Cockatoo Invasion

Hens and Hobbits · **Posted:** Wed Jun 22, 2011 8:00 am

Our rooster rules the backyard. He is very protective of his girls and thinks that he is fearless and attempts to chase anything and everything out of his territory regardless of species, shape and size.

A young cockatoo has been trying to fraternise with the chooks the past couple of weeks and the rooster and his girls have been pursuing him up various trees. The cockatoo’s parents are never too far away and keep a close eye on their off spring. However the other day the young cockatoo got a bit too close to the hens. The rooster charged at it and cockatoo’s feathers went flying.
We had not seen this particular young cockatoo and his parents since that incident until yesterday. Once again it strolled up to the hens and the rooster charged, except this time there was a whole flock of extended family in a neighbouring gum that swooped down and invaded the backyard and outnumbered the chooks. I ran out dispersed the cockatoos and locked the chooks safely up for the rest of the afternoon as the flock of cockatoos would not budge from one of our gums.

Any advice to on how to get rid of these cockatoos would be appreciated as they are there in the neighbouring gum this morning.

We do not feed any native or introduced pest birds and they do not have access to the chook's feed.

Sebducks · **Joined:** Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:41 pm **Posts:** 812

So you don't want the cockatoos in the chook pen? Really they won't hurt the chooks and are most likely just looking for something to eat. If you want to get rid of them you could try putting up something like a bird scarer its really just a picture of a hawk or similar which moves with the wind. Chasing them off every time they land will also do it as they'll get sick of being chased and move on. We have galah's here that land in the chook pen or on the horse water trough for a drink.

Hens and Hobbits · **Posted:** Wed Jun 22, 2011 8:10 pm

Thank you for the advice Sebducks.

The chooks free range in the afternoon and their feed is enclosed in their tractor that can not be accessed by the other hungry wild birds.

The rooster was a bit edgy this morning when the cockatoos returned. I wasn't quite sure after he attacked the young cockatoo and went for it again yesterday whether its extended family came for a revenge attack and posed a threat to the chooks.

The Shire discourages feeding wildlife especially cockatoos.

Fred&fowl · **Joined:** Sat Jun 25, 2011 6:29 am **Posts:** 1

We used a wind vein to keep the pink cockatoos away for our chook yard but it only worked for about 2 weeks then they got used to it. We ended up roofing the coop and that worked and most have moved on

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