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Hi all!! 8)

Just planted my brussel sprouts out on the lottie yesterday!!

Already something is eating the leaves!! ::) - I assume it is birds!!

Any easy prevention methods would be most welcome!!  ???

Nobbs xx

P.S The little ba$%^rds (Sorry had to get that off my chest!!)  ;D

At the bottom of the garden where I grow my lettuce I have old CD's hanging from bits of string..............have done this before on the plot too.
This year though, I have gone for the total protection on the plot, a wood frame covered in netting,
HAA get through that pigeons!! :D

Hello Nobby,
                    I agree with Doris the only way to fully keep them of is to net them.

                           ;)

Or fleece or mesh. Kill 2 birds with one stone??

For the past three years I have placed some sawn off drain pipes on top of my sprouts and, touch wood, this always seems to have deterred the pigeons. Will take a pic next time I am up at the lottie to show you what I mean,  -  so  far so good.  :) busy_lizzie

Quote from: tim on May 18, 2005, 18:09:55
Kill 2 birds with one stone??

Wish I could

Fully agree with the netting!
After 27 yrs.,
The bl**dy pidgeons give me grief. I am fortunate, I don't suffer from rabbits/muntjack deers et. al.
Laws regarding air rifles affect the potential usage, unfortunately. ( I don't have qualms on this point).

i used the hoops of my lidl cloche and stretched some left-behind netting over this to protect my brassicas. looks all professional like ;)

we have a problem with pidgeons on the site - i also have other bird scarers to keep damage to a minimun - so far, touch wood, it's good.

Oooooooooooooooh thanks all!!!

Hopefully off down there today - On pigeon watch!!

Nobbs xx

I don't use ordinary garden netting any more, since early last year when I turned up to the plot to find a young bird caught up in the stuff and in some distress (snipped it out eventually, it gave and indignant squawk & flew off!) and then 2 weeks later a dead one (was branded a cold blooded murderer for the next week by my wife!).

So things that need protecting this year have fleece around them, I'll be keeping a lookout for resonably priced bird-safe mesh in the next couple of weeks.

Much as I dislike losing crops to birds I equally don't want to kill the local wildlife.

Down here in Somerset, the only answer is a 12 bore!!  There are some great recipes for pigeon breasts.  Not very PC but I'm certainly not going to let all that effort end up as food for sky rats!

It's not the pigeons so much (wouldn't loose too much sleep over the demise of a pigeon) but the other, smaller, birds. 

Pigeons never seem to get themselves entangled in the netting for some reason.  Too busy on someone else's brassicas & beetroot I expect.

I'm using those silver coloured liner bags from Kelloggs cornflakes - flapping around quite nicely and no bird/deer/rabbit damage yet. Oops - famous last words.
Also strung up the little foil trays that the cat food comes in - hung trays in bunches from string of different lengths, work like wind chimes.

Hi all!!

Been down the lottie today - trying upside down plastic bottles on the top of canes and tying c.d's to them at the moment.

Keep your fingers crossed!!

Nobbs xx