Kitchen Garden Forum

Birdies have been jumping on my netting to have a nibble of my brassicas and have neatly trimmed most of my lettuces. My neighbours don't even cover their's & not a peck in site! They have chickens on their plot - do you think the chickens scurrying around put them off?

Personally I'd have thought the chance of a few loose feed pellets would have attracted them & be more appetising than some greenery & as they had landed anyway would have ago at other stuff.

Westi

yes, it's annoying. They've been trying to have a go at mine too, even though we put out generous supplies of bird food on the bird table. Actually it's the wood pigeons here rather than the feral pigeons. I think they just like a bit of variety in their diet!

Dear Westi, the only thing i can think of is, your crops must be a lot tastier.

Of course OH! Obviously!

x Westi

On a serious note Westi, I think you need to raise your netting a little higher so their beaks won't reach. Annoying all the same.

Beryl.

I had the same problem and, for lack of anything else to hand, hung up some old CDs. Amazingly it seems to have worked!

I tried CD's before, along with everyone else and they stopped working as the birds got used to them I think. However, no one seems to be using them much at the plot so might give them another try as hopefully the birds will not be so used to them having had a break.

Thanks Flanjamin

Yes my experience has not been brilliant with them before, which is why i was surprised they worked this time. Maybe not being on an allotment site the birds are a bit thick?

Ha Ha spoke too soon, pak choi decimated, dill vanished, lettuces shorn. Chicken wire has now been deployed. Anyone know how to make a scarecrow?

Hi,
Pigeons are the least of my worries as we now have bunnies on the allotment! So in netting everything, even potatoes they had a go at, the pigeons cannot reach anything but I have learnt to use hoops to stop the overweight birds sitting on the netting.
Just waiting for the badgers , maybe they will dig out the bunny nests since they seem to destroy everything around here even the bees nests get dug out and I haven't seen a hedgehog in years.

Heigh ho at least it is sunny,but the night temps need to rise a bit.

Hilary