might someone recommed a way of discouging a flock of feral chickens from coming around the house. The man who lives up the street turned his loose a couple years ago and now they run about everywhere. We've spoken to him and he said he can't cage them because he can't catch them now. Please, by no means suggest anything harmful to the chickens. At first they were a novelty, but like a flock of peacocks that stayed around here a few years ago, the roosters are so annoying, crowing at the break of day--sometimes before. They are roosting in some nearby trees. I know the roosters are doing what roosters do, crow, but when they fight each other, it's vicious and a couple have been killed due to their dueling. I'm at my wits end. Thanks, leeflea
feral chickens
Well he--or you--could use a live trap and then take them to an animal shelter--if they will take them. Or you could advertise them on FreeCycle or Craigslist--and have a live trap available or suggest that someone come and trap them. The trouble is most people only want roosters to eat or fight. Are they game birds or just dual purpose egg-layers? If you know the breed or breeds it might be easier to find good homes.
I would be inclined to start feeding them and watering them somewhat away from the house in an effort to trap them. They love veggies and melon and other summer stuff -perhaps if you put up a slight amount of fence and netting with a few juicy tomatoes near the opening they would get used to coming. Do it at around the same time 3-4 days running and you stand a good chance of closing them in. Put your goodies further in each day. If you manage to trap them that way, then finding them a home should be relatively easy. If they can be led to think they've found a cushy feeding ground and start using it they should let their guard down a little. I wouldn't suggest getting any where near them the first few times they come, though. Let 'em get to feeling safe and sneaky, then close of when their guard is down. Good Luck!
I know some of these savvy chicken wranglers around here will have more ideas...
Catscan and Grownut, Thanks for the suggestions. I'll show it to the friend with whom I live. He has a tendency to be less humane than I on things like this. He was reared on a farm and they ate what they raised, if you know what I mean? At the beginning of the Summer, a hen had some freshly hatched chicks with her, just balls of puff and I was going to gather them up and take them to the man who let them go. Well, what a big mistake that was! The hen dropped her wings to the ground, started making all kinds of noises and flew right into my face. Thank goodness I had on my glasses and had closed my eyes. Even on bad knees, I got out of the area very quickly and learned to never do that again. I think it's the crowing of the roosters and their bloody fights that trouble me the most. I can put up with the crowing better than I can watching the things actually fight to the death. I have wanted to go out and stop the fights but my friend said they could hurt me with their spurs. I don't think they are game cocks. They are not as sleek as some of the ones I've seen being raised around here. Again, thanks for your responses and I'll try the one or ones that work out best. Leeflea
leeflea51,
That is precisely what they are. They are about the only chicken breed around that can survive without someone constantly pouring feed down their throats. American Game Fowl .... nothing but. Normal hens don't try to kill you if you go after their chicks and standard domesticated roosters don't fight to the death. You've got GameCocks fighting and Game Fowl hens raising chicks in the wild ... just like I do.
Kelly in Moxee
Photographer, What had been your solution?leeflea
leaflea,
I don't feed them much! I really enjoy them being around but they're nearly wild ... so they live off the land except in late winter. We culled 8 roos last February when they began fighting because there were too many. The fighting is a lot more than we want to experience. With 4 big roos running around ... they're able to keep their distance from each other (each has a territory staked out) and the hens are adorable for the most part. They make nests everywhere but I'd estimate half do not survive due to the feral cats, mink and coyotes. We have about 35-40 and started with 30 in April. We'll might lose 5 over the winter to predation. Next spring we'll have a few more nest boxes for them and feed the mothers and biddies a little better. Odds are we'll have 50 by September of 2009. I'm going to try to sell off all the roos and develop a pure breed group of a specific line .... Claret, Hatch, Kelso ..... These birds can be terribly expensive to raise if it is done in cages but it isn't necesary.
I could be totally wrong about your "wild chickens" but ... the odds are that I'm correct.
Kelly in Moxee
leeflea51--Maybe you could post a picture of the chickens? If they are game-type birds it may be harder to rehome them humanely. Why did the neighbor have them to begin with?
Photographer and Catscan, 1st, Photographer, you certainly have many more that we do, that makes me feel a little better but not at you expense though. We don't feed them , either, however, they do eat the seeds that fall from the bird feeders and forage about in the woods. If I had my way, I would feed them during the Winter but that would cause problem. I told the friend of mine about the live traps and he said that he was afraid that one of out 15 cats might get caught in one. I asked, ' you mean they would be tempted by tomatoes?' Around here, they are predated by coyotes, foxes, raccoons, possums and God know what else. I'll still keep your info. in mind. 2nd, Catscan, if I had a camera I would post a photo but I don't. That's next on my wish list. As for why the man had them to begin with: There is a folkstory in many parts of the South that chickens keep down the number of ticks. It's a bunch of hog wash as there is no way they could but many people, esp. the older ones, believe it. I suppose I've been wrong all along about the physical characteristics of game chickens. I thought all were sleekly built with that glorious tail the roosters have but these don't. Maybe interbreeding? Anyway, thanks to the both of you. When I came in here to the orchid room and turned on the lights, a rooster, perched in a tree at the edge of the woods, started crowing and it" just a little befor 4a.m. Thanks, again to all of you and do feel free to respond at any time. Leeflee51
i agree totally sounds like game fowl. can u tell us what color some of them r and what they look like? i think the games u r thinging of r longtails. not all games have that. i think u r thinking of sumatras, yolkahomas, pheonix ones along those breed lines from the sound of it. look up www.feathersite.com look at the chicken pics on there see if any resemble them and if so what breeds?
chickens do eat bugs it's how they freerange and forage to eat and can live in the wild but guineas r the main tick eaters it's what people get here to control them not chickens.
a live trap is a cage trap it will not hurt the chickens to catch them. it is a catch and release trap only not a foot hold, not a kill trap. if a cat is caught in it or a non target animal it can be released by a person with gloves on from the back or with a stick to open the door. the cat will freak when released usually so u don't want to beable to be clawed or jumped at stay away from door if u have to realease something.
if those r left out in the wild they will have lots of babies every year and get worse the flock will grow since male and females r out there. not only that but they r dangerous to people and domestic animals if they r that mean and could carry or spread diseases.
silkie
Silkiechick, Great info. and feedback. I suppose I am thinking of the stereotypical game cocks. On the way from where I live to the Muscle Shoals are are individual houses for the cocks and they are quite beautiful birds. It's they I think of when I think of game cocks. I do so love animals and in many ways more so that most people and it stresses me to have to make a decision about what to do about them. I've hidden the 12-gauge from the friend with whom I live as he would shoot them and this being a rural area, there is enough shooting as it is, esp., during deer and dove season. The man who ownes the chickens, about a month ago, came to the door with his forearms caught in a beaver trap and Owen and I had to finally resort to cutting it off with a hacksaw. Divine retribution?! The trap did't have any teeth on it. He said he was having trouble with beavers and had set the traps. How he got both forearms caught in it is beyond my comprehension but, although he was a little bloody, it didn't appear he was greatly injured. Thank you for your response and feel free to respond again. As a city boy, I haven't much experience with chickens, etc., other than when I was a little boy, my grandmother had a pet rooster she named Althea that would eat out of her hands. Strange I can remember that which was about 42 yrs. ago and not remember what I had for dinner last night. Leeflea51
leeflea51,
Sounds like a conibear body trap he got caught in. Its more probable he was attempting to set the trap ... not that he wandered into it without remembering where he put it. Conibear traps don't have teeth but if it was beaver sized ... ouch is all I can say. The single sided spring 4X4's conibears hurt when I (very rarely) accidentally have let them snap on my hands or fingers. Imagine the pain from a double spring 8X8 ... eow... is all I can say. We have beaver here too but not near enough of them to keep me happy.
Kelly in Moxee
Photographer, The fellow is a most disagreeable person, but when he ran into trouble, look where he turned for help. He was so grateful he hugged us. The trap was about 8-10" long by about 6-8" wide. The spring was so tight that Owen and I bothe couldn't loosen it long enough for him to free his forearms. That's when the hacksaw was used to cut the metal. leeflea51
Leeflea51,
I'm not a real believer in karma myself but many people too often say "what goes around comes around". All I can say is ouch. He must have been frantic and near tears and extremely grateful (far as long as he had the capacity to be). Nobody wants that type of experience.
Kelly in Moxee
kelly, ur not talking beaver trap ur talking coon and muskrat traps witch r 110 and 220 small coni's. a beaver trap is a 280 or 330 coni depending on ur state regs. here we use 330 wich is dble spring 10" x 10" which can break arms and usually do if caught in them it's why we use setting tongs to set them they r way to stong. a 280 is 1" smaller there is no 8 x 10 coni's made. i know very few people who can set them by hand and have gotten hurt in them setting them by hand and yep it does hurt and always requires help to get them out of it.
no coni's have teeth they r bodygripping traps made to kill. in the u.s. it is illegal to use any trap with teeth, they r required to be smooth jawed. they used to make foot hold traps ect. with them that were made before that law past but they r still illegal to use. those r only good for collectors items.
silkie
silkiechick,
I believe you got those sizes correct. I was just being kinda general. I figured the guy must have gotten into a 280 about 8X8 or 320 = 10X10. I'm not really expert on the large traps. I have no use for them. Trapping ... here is illegal. I can kill a predator threatening my poultry but setting up traps ... risks getting cited by game wardens. I have been on the property here for 6 years (next week). I've not seen a game official along the stream or even passing on the hwy. The odds of being cited for doing something like eliminating a threat to my stock ... close to zero ... even if a warden were to come by and find a wide open trap ... he'd have to find a dead animal. To be honest ... I do not want to kill any wild animals here at all ... period. The animal I have a problem with are the feral cats. The local officials (I've talked with them about these awful cats) don't want to talk about cats at all. When cornered ... the guy I spoke to asked to not be quoted. He said I was do the community a favor by eliminating feral cats from our community; especially the quail and pheasant populations. My gripe is the chickens on my land ... plus all the little Mountain Quail ... aka Gambels Quail and the Ringneck pheasants. I have box traps. The pan traps are around. My neighbor Mike collects them. Trapping with killing traps or leghold traps is a crime in this state. Washington is extremely protective of wildlife .... way more than 98% of the states from what my neighbor Mike says. He was a game warden in Montana before he moved here so I think he knows much more than I do about trapping and such.
Photographer, re: karma, I do believe in it. Not in a religious way, just in general. Re; yours and silkiechick"s posts, trap sizes and official rules are way over my head. Sorry I can't contribute anything of interest on that subject. Sleepily, leeflea51
I wonder if it might be possible to catch some of the chickens with a heavy duty net on a long pole. There are nets that the use for swimming pool cleaning, etc. If you can get one on a long pole, maybe you could get close enough to net the chickens and then capture them (wear long, heavy gloves) and take them somewhere that they would be better off living in the wild, or to somebody who wants them? Just another thought on how to actually catch them. Maybe you can't get close enough for this to work.
Claire
CMoxon, thanks for that advice, too. I'm keeping all my options open as the advice I've received has been great and inventive. I'm open to any suggestions. A warm Southerm good morning to you, Leeflea51
leeflea51,
Chickens are heavy sleepers. In the evenings before it gets dark you can get a net over them on a long pole like Cmoxon suggested. I know you are averse to killing them but there are few alternatives. Getting near them with a net in the daylight hours ... impossible.
Kelly in Moxee
Photographer, Another good idea. I'll have to see how far up they are roosting. Will let you know. Thanks. Leeflea51
I've used a fishing net, with a long pole to catch some of my birds that don't feel like being caught. If you wait till evening, just around dusk, it would be easiest, as long as they are not too high up. Also, the most humane way to trap, is the live trap. It does not hurt them & gives you the opportunity to relocate them.
PeaFowlAnjl, Last evening, I checked the trees in which they had roosted and earlier suggested by photographer and they are about 20-30 feet in a cedar and another group is about that high in a pine. Yes, the net seems to be the way to go if only they were lower in the branches. If I were to use a trap, it would only be a live trap. I've never intentionally killed an animal in my life. I have like many people, run over some whilst driving but I try to swerve out of the way if I see one in the road. The friend with whom I live, says I'd wreck the vehicle before hitting an animal. If only the maddening things had roosted lower! Will continue to seek answers from all of you and see what works best for me. Thanks, Leeflea51 Keep your ideas coming.
Hey leeflea51!
When my partner and I were selling our house my peafowl where free range. Not a chance of catching them on a roost 40-50 feet up! I built a pen that had an opening on one side with a swing door that was propped up with a stick. The door would come down when the string I had attached to it was pulled by me. Now the "door" was just the same size as the other panels to give peafowl the feeling of it being open more. I feed only in that pen for about a month. I started first by feeding and leaving. Then started hanging around at a distance. Then closer. You get the idea. I had the string about 25 feet away from closing panel. Then when they were in the pen and I was the right distance and had the string. I pulled the stick. Peafowl caught. I waited until dark to get them out and into their carry cage. It took patients, but it worked for me. You might even try putting your bird feeders over top of cage since they feed there anyway. Might feel safer to them.
George
Great Idea George! I just may 'borrow' that one for the next time I have to medicate one out of the norm. Although, I may not be able to wait that long, but they are used to coming to me for food anyway. And I am 'always' around them for no apparent reason. Don't want them to be too afraid of me, but not too comfortable that they don't protect themselves. Thanks again!
Cheryl ~ Pea
daylilydady, good idea again. You see these chicken belong to a man just up the road who let them loose, he said, to keep tick populations down. WELL, it didn't work as I have gotten several ticks off me. Maybe if I'd string one around my neck and wear it as a necklace, the ticks might be eaten by a hen.lol. Anyway, he's a most disagreeable and Owen and I have tried talking to him but to no avail re: his chickens but about a month ago when he got his forearms caught in a beaver trap, he hightailed it here for Owen and me to help him which we did by using a hacksaw to cut the metal bar and freeing his bloody forearms. He was so grateful, he hugged us, whic around here is practically verboten. The hen would be ok if it weren't for the fact that they hatch roosters and it's the roosters that are so annoying such as crowing whenever I turn on a light at night, esp. the one in here , the orchid room. One hasn't crowed yet. Maybe, it got one of my sleeping pills I dropped outside. Again, lol. So many of you have offered such good suggestions and I'm remembering them all. Do, please, feel free to write again. Warmly, Leeflea51
Cheryl, when you say peafowl is that another reference to peacocks? I don't think myself stupid in most areas but having not been around some animals, I'm not familiar with the proper names. Several years ago, we had a flock of peacocks(again, excuse my description). The males, of course, were beautiful but some would fly up on the roof and at the time we had a tv antenna instead of directtv and they would vocalize so loudly. I loved collecting the lost tail feathers of the males. Just as suddenly as they appeared, they left to parts unknow. None of the neighbors said they were theirs, so to whom they belonged remains a mystery. Wouldn't mind seeing them again for a brief time, long enoug for me to gather enough tail feathers to put in a vase. Leeflea51 (aka Lee)
George, if you are still there, join zhinu and me at the night owls section that zhinu has hyperlinked. Leeflea51
George,the hyperlink is on the geneology page near the bottom where i've been chatting.
No problem. Many do not know (I didn't until I owned). The Peafowl is the type (Genus) of Pheasant. All are in the poultry family, although a bit distant. The Peacock is the male; the Peahen the female & the Peachick the hatchling. They can travel pretty far. One breeder here, has so many males, the older males chase them off during breeding season. I suspect that is what you had visit you. They then return 'home' once breeding season is over, so they can winter where their food and warmth is. My Peafowl stay nearby my property, only going to visit my neighbors on occasion. They have not strayed far and are home daily if they do go 'visiting'. I suspect George has much the same experience with his collection. I just love these birds. Much easier to raise than Ringneck Phesant and some Quail. More 'social'
Cheryl ~ Pea
Cheryl, thanks for the education. They are beautiful birds. Have never seen a pheasant except on tv and pictures. Don't know if I could eat one. We have many quail here. When they come out of the woods as youngsters(? correct term), there are oodles of them. They stay together and run like hell. Do please be kind as to keep me informed about you collection and ask George to do likewise. Lee
Wonderful idea abut putting a gate on the bird corral! Good chance of catching them as a flock I like so much better than trying piecemeal.'Dem birds are smart at the darnedest times!!
hello grownut, I getting some good ideas from people. Now, I"ll have to see which works best for me. Maybe I'm just obsessing over them but indeed they are interferring with my quality of life. Yes, they are smart. Smarter than some of the cats we have! Leeflea51
Hey Cheryl!
Did you know the turkey is also in the Pheasant family. I have raised red golden Pheasant in the past, but had to really cull down after my heart surgery. I plan to get maybe a trio or so this fall. We have a great poultry meet close by in Ohio called the southern Ohio poultry association. It is huge! You can get just about anything you want critter wise. Not just poultry, but horses, goats Etc. It also is a huge flea market. They have it 3 times a year and you can bet I'm there every time. This fall I want a Java green blood peahen and some more colored guineas.
Geo
Any wild creature frequenting someone's house is a bad situation in my book. They shouldn't like to or want to. Reminds me of those monkeys in (wherever) that got brazen enough to attack people. If they are neither wild enough to stay well away from people nor tame enough to be well controlled then they are probably a potential disease or other kind of menace that should be dealt with before they get too out of hand.
Grownut, Yes they are a a nuisance. I just wish the old man who let them loose would take responsibility and catch them. I"m 51 with bad knees which will have to be replaced starting Sept.23rd and the right to follow at a laterdate. Owen, the friend with whom I live is 71, with health problems, and when the roosters, which are perched in the nearby woods start crowing whenever the lights are turned on in the wee hours of the morning, it's annoying. I can't bring myself to hurt them in any way. Owen, having been born and reared on a farm, could but I've hidden the 12gauge shells. Maybe, I shouldn't have but this being in the county there are no animal enforcement officers. Too, during deer and dove season, there is shootin all around. What diseases might the chickens carry? Do respond if possible. Thanks, Leeflea51
Hi Geo,
I had no idea on the turkey. Haven't raised them yet, figured I couldn't afford to feed 'em. Assumed they were in the poultry family (although Pheasants are too). Those Red Golden's are gorgeous! What others have you raised? Someday, I too would like to get a Java Green. Just may have to wait a bit longer. The last breeder I bought from is getting purples next year. Just may have to add them too. lol Totally addicted here! Going to have to watch for a State poultry association 'flea market' here. We have auctions that locals take animals too, but very limited on selection. Lucky if a peafowl makes it there. Never any other pheasants and only quail are the buttons and courtnix's. Been thinking about adding guineas, ducks & maybe geese (another big eater). Maybe in a year or so.
Hope you are able to get your Java for a good price. Bet they are healthier than anything I've seen at the auctions.
Cheryl ~ Pea
Hey Cheryl!
I have raised the button quail and cortunixs, but were just too skittish for me. They would shoot straight up to the top of the cage and sometimes even knock them selves out from it. My farm friends still raise them, so I get my "fix" there. I am really scared of buying birds from auction. I like to really look them over and inspect weight, bone structure Etc. I have had my heart broke too many times buying from auctions.
The only other pheasants I have raised were the Lady amherst(sp) and regular ring necks. Loved them, but too many pens to keep up with. I want to build the Red Golden's pen in the middle of my main right garden in front of the house. Try to "fancy" it up a bit. I think they would feel more at home in the garden with all the plants and such. I want to put it under a tree in that garden for shade and to keep them from fading their color.
I love all my birds to be free ranged. I raised my hound puppies right beside my coup so they would protect them. It was so cute this spring when the pups were little and the chicks would just walk all over them. Now I have a group of chickens that roost with the dogs in the dog house! As deep in the woods as we are, Knock on wood we have never lost a chicken to anything, except I do think an owl got a guinea once. I think the tree canopy also keeps the birds safe from flying predators also.
My main chickens are naked necks/turkins. This is what I plan to breed and sell. The others are all pure breed somethings that my farm friends bought from Murray McMurray. They all had some sort of problem as chicks and my farm friends were going to put them down. Being the sucker I am for the under dog. I took them and worked with them and even splinted some of their legs with braces. Please no one take offense, but I call them my "short bus" chickens. I also have banties.(mixed) I let them all run free. I do lose a flower or 2 from them, but the joy of watching them is so worth it.
George
Lee- I don't know much specifically, just that a high concentration of rowdies is an environment more conducive to disease. Have you tried getting them to gather yet? The lure into the corral tactic?
Not yet. My knees have been giving me alot of pain and my focus the last day is trying to get my mind off the pain. And of course taking the old medicine the doctor prescribed. The roosters did't start crowing until daybreak this morning even though I had the lights on in the flower room where the computer is. Yes, disease is a concern. West Nile has troubled me since first hearing of it. We found a few dead cowbirds(which was fine with me they were dead since they parasitize the nests of song birds and others) and called the fish and wildlife people who came out and collected them. They phoned in about a week and said they were negative of West Nile but didn't say what the cause of death was. Anyway, keep solutions coming. sooner or later , one will work; Good talking to you. Leeflea51