Birds in the Barn

[masscity]

Birds were getting into my pole barn cold storage, so I bought some .22 shotshells and tested them against some of my left over pole barn tin. Dented it pretty

bad and any distance. Went to the sporting goods store and bought a bb/pellet gun that you have to pump up, 3 to 10 pumps. Tried it on the tin with different

amount of pumps and distance and dents it bad. I have some pie tins hanging over the oh doors and it helps a lot, but not perfect.

From this post I might try one of those noise makers and see what happens.

 

[MossRoad]

Reminds me of when I bought a BB machine gun. Took it in to the airport to show my friends. We were standing in that bird hangar I mentioned. There were no planes inside. He told me to shoot it at an old auxiliary power unit sitting on the other side of the hangar, about 75' away. So we loaded it up with BBs, put on a can of freon, pointed and pulled the trigger. We were quit impressed with the stream of golden BB's leaving the barrel. Even more impressed when they hit the metal side of that APU and promptly returned direction right back at us!

AHHHHH!!!! All we could do was throw our arms up in front of our faces and dance! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW!

We didn't do that again.

 

[TractorGuy]

Well, I don't want to kill the little buggars. I just don't want them pooping on my equipment. I think I'll pass on the shooting suggestions.

 

[MossRoad]

This person has it on compressed air. When ours were on freon, they were good for about 5-6 bursts before the freon would boil and freeze up. So you have to either warm up the freon or switch cans. The novelty of spraying BBs wore off soon. I still have two of these things in my basement. Someday I may convert them to CO2. With the advent of paint ball guns, this shouldn't be too hard.

 

[MossRoad]

Well, I don't want to kill the little buggars. I just don't want them pooping on my equipment. I think I'll pass on the shooting suggestions.

Yep. Just passing along some old experiences. With big open doors, or no doors, it's an invitation to nest. You could eliminate the nesting spots by enclosing the ceiling. That only works in garage-type settings. Can't see doing that in a barn.

 

[denchen]

Many years ago, I got in the company of a Mr Morgan. He was the grandson of the the original Mr Morgan that made light weight sports cars. Anyway various things were discussed and it seems `grandad had years ago put two dead owls in the factory paint shop to keep the birds away. They worked, and apparently, even though they were not then recognized as owls, they were still there and the birds keep away. It was thought the rough shape and the feathers moving very slightly was the thing that the birds did not like. As well as owls, I`ve seen black plastic cats with eyes like glass eyes sold as bird deterrents, but as I`ve never used them, I cannot comment. Also, years ago on dads farm, we always had what we called `pepper shot` cartridges. They were 12 bore cartridges for shooting rats and things. You could shoot a rat between a cows legs, that would kill the rat and the cow would only kick its legs a bit. I would say they would take out a bird in a barn, without damaging the shed, although its fair to say they were not very long range.

 

[JethroB]

For me it’s sparrows. Little buggers find openings around the soffits and eves of my metal building. I stuff wadded nylon bird netting where I see them entering and hang strips of Mylar reflective ribbon around held by small magnets. I like to think it’s working but every spring the battle renews.

Amazon.com : Reflective Scare Tape, Double Sided Tape to Keep Away Birds, Pigeons, Crows, Woodpecker, and More (1” by 298 ft) : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon.com : Reflective Scare Tape, Double Sided Tape to Keep Away Birds, Pigeons, Crows, Woodpecker, and More (1” by 298 ft) : Patio, Lawn & Garden

www.amazon.com

 

[MoKelly]

Reminds me of when I bought a BB machine gun. Took it in to the airport to show my friends.
View attachment 692443

There are two sentences you never hear together anymore.

MoKelly

 

[MossRoad]

There are two sentences you never hear together anymore.

MoKelly

Yeah. That probably doesn't happen too much anymore. Ah the good old days.

 

[Frankenkubota]

I'm probably going to have to put hardware cloth or something in the soffit.

One little bird had a whole 5 foot section full of nest building material. Flew right around the new owl.

Lowe's just delivered my hardi soffit, 10 minutes ago! It might get installed this week....or maybe next month.....or next year?

I have 6 ft soffits, I think I just saw a tereldactle fly in there!

All day long i see birds flying in and out of my soffits. I don't know what to do now or what i have to look forward to.