I have seen many wild birds sneaking into the barn or chicken coop in search of shelter and food when it’s snowing or raining.
Not only that, they make a mess around the coop with their manure, which can increase keepers’ jobs.
If you’re dealing with these and want to get rid of wild birds from your chicken coop, I have shared my own tested ideas with you below.
1. Cover the Chicken Run With Bird Netting
Just like you protect your trees or crops from wild birds with netting, you can use the same to protect your chicken coop and run outdoors.
Lightweight poultry or bird netting serves as a physical barrier to keep outdoor birds from entering the chicken house.
I have seen mesh netting used in the raised beds, the chicken coop, and the run.
Don’t worry, this cannot disturb the ventilation.
If it is winter, you can cover the run with a tarp or anything that hides it from birds’ eyes.
2. Use Hardware Cloth on Openings and Gaps
I always recommend my friends use hardware cloth instead of chicken wire in the coop. They are also stronger and a permanent barrier than lightweight netting.
Always close the door and window. You can install doors and windows with netting, something like hardware cloth.
Look for points from where birds enter the chicken coop. These can be windows, vents, gaps under roofing, and even openings around doors.
Also, don’t leave the loose edges there. Secure them by fastening the material.
Make sure your chickens have enough ventilation while screening openings.
This way, you not only keep the wild birds out, but also you can keep your chickens safe from predators at night.
3. Make Chicken Feed Less Accessible to Wild Birds
Backyard wild birds often search for feed around your home, and if you’re kind enough, they don’t fear nesting there.
I allowed some sparrows in my homestead, and soon they started nesting and settling on the porch.
They repeatedly visit your place if they feel safe.
So, keep the chicken feeders inside the coop. Keep the chicken feed in the protected area whenever practical.
Don’t scatter the feed around the coop outside. Also, don’t leave large amounts of feed scattered around the run.
Instead, clean up the spilled grains or feed promptly as soon as you notice.
4. Collect Eggs Daily
Crows are often found stealing chicken eggs, so you need to collect eggs daily. So, wild birds won’t visit the place if they see an empty nest box.
If you’re absent during the daytime, you can install the Roll-Away Nesting Box.
This also helps you deter snacks from entering your chicken coop. Also, chickens cannot have a chance to break and eat their own eggs.
Once you collect the eggs, you can clean and store eggs for later use.
5. Remove Water Sources That Attract Wild Birds
In the hot summer, birds often stay in the shade and look for water. If they find your chicken waterers accessible, they make the coop their hangout place.
So, keep their waterer in a sheltered place, clean up spilled water, and bury muddy puddles around the chicken coop and run.
I don’t want you to be stingy with other birds, but if you want to make your chickens safe, you have to hide their waterer.
If you want to give them some water, place the waterer or birdbath under the tree far away from your chicken house.
6. Remove Perches and Roosting Spots Near the Coop
It’s a pleasure to the eye watching some beautiful birds sitting on the perches around your house or farm.
But you should also see their white drops all over there.
Look at the fences, roof edges, nearby branches, poles, and even structures. These are the ready-made perches of wild birds that inspect the things around your house.
So, if you don’t want these birds around your house and coop, trim nearby branches and remove anything that provides perches for the unwanted birds.
You can keep the chicken roosts, but only inside the protected coop.
7. Use Wild Bird Deterrents
Stick the reflective tape (bird ribbon tape) on the chicken coop and run or hang old CDs around these structures.
Shiny things may scare the birds outdoors.
Besides, you can install spikes on the coop roof or fence so that birds cannot perch there. Some unique lights, sounds, and sprinklers also help scare wild birds and aviary predators.
Why don’t you put the coop near the stall of the donkey and a pen of geese?
Farm dogs and these animals make good guardian animals for the chicken flock.
8. Keep Birdhouse and Birdbath Far Away
I like to see wild birds in the backyard, such as nuthatches and chickadees, so I build them some birdhouses and birdbaths.
Besides, I have a few hanging bird feeders outdoors.
But you need to keep these far from your house or chicken coop and run if the wild birds are the problem.
For this, a backyard garden is ideal, but it needs to be far from the poultry house.
These birds help pollinate the crops and vegetables, and yield increases.
Is It Necessary to Keep Wild Birds Away From Chickens?
They mow down your chicken resources and add more tasks in the coop for keepers like you.
Wild birds always look for shelter and food. If they have easy access to your place and nearby resources like food and water, it will be more than just happiness for them.
They nest in the barn or chicken house and eat or drink up in the chicken feeder and waterer. This can cause competition between the chickens for the resources.
As a result, they peck each other, and you may lose your chickens without even noticing.
It also poses a high risk of disease transmission from wild birds to the chicken flock. They can bring the lice to the coop too.
Besides, you have to clean their manure.
If big birds like crows or hawks enter the coop, they can steal chicken eggs and newly hatched chicks.
So, you have to keep wild birds out of the chicken coop.
Final Thoughts
Wild birds are often attracted to the chicken coop by spilled feed, grain scraps, dirty water, and bugs. So, clean your chicken coop and run.
Also, don’t plant trees or store firewood near the chicken coop, as this can attract wild birds and predators.
Besides, always watch out for wild birds while free-ranging your chickens outdoors.
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