How to Keep Wild Birds Out of the Chicken Coop

In the U.S., some of the most common pest birds that invade chicken coops include sparrows, starlings, and pigeons. These birds aren't just a nuisance; they can also carry parasites and diseases that can affect your chickens.

Even if your chickens seem healthy, it's crucial to keep wild birds away. Not only will this help protect your flock from potential diseases, but it will also reduce your feed bill. It is one thing putting out bird seed in the winter, it is another seeing costly chicken feed eaten by unwelcome pests!

You can keep wild birds away from your chickens by securing the coop and run, preventing wild birds from accessing your chickens' food and water, making the area around the coop less appealing to wild birds, and using effective bird deterrents. These measures also have the added benefit of deterring rodents and predators.

Key Takeaways

Wild birds can transmit parasites and diseases to your backyard chickens. Keeping wild birds away is crucial for disease prevention. To keep wild birds out of the coop:

1. Secure the Coop: Inspect and seal gaps, use small mesh hardware cloth, and install a chicken-sized door.
2. Food Control: Keep feeders inside the coop, avoid leaving food out, use covered chicken feeders, store feed in secure containers, and collect eggs promptly.
3. Water Management: Keep waterers inside the coop, use covered waterers, and ensure your water source is clean.
4. Environmental Modifications: Trim trees, remove roosting sites, cover compost, and use bird deterrents.

Strategies to Keep Wild Birds Out of the Chicken Coop

1. Secure the Coop

Seal Gaps and Holes

• Inspection: Conduct a thorough inspection of the coop, looking for any gaps, holes, or weak spots. Pay close attention to areas around the roof, foundation, and any points where different materials meet.
• Materials: Cover any gaps where wild birds can enter. Small mesh hardware cloth should be used, or wood or metal. Ensure the edges are securely fastened, and overlap and fasten at the seams for extra protection.
• Ventilation: Ventilation openings can be an entry point for wild birds and rodents. Cover ventilation openings with hardware cloth to prevent small birds such as sparrows from squeezing through while still allowing adequate airflow.

Install a Chicken Door

If you leave the coop open to allow chickens out during the day, it will be impossible to completely prevent wild birds from entering. But using a small chicken-sized door close to the ground, rather than opening a person-sized door, will deter many bird species from entering the chicken coop. Even food is not enough to tempt some species to enter the enclosed space of the coop, particularly from such a small opening!

A small, enclosed run with its own small, chicken-sized door can also help deter birds, as they will have to pass through two doors and two enclosed spaces to reach the coop.

Adding a hood over the door or a curtain inside can also help. Although wild birds can learn to do anything a chicken can do, they often don't feel safe enough to do so!

2. Control Food Sources

Wild birds generally come to the chicken coop for food. So preventing access to food is the primary way to prevent wild birds from hanging around.

Keep Feeders Inside the Coop

Feeders should be kept inside the coop, and the coop should be secured against wild birds as detailed above.

Never Leave Feed Out

Avoid feeding wild birds near your chickens, and never leave chicken food out where wild birds can access it. This includes scraps and treats.

If you give your chickens scraps, use a dish and clean the scraps up after your chickens have eaten their fill. Don’t leave the dish out where wild birds can access it, and pick up all uneaten scraps. If wild birds are a problem, stay with your chickens to keep any pest birds away while your chickens are eating, or feed your chickens only inside the coop.

When cleaning up scraps, use a dustpan and brush or a shovel to ensure that no feed remains on the ground.

Use Covered Feeders

Covered feeders can help deter wild birds. Combined with other strategies, these feeders will help keep wild birds out of the coop by making sure feed isn't visible. It will also prevent spilled feed, which is often the main attractant for wild birds.

Store Feed Properly

• Containers: Use galvanized steel trash cans or heavy-duty plastic bins with secure lids to store feed. Ensure containers are kept in a locked shed or similar structure to prevent wild birds and other pests from accessing them.

Collect Eggs Regularly

Some wild birds, such as crows, may steal chicken eggs. Collecting eggs regularly removes this food source, deterring birds. If you're not home during the day, a roll-away nesting box can also help deter wild birds attracted to the coop for the eggs.

3. Control Water Sources

Keep Waterers Inside the Coop

Waterers should be kept inside the coop, and the coop secured against wild birds as detailed above.

Use Covered Waterers

Choose a nipple or cup waterer. Not only is the water less accessible to wild birds, but the outlet design prevents contamination.

Open waterers have a much higher risk of contamination with disease and are more accessible to wild birds.

Ensure Your Water Source is Clean

Water can transmit parasites and diseases. Pond water and streams, particularly where wild birds frequent, are not recommended for chickens because it could carry Avian Influenza. Rainwater is also a risk, as it may be contaminated with bird droppings.

The best water source for chickens is municipal water, which has been treated to ensure it is free from parasites and diseases. If you don't have access to city water, you can boil water for 3 minutes and allow it to cool.

4. Modify the Environment

It is also possible to deter wild birds by modifying the environment around your chicken coop.

Eliminate Roosting Sites

• Keep Coops Clear: Remove vegetation from around the coop. The more exposed a chicken coop is, the less appealing it is to most wild bird species.
• Tree Trimming: Regularly trim trees and bushes near the coop to remove potential roosting and nesting sites for wild birds, particularly branches overhanging the chicken coop.
• Structures: Modify or remove any nearby structures, such as sheds or fences, that provide perches for wild birds.

Remove All Food Sources

• Compost: Compost bins and piles shouldn’t be kept in the chicken coop anyway. But they also attract wild birds, which is a reason to keep them as far from the coop as possible. Ensure your chickens can’t access the compost, and keep compost well-covered to avoid attracting wild birds.
• Fruit Trees: Planting fruit trees around the chicken coop or run is a good way to shelter your chickens and ensure fallen fruit and pests are eaten by your flock. But fruit trees also attract wild birds as a source of food. Netting trees using wildlife-friendly fruit tree netting will deter wild birds. Never leave ripe fruit on trees or fallen fruit on the ground. As with other food sources, any fallen fruit should be picked up daily to deter wild birds.

Use Bird Deterrents

• Reflective Tape: Install reflective tape around the coop and run. The movement and reflections can scare birds away. Hanging old CDs on strings also works!
• Bird Spikes: Place bird spikes on flat surfaces like the top of fences, roofs, and ledges to prevent birds from landing.
• Scare Devices: Use scare devices such as plastic owls, hawks, or snakes. Move them around regularly to maintain their effectiveness. Devices with movement sensors that activate lights, sound, or sprinklers can also be effective. However, it is important to remember that these types of devices may also scare your chickens, so you need to ensure they are positioned so they don’t cause stress to your flock.
• Guardian Animals: Guardian animals such as donkeys, livestock guardian dogs, and geese are usually used to protect chickens from predators. However, dogs, especially, can be trained to keep wild birds away from the chicken coop. As with scare devices, it is important to ensure guardian animals are not causing stress to your chickens or actually harming wild birds.

5. Secure the Chicken Run

Securing the chicken run against wild birds is also recommended. However, depending on the size of your chicken run, this might not be possible.

If you have a large run or your chickens free-range on your property, it is worth considering building a small, completely enclosed run close to the coop.

A solid roof is the best protection from wild birds and other predators, as well as keeping the chicken run drier and providing shelter for your birds.

Conclusion

In conclusion, keeping wild birds out of your chicken coop is essential for maintaining the health and safety of your backyard flock. Wild birds can introduce parasites and diseases to your chickens.

By securing the coop, controlling food and water sources, and modifying the environment, you can effectively deter wild birds and protect your chickens from potential threats.

Happy chicken keeping!

Rachael at Dine a Chook