Ways to keep wild birds away from duck feed??

[glll]

Like already suggested an automatic feeder would work great to help deter mice rats and wild birds, just set a brick so it's open for a few days, so they get used to eating out of it, you could also try a gravity PVC feeder i don't think most wild birds would try to eat out of that.

I don't have any problems with wild birds eating my food around here, only squirrels which the chickens enjoy chasing off anyways. My chickens constantly fly over to my bird feeder's and eat the sunflower seed and i don't have any problems.

Thank you, the brick idea sounds great. I might look into getting an automatic feeder.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I wouldn't either, to go inside their house to eat is very bold.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I have welded wire all over the top of my run which is easy for birds to get through. I've even had a cardinal and bluebird in the run but mostly sparrows. They are flying around in there all day but I don't think they eat all that much. I use Purina Duck pellets.

 

[Jackie 1]

My ducklings are only about 6 - 8 weeks and growing like weeds. We feed them the pellets that were mentioned above but the sparrows come land in the dish I put put the duck pellets in and eat away. They also crap in the bowl (so much appreciation for a free meal right). Our ducks have our whole back yard but spend most of they're time in the water that flows through our yard. Any suggestions on how to keep these troublesome little sparrows out of they're food? Jackie & Sammy

 

[DucksOhio]

Birds will eat mealworms if I leave them out. They don’t eat the Mazuri food though. I used to have issues with groundhogs eating duck food and garden veggies, but that was taken care of.

 

[Isadora]

My ducklings are only about 6 - 8 weeks and growing like weeds. We feed them the pellets that were mentioned above but the sparrows come land in the dish I put put the duck pellets in and eat away. They also crap in the bowl (so much appreciation for a free meal right). Our ducks have our whole back yard but spend most of they're time in the water that flows through our yard. Any suggestions on how to keep these troublesome little sparrows out of they're food? Jackie & Sammy

Is it possible to feed the ducks indoors? It's not a problem anymore now that the weather is warmed up, but in the winter time I had the duck feeder inside the coop and had strips of cloth stabled over the pop door, just like you see in hardware stores where the big machines go in and out of (except they used huge strips of heavy plastic). The ducks learn to go through it but the birds did not.

 

[BlueHorse17]

So I've gathered that my duck feed is eaten more by wild birds than the ducks! I keep the ducks' food and water in their coop but I leave the door open so they can enter and exit to eat and drink throughout the day, however, this means that the wild birds that come to my backyard do the exact same! I have tried hanging CDs around coop where their food is to scare the birds away. This does the job for the birds but the ducks are also scared of the CDs and wont eat the food there, I can't have them scared of their own home. I'm worried about what diseases the birds may potentially carry or give to my ducks so I definitely need a solution to this problem. Does anyone have some tips on keeping wild birds out of their duck coop and away from the duck feed?

I would look into getting automatic feeders. You can train your ducks to stand on the step to open up the feeder. I use them with my chickens and will eventually with my ducks too when they become of age. It only opens when they eat and the better quality ones are galvanized so it helps with weather resistance. Keeps unwanted pests out too!

 

[bhaugh]

I had a horrible problem with sparrows eating my feed until I ended up covering the feed with water. The ducks really liked it fed this way and the sparrows lost interest. The feed does need to be replaced daily so if you don't feed this way, it may not work for you.

 

[Duckiiess]

I made a duck feeder out of a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and 4 3" PVC 90 deg elbows, couple different vids for this on youtube, pretty much all the same. It does a good job of deterring mice and wild birds from their feed... they get the little bits that drop out, but won't climb through the elbows to the feed itself. Top it off a couple times a week and good to go!
This guy used a larger bucket/ can, but same idea- I didn't put the end caps on mine though, no need: