Wild bird problems
I have screened the house sparrows out of my hen house. They are still hanging around and take every opportunity to go in an open door or eat scattered grain, even with the chickens present. As my hens free range and there is not adequate room in their house to scatter grain for them I scatter it outside on the ground. I have drastically reduced the amount of grain and no longer feed layer feed outside.
Does anyone have any suggestions for getting rid of the house sparrows? I have lots of native bushes around the edges of my property and an arbor they love to hang out in. I live inside the city limits so it is illegal to discharge a shot gun or I would have used that means. Thank you for your suggestions.
A tennis racquet & good aim inside the pen works, as does netting them, but more just take their place. A few years ago, someone had plans for a funnel-type trap posted. Anyone remember that? I need to get rid of a 12 hole Martin house that's been taken over by sparrows. I just try to feed what the ducks & chickens will clean up in a few minutes.
There are sparrow traps that are rumored to work well. I, personally, have a bit of trouble with the thought of sitting there wringing the necks on dozens of tiny birds and I am absolutely certain that catch and release elsewhere isn't going to get rid of them. They just fly back, unless you put them onto a bus going across country.
I had a kestrel the other day, but it doesn't seem to be sticking around. I was hoping it would run the sparrows out of the area.
Treadle feeders would help to cut back on the poultry food that they eat.
I've stopped free feeding and my birds are on a schedule and only get what they can clean up. That helps. The sparrows don't actually go away, but they can't steal as much feed.
Me toooooo.Originally Posted by Oregon Swedes
I've got an uncle that traps them religiously. My father is becoming obsessed with killing them because they take over the Martin houses. Me, I don't care...they're just more birds. There are enough red tailed hawks around here, to keep the numbers down. They do invade my hen house on occasion..but don't eat enough feed to worry about.
I enjoy them.
My neighbors use a sparrow trap and it seems to catch several. What they catch are drowned in the lake and disposed of elsewhere.
I use one of these, and I love it: http://www.sparrowtraps.net/
The only problem is that it does catch nontarget species, so I have to be careful to check it every day, or not set it when I won't be home for a few. It catches starlings too, and the occasional mouse or chipmunk.
I'm pretty sure that's the model my neighbors have-- they too seem to be satisfied with its ability.
Did you order from this site or build your own ? Will it handle submersion ? I'll order it tonight on your say-so. There were at least 20 sparrows inside the pen in the barn a few minutes ago!
Last edited by Evy; 10-17-2011 at 05:58 PM.
Thank you all for your replies and suggestions. I will definitely check out the sparrow trap site. Hanging the net in the doors helped some. Feeding small amounts of grain several times during the day has helped. It is more effective if I am able to stay with the chickens. Hitting the arbor with a hoe which sometimes goes through raising up the vines frightens them out of the arbor. Everything together has reduced the population some. Still have the persistent hanger-on-ers.
When I was growing up we raised eggs commercially for a hatchery. Sparrows were a nuance more for the mites and lice they brought in to the chickens than the amount of feed they ate. I climbed up in the rafters and pulled out their nests killing off the eggs and young. That made a huge difference in the multiplying population as they will have 2-3 hatchings a summer and 6-8 viable babies were common. They multiply exponentially like mice do.
Thank you again. If I have any luck with the trap or anything else I will let you know.
Everyone,
Thank you for your suggestions. Everything I have tired has helped some. I will try the sparrowtrap as the sparrows are not going away. Thank you again.
The sparrow, commonly known as the house sparrow, is one of these intruders. There are several methods of getting rid of sparrows.One method is the removal of nests during and after their construction. A second method of managing and getting rid of sparrows is trapping, whether it is in-box trapping or ground trapping. It's best to use an in-box trap once a sparrow has begun to nest in order to increase the likelihood that the bird will return.
Bot?
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Get...ows&id=2473112
[QUOTE=jungle;14664]Bot?
Sounds like one, based on your descripton....
I have the same question as Evy - can the traps mentioned by Patrick be submerged without damaging them?
This is one of the features mentioned in the add. Water-sealed elevator arm minimizes need to adjust weight for wet/dry weather cycles Looks like if a person painted the wood with water sealer that would help make it last longer. Rog
After repeated dunks in the lake it's still holding up last I knew - sorry I missed that question earlier!
As an avid bird watcher I do know that the sparrows that are being a problem on my place are house sparrows, an immigrant from England and a real nuance. They killed house finches and threw them out of their nest on my patio this spring. I did destroy all the nest I found that were house sparrow nest. Needless to say it was not near enough nests to control the population.
With the dry weather we have here it sounds like it would be good to seal the wood to keep it from drying out.
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