Pukeko

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kendall40, Feb 11, 8:28pm
My section is 2 acres and I want to have free range chooks, probably no more than 6. Unfortunately there are lots of pukeko that for some reason like my section. They are very agressive to one another and fiercely territorial, although quite interesting and entertaining to watch.
I cannot see free range chooks surviving with these agressive companions!
Any ideas on how to get them to go elsewhere without harming them would be appreciated. They terrify my two cats!
cleggyboy, Feb 11, 9:24pm
I have a great, but empty cock pot. LOL.
piquant, Feb 11, 10:52pm
A dog that can distinguish between pukeko and chooks.! Won't be easy as they are persistent blighters - I have had a similar problem. The other thing is - they are able to be shot during the duck shooting season. Limit bag 5 per day, I believe. And cleggyboy - I hope you mean a crock pot! If so - you are welcome - I believe the stones you boil with them are infinitely more preferable to the pukekos!
kendall40, Feb 12, 12:08am
Unfortunately I am not able to have a dog - section not suitable, and have neighbours around so I don't think that shooting them is possible. How do you catch them to relocate? I am not too nimble on my pins any more!
jaygee1962, Feb 12, 2:41am
Have you got a water source that might make your section attractive to the pukekos? We found when we no longer had a horse and emptied all the water troughs the pukes disappeared pretty much overnight.
whitehead., Feb 12, 4:43am
you need a good rock and you cook with the pukeko for three days then toss the bird and eat the rock . beleave me they are like string to eat
mottly, Feb 12, 4:47am
x1
They'll wipe out your chooks, just like they do with ducks. Don't harm them, just shoot them, flying rats
oh_hunnihunni, Feb 12, 5:18am
I once watched a group of pukes literally jump up and down on an fruit laden orange tree till the thing was smashed to pieces, just to get the fruit. And what they do to swan and duck eggs and chicks has to be seen to be believed. Horrible creatures - but they make terrific trout flies.
kendall40, Feb 12, 5:47am
I would not be able to get anyone to shoot them as I have neighbours on 3 sides and a road on the other. I am now absolutely convinced that they must go! Thank you all for the information about them.
How do you trap a pukeko? If I could do that I could remove them one at a time maybe. They do seem to be multiplying. How many times a year do they nest?
piquant, Feb 12, 6:01am
Try Fish and Game. I tried all sorts of places as I don't (and won't) have firearms in the house. Much as I hate the bloody things - I could never bring myself to purposely kill anything - including pukekos. They did send round one of their hunters who dispatched a few but by no means solved the problem. You might try explaining your situation and hope that they can come up with a solution to your problems. But as they say - don't hold your breath! Good luck.
kendall40, Feb 12, 6:07am
Thank you. I shall do that.
harold651, Feb 12, 8:49am
just get them shot, they're a pest and and a menace to native wildlife as well as themselves.
They're cannibals and territorial so if too many saturate the area they start eating each other.
ianab, Feb 12, 9:19am
Well technically they ARE native wildlife.

Just they have the attitude, strength and beaks to stand up to introduced predators, so that haven't gone the way of the Takehe.

Having said that, they can be a pest if you are over run with them, and trying to keep chickens.

A good slug gun can be quite effetive. They are smart enough that you don't have to kill many.
kaddiew, Feb 12, 9:49am
The resident pukeko at our local supermarket is a real character. Knows how to open the automatic doors, stands on one leg on top of the trolleys outside so shoppers feel sorry for him and buy him food, and doesn't mind being picked up. And yes they do have strong beaks; having him stand on your feet while he 'grooms' your shins hurts.
cleggyboy, Feb 12, 8:54pm
Sorry for the typo.
That stone theory is another old wives tale, I had eaten hundreds over my life time, used to casserole them, but much easier now with a crock pot.
Wish I had access to them and wild rabbits I miss all that game now I am to old for shooting.
coop19, Feb 16, 2:57am
The trouble with Pukes is that they are just as active at night so although you can be successful at keeping them away during hours of daylight they get very brave at night and will raid gardens/henhouses etc. they can fly quite high and soar over our twelve foot macrocarpa with ease. Also capable of running up and over netting fences when caught in the henhouse and unable to fly out. True survivors who will probably outlive us all.
oh_hunnihunni, Feb 16, 6:15am
They're Aussie swamp hens.

Overstayers, lol.
kendall40, Feb 16, 7:08am
I decided that not only are they intelligent but are mind readers! Since I have been thinking death and destruction to them, there are only 3 around. The others have gone. Of course, they could be nesting to produce yet more!
kenw1, Feb 16, 7:13am
x1
Get some bird wheat, get them trained up a bit first on a trail of chook mix, and then feed the b'stards that bird control wheat, then control them, permanently.
kendall40, Feb 16, 7:19am
Trouble is I don't think it kills large birds and I am a total wuss and wouldn't be able to finish them off. I am loathe to ask someone else to do the dirty work when I cannot do it myself. Guess I was hoping for a way to catch them and transfer them to somewhere they wouldn't be a nuisance to someone else.
kenw1, Feb 16, 8:34am
It makes them very very slow and an easier target. We had so many ruining our flower crop that we got a permit from Forest & Game to cull them. They are damned hard things to kill, you need a good size shotgun pellet to get through those armour plated feathers.
harold651, Feb 16, 4:06pm
birds such as Pukeko are also smart I've done airfield bird control and they worked out the maximum range of the shotgun pretty fast,
they flew away when the vehicle we used came out so we had to change vehicles.
Then they noticed the orange high visibility vests and flew away so we went to Green Hi viz.
they have also pretty much worked out the safety envelopes for what angles we can fire the gun so it's now even harder to get a shot at them.

If you can my advise is a rifle, .22LR
cobs, Feb 16, 9:12pm
They are a real PEST! We had a BIG problem - invaded us! We would go to work come home and a large part of the garden would be dug up, plants stripped, roots and bulbs stripped or eaten. Tried everything, bird scarers, cat, dog etc (goose gave them fright but only short term) - in the end 2 short visits from the Fish & Game Dept to shoot the "ringleaders" - no more problems as the others moved away and have never returned (15 years) now with none on our land but many 2kms away on the creek and other paddocks. They are very quick learners - very smart!
buller, Feb 18, 11:15am
we had quite a few pukekos and free range hens. we never had any trouble at all. In fact the pukekos seemed to respect the hens and we all got on very well
rojill, Feb 19, 4:54am
Pukeko's, being a native bird are protected.
However, all you need to do is get a free permit from DOC and you can kill as many as you like as DOC accepts that they can be a pest. If you don't get this permit' then you may be prosecuted for killing native wild life ! Stupid I know, but that's the way it is.