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Strange chicken varmint problem

M

Mike (WA)

Well-known Member
Was talking to my sister at family gathering on the 4th. She went from 8 eggs a day to one or two, with lots of egg shells laying around.

She staked out the coop, and discovered that starlings (pestiferous invasive-species birds, for those of you who are fortunate enough not to have them) were flying in the chicken entry door and breaking and eating the eggs.

BIL put a tennis racket in the henhouse, and he and the starlings now have regular "come to Jesus" meetin's. Of course, it is the starlings who end up meeting their maker.

They plan to just keep dispatching them, rather than close the entry door- they will sacrifice a few eggs for the demise of the pests. And BIL, an otherwise stoic Norwegian, seems to enjoy the sport of it, and Sis just wants that he should be happy.
 
Get a starling trap. Its a big rat-wire box that they can get into, but not out of. One sentence comes to mind: Here kitty, kitty!
 
ya, disposin of thieves is fun. Back when we had reasonable temps at dusk I would stand outside the chicken coop with a BB gun picking off mice. Now I put the tin cat out there, caught 14 babies in 1 night. I get 'em cleaned out for awhile but after haying got a bunch again.
 
Put a series of hanging chains (old fashoned damper control chain about a quarter inch thick) at 3/4" intervals across the door. these tangle the birds you don't want, and would do little to the chickens. The learning curve on a chicken isn't that long if one does it they all will. Jim
 
starlings and house sparrows. 2 non native species to n america that have done quite well for themselves, thanks to the ignorance of a few humans. nothing harder on our native songbirds than these nasty little birds. hope your bil scores lots of aces.
 
Yup, flying rats.

I have occasional invasions of them, haven't had any (yet) this year.

My dog used to be he77 on wheels with them. I'd shut the hatch, let her in the chicken coop and she'd chase 'em all down and kill them. Great fun for her (not to mention lunch...) but didn't seem to deter them much.

.22 rat/bird shot works well too, without any collateral damage unless you accidentally hit a window "8^(
 
Bendee has a good point- if you have blood in a henhouse, you will have a feathered cannibal free for all. I'd get any dead starlings out before they bleed. Bird on bird is tough to deal with. Perhaps a mercinary goose? Or a ninja turkey?? What are starlings smart enough to be scared of???
 
Yeah - be sure he doesn't leave dead birds lying around - they can carry various diseases that will be transfered to the chickens.

Better to keep them out all together - stick a fake owl nearby and they'll probably stay away, at least long enough to forget about the eggs.
 
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