Wild Birds

[Bramax]

Hi
We're about to start keeping chickens for eggs, and I wondered what other people do to deter wild birds.

We are going down the route of an electric flexinet to keep the hens in and predators out, but obviously this won't stop the wild birds. We do have alot of magpies and crows as well as the usual garden birds an are wondering how we can keep them away. Have read about using plastic owls, or rotating owl eyes. Does anyone use these and do they work? What other measures have people taken to scare the wild birds away? Do you need different types of deterent for different types of birds? Also I don't want to freak the hens out but I pressume if we used a plastic owl and it was there from day one the hens would soon get used to it.

 

[Marigold]

The only reliable way to keep birds away from your hens and their food and water is to have a roofed run covered with small-gauge weldmesh. If you are having a run which is an open-topped enclosure safe from predators, you need to get feeders and drinkers which reduce the likelihood of birds getting into them, such as treadle feeders. In my experience, birds may be scared by owls etc but very soon see through the trick and take no notice.

 

[bantiekeeper]

Hi there, We keep bantams on the allotment and have never thought about trying to deter wild birds, of which we have lots. The banties will chase magpies, pigeons and squirrels away. However with this amount of wildlife having access to the plot we do make sure we worm the hens regularly. They only free range for 2-3 hours a day, the rest of the time they are in a covered run. Would be interested to know, if you try the owl out, if it works . Good luck with your new chooks, you will soon be hooked!! They are great fun.

 

[Chuck]

Plastic owls have never worked for me. If magpies find the eggs, you can be left with none but apart from that the wild birds really don't do any harm. There are many very big flocks of commercial free range chickens which co-exist with wild birds.

Foxes are your worst enemy and occasionally domestic pets.

 

[chrismahon]

Around here (Staffordshire) the commercial free range flocks loose most hens to buzzards rather than foxes. Problem is the fields are so open so buzzards can easily land and take off. When we had 6 week old chicks in an open run I put 6 foot garden canes in the ground at random 0.5 to 1 metre spacing to obstruct the predator birds. It worked.