Birds of biblical proportions

[ANTLER VALLEY]

I snuck in to do chores yesterday since the snow and ice stopped coming, and found no fewer than five trillion birds (I counted them twice, so...) they were on the feeders, in the feeders, in the water buckets, and even eating hay. I know there have been several threads about birds, but they have become more of a threat than a pest to me this year. Any advice?

[CurtisLloyd]

If you sell the birds for a dollar each the US government could get out of debt,unless Obamma starts spending....sorry wasting money on multinational corporations

[ANTLER VALLEY]

Since the daylight is short and the work is long, I've been choring a lot in the dark. I live near an industrial park and when it is cloudy-especially when there is snow on the ground like right now, the orange light bounces off the sky and illuminates the ground, so it is easy choring and normally I can actually see the deer to get a good daily count. However, this weekend I did some daytime choring and I found that in most pens where deer were feeding from the gravity feeders, there were a few dead birds. My only guess is that they get trapped inside a feed chute where the deer are feeding and the deer kill them. Anyone ever witness a deer killing a bird? I'd pay to see that, if in fact that is the reason they're dying. Can't be sure, but can't make sense out of any other theory. no dead birds laying around anywhere else. I say good riddance, but just a drop in the bucket. I bought some millet and sunflower seeds to soak in Golden Marlin, but haven't gotten around to doing it yet.

[Hunters Dream]

I had the same issue with birds especially after the recent snows. I built a bird feeder out of PVC pipe that holds roughly 20lbs of seed. I placed it just outside the pen near the feed barn. Was out there yesterday off and on hardly any birds in the deer feed.

[TRIGGER]

how does golden marlin work? it is a pellet i believe i have heard you can put out for dogs and coyotes as well but not sure how you would mix or soak it?

[NK Whitetails]

Add Pepsi to the crystals

[ANTLER VALLEY]

I don't think dogs will drink the soda-good for coons and possums. I have used milk and bread mixed with it and it did the trick for me.

[Mitch P]

AV I can tell you first hand I`ve watched a doe eat baby rabbits right out of the nest !!! I thought no way ??? I took one out of the nest and she ate it right out of my hand !!! I have no Idea why!!

[ANTLER VALLEY]

Guys, I'm really desperate here-I got some advice on a few remedies but I have more birds than I've ever seen. I'm feeding at least 350 lbs to a herd of 56, often times much more than that. These birds are costing me a lot of moeny and I'd be willing to try just about anything. Please help if you can!

[gcw matt]

What type of feeder are you using? I built my own out of 4 inch PVC and the birds don't bother it much. With a larger farm like yours maybe a few of those Frey's Dinner feeders would help or something like that? I have even covered the holes were the feed comes out with a flap of clear plastic (Like the strips that they use in walk in coolers) and the deer learn to use their nose to push it up and eat. This only lets the birds eat what the deer spill onto the ground. Other than this, I have no idea how to kill thousands of birds at a time. My 8 yr old would have trouble keeping up with his BB gun.:D

[ANTLER VALLEY]

Matt, thanks. I have some pens with the Feed-4-All and they do slow the birds because only one or two can eat from each port at the same time. Other places I'm using 5-gallon rubber pans because I'm feeding the 09 fawns and they seem to do better with something low to the ground. I'd be interested in seeing what your 4" pvc feeders look like, though-I still have 10 pens with no feeders. I don't think I'm buying anymore feed-4-all feeders. They get knocked over too easily when bucks are rutting, they plug up more than I'd like and they're a little more than I want to spend x 10.

Thanks

[ANTLER VALLEY]

It is getting worse. I thought I was ahead on feeding last night but I was actually behind, made two trips to the feed bin, which I never do, hauled 1/2 ton to 56 deer. Of course it is cold and I'm sure the deer are needing a little more but come on...it is the birds!

I ran a search on birds in the forum and could not find the thread I was looking for-last summer someone offered a tip on poisoning birds that would cause you to "have a truckload of dead birds". I'm trying to find that thread. If anyone knows where to find it, please send it my way. I may have to contact America's Unsolved Mysteries to get through to the thread.

Thanks

[ikoff]

Are you sure that it's just birds? Sounds to me that there is more than birds hitting the feed. Coons will eat alot of feed.

[TRIGGER]

I have read that golden marlin fly bait that you can get at a tractor supply or lumber store mixed with oats will do the trick. Sorry i am not real sure on how to mix though. Be careful though they say it will kill anything that eats it i would keep it away from deer or pets maybe put it up high where just the birds will eat.

[ANTLER VALLEY]

Are you sure that it's just birds? Sounds to me that there is more than birds hitting the feed. Coons will eat alot of feed.

Coons can't reach the gravity feeders.

[ANTLER VALLEY]

I have read that golden marlin fly bait that you can get at a tractor supply or lumber store mixed with oats will do the trick. Sorry i am not real sure on how to mix though. Be careful though they say it will kill anything that eats it i would keep it away from deer or pets maybe put it up high where just the birds will eat.

I have lots of experience and supply of Golden Marlin. I mixed with millet and sunflower seeds last week, but they prefer the deer feed!

[ANTLER VALLEY]

Anyone heard of DRC-1339?

[ikoff]

Try to Google it. It can only be sold to goverernment agencys or qualified pest control officers. If you have that many birds, you might want to have an exterminator come.

[ANTLER VALLEY]

Just found another poison called Starlicide. Turns out the guy I work for is a certified dealer :) probably never heard of it, though. I might be getting near the end of this problem.

[ANTLER VALLEY]

I snuck in to do chores yesterday since the snow and ice stopped coming, and found no fewer than five trillion birds (I counted them twice, so...) they were on the feeders, in the feeders, in the water buckets, and even eating hay. I know there have been several threads about birds, but they have become more of a threat than a pest to me this year. Any advice?

Here are some pictures I took of the birds' aftermath:

[ER Whitetails]

I talked to a pest control guy yesterday. He checked on the starlicide and said that its not approved for use in Indiana. He has used Avatrol before with great success. He did a job for the city of Ft Wayne and had dead pigeons everywhere. Kind of salty though
$300 for five pounds. Ive been trying the Golden Marlin. I get them coming to a bait station and then i put out the mix but they dont eat it. They go for the deer feed.
Im getting real tired of picking bird droppings out of the feed pans every day.

[ANTLER VALLEY]

The birds are back. Not the flock of five trillion I counted last year, but a strong thousand, anyway. We still haven't had any real winter weather yet, and the Starling scouts are here for their coming friends. Any new advice would be appreciated. Oh yeah, and they seem to hit the water barrels as much as the feed...like a bunch of blood-sucking food stampers. Hope that doesn't offend anyone.

[ToddM]

TRY RICE, Uncooked

[brett1again]

Phillip, try Avitrol, www.avitrol.com. I've seen it used in feedlots and it works quite well. There aren't any secondary poisoning problems as well.

[B-Rad]

Is there a airgun ASS. in your area they would love to come over and take care of your problem. If I was closer I would come and help you out. These guys are marksmen out to 50 yards and love the challenge.

[ANTLER VALLEY]

Brett, Todd, thanks. B-rad, there are way more birds than can be shot.

[Saline Creek Whitetails]

You will have a mess on your hands if you have a couple thousand dead birds to pick up. The easiest way is to ONLY have feed out at night then pick up the leftover feed in the morning. Day time feeding, hay ONLY. They WILL leave where there is no feed.

[BamaMom]

can you use the poison bait on some deer feed OUT of the deer pens so that when they die, it is away from your feeders? since they dont seem to care for the bird seed....

we have turkeys all out in the deer plots that were planted, but come turkey season, not a 1 will be found.......lol

[ANTLER VALLEY]

Picking up feed in the morning is a real crimp on a guy's work schedule. I tried the cat thing but cats figure out that my mom is a sucker for felines and they wind up watching TV with her and sipping coffee. The cats do go out to the pens but little impact, more of a mouser clan.

[RLAwhitetails]

Well i'm going to try the fly bait soaked in to sunflower seed to see how it work's, will let you know if it works or not.

[ANTLER VALLEY]

I'm going to need a lot of chopsticks...

[ANTLER VALLEY]

They moved in last week, already seeing my feed fly out of the pans

[Johnny B]

I do not know how well it would work, in Michigan the cherry farmers hang these metallic reflective streamers all throughout there orchards. Here is a link where you can find the tape. http://www.suttonag.com/VisualBirdControl.html

I dont know how deer would do with it, I suspect it wouldnt be to bad if you gradually introduced it. This is just my opinion, if it can keep flocks of birds away from wonderful cherry trees I would certainly like to think it would offer similar protection on your farm.

-Johnny B

[tom l]

i have gotten along a lot better with a pellet feed that has no whole grain mixed in it. birds seem to leave my feeders alone now. i may be sacrificing some growth? but at least the @#$% birds are gone.
tom

[dearjohn]

if they will eat a rabbits make sure they won't eat a bird before you use golden marlin.
B B gun pump it a lot so B B goes through. Don't want any tooth damage ether

[ANTLER VALLEY]

I tried raw rice last year, also Golden Marlin with millet, couldn't get them to eat anything but feed, which is 100% pellets. The streamers would be a cheap, easy thing to try...been thinking about looking for a plastic owl, but can't see that it would work for too long. I have been told and read that if you know where they are roosting, they can be scared from their roost on three or four consecutive nights and that they will leave. I don't really know where they are roosting around here-there are too many options.

[Rustyblaster]

I could show you a picture of my plastic owl with bird poop on it. Had the same problem with birds only smaller scale. I switched to pelleted feed until they moved on. Nothing more satisfying than blasting a shotgun round into the bunch of them. Three is my max one shot bust but had a friend get seven with one blast!

One day I saw a hawk swoop in and blast a cardinal right off the fence. A poof of feathers at impact. I now have a hawk nesting in my pen. Guess there is more than one bird that has discovered the location of abundance of food.

[ANTLER VALLEY]

Rusty, thanks...but, still no relief for me. Even if I had a dozen friends who could lick 7 with each shot, it would still be a long winter...shooting is not the answer with this many birds.

[Tim Matthews]

50 percent mix of anti-freeze for a bird bath works.

[Tim Matthews]

Keep it away from the deer.

[ANTLER VALLEY]

50 percent mix of anti-freeze for a bird bath works.

YES! That is the kind of easy, cheap solution I was looking for. Can't wait to try it out.

[ANTLER VALLEY]

50 percent mix of anti-freeze for a bird bath works.

Tim, I've had great results in just a week of putting that stuff out. I don't see any dead birds, but more imporantly, no live ones, either! Thanks again!

[Sandridge Whitetails]

You will have a mess on your hands if you have a couple thousand dead birds to pick up. The easiest way is to ONLY have feed out at night then pick up the leftover feed in the morning. Day time feeding, hay ONLY. They WILL leave where there is no feed.

Phillip - I agree with Saline Creek. Here in Illinois we have grackles and starlings to deal with, along with sparrows. Yes, they crap in the feed, but you might be surprised just HOW MUCH they eat. In your case, because it sounds like you have lots of birds, you may not be surprised. :)
The way I worked was like this: I figured how much they would eat throughout the night, and then feed ONLY that much just before dark. That way you won't have to worry about the hassle of messing with the scraps in the morning. And like Saline Creek says ''They WILL leave where there is no feed.''
Deer do not need to have grain available 24/7. What they will eat of a night is enough for them. My deer are fat and absolutely huge, and grow antlers outside their gene pools I've bought into.
Always seems to be something biting us farmers in the butt...so good luck Phillip!

[ANTLER VALLEY]

Mark-I haven't had any dead birds to pick up. Yes, I know how much feed (and even hay) those free-loading birds can consume. As I've understood from others, these birds call out a warning cry to the others when something is wrong. My guess is that is what happened-a couple got to feeling bad, scared the others off, and wobbled off to die. I haven't seen one drop of manure in my water tank since last week, a huge victory! As for setting feed out only at dark, I have also found that my deer do eat different proportions on different days/nights. I put out enough for 24 hours, and they only eat 25% in the first 12 hours, then the last 75% in the last 12 hours, which is in the daylight.