 9 am. I moved it for now so he will go in and out. Thinking I may just keep it up for a few days hoping he will get used to it.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

That's good news that the vinyl strips are keeping the sparrows out. If Fred doesn't get the hang of it in a couple days, I would remove half of the strips and let him get used to that for a couple days. Then add more strips to fill in over time. You'll have to deal with sparrows again, but only for a little while and it would be a good long-term solution. Hopefully he will get used to it quickly!

 

[shi1807]

I'm thinking the wind blowing the strips is what is scaring Fred. If I could think of something stable that the wind couldn't blow that was light enough, maybe that would work. I have hardware cloth all around the coop but its not an option in the run. We have 7 huge pine trees the run is built around and have the 2x4 chicken fencing on a frame and built around the tree trunks as a covering. Pine needles can fall through that and it does keep predators like skunks, opossums, and foxes out. New to all of this--still figuring it all out! Thanks for the help!

 

[cincyfarmgirl]

Well, I didn’t mind a few wild birds, including sparrows getting into my covered chicken yard and helping themselves to water and chicken feed. Although I have been a little concerned about disease or germs they might be spreading, but it’s been that way now for years and fortunately not to our detriment. But I cannot abide a flock of starlings in my chicken house. I noticed that they were lurking about the property here and there, but twice now this week they have taken up residence INSIDE the chicken house. They would have had to fly down through the small door that is for the chickens. I had to chase them out of there twice now. Now I have taken more steps to discourage them like leaving no food or water in the covered chicken yard whose the fencing they’ve been flying through. Also locked up every aspect of the barn that I could, and let my Chickens “free range” inside the barn because I don’t want to keep them constantly locked up in the coop (chicken house). So now my plan is to get small weave hard cloth and attach it to the covered chicken yard. And continue to not leave food out there. Once I’ve secured the premises, my chickens will have access to food by going into the chicken house, but for now I’m keeping all the doors of the barn closed and the chickens inside until I get get the hard cloth attached. 10 years I never had birds in the barn like that. Until this winter, which has been very cold .

 

[Al Gerhart]

You can go to that expense and trouble or you can stop feeding the sparrows which is why they are coming in. If you have mostly adult birds a treadle feeder will solve the problem. Even a poor feeder like the ones on Amazon will stop sparrows but look around elsewhere to save a lot of money.

Good luck.