starlings!
- Thread starter glow worm
- Start date
Not yet, hope they get the postcode wrong on the satnav !
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
We have a Lazer thing that they don't like, if you scare them off quick now you might just keep the main lot away
- Location
- Wiltshire
+1 for the laser
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some details please? Heard of various balloons in the shape of hawks, real hawks and even food additives in the tmr but not lasers. No chance of being hunted down by the aviation authority?! Whilst they have no lasting result, I do enjoy using the odd rocket! 15 minutes of blissful absence of chatter although they have now recorgnised the woosh as the rocket goes up and leave before the bang, so a second rocket in quick succession sometimes catches them on the way back! Mind, I don't think the BT engineer up a nearby tree that I didn't know was there was very impressed!! and a non farming friend was was passing at the time thought something had blown up on farm!! As always around on farm, the starlings usually totally ignore you if they pitch in a tree, so I rather fancy trying a starting pistol! It would get around the 'woosh', it would just be a pain having to carry ear defenders all the time. and if worn in a holster cowboy style, how long before you were reported and the police turned up?!
Ducati899
Member
- Location
- north dorset
I've always had a gas gun going off every 10 minutes as soon as maize is in the clamp,cows don't seem bothered by it and seems to work keeping the pests away
Lol . Does that work for Mr stripey?
Still got flys here biting the cows. Do starlings eat flys? Could be the lesser of 2 evils
I'll second that about the laser. Sheds bloody full of them the now
Suckndiesel
Member
- Location
- Newtownards
Got rid of them here, shooting at them at dusk with an .22 air rifle, after about 4 or 5 nights in a row they didn't seem as keen to come back. I'd imagine they'll give my shed a pretty bad rating on trip advisor
Be careful if you have a starting pistol.I had an old one ,ex my grandad,needed fixing so took it to the local firearms dealer.One look at it and in the disposal weaponry it went .Apparently Police regard starter pistols as imitation firearms,personally I wouldn't like to be shot by plod!!!
Snap! Sudden explosion of flies 2 days ago. Thought they had gone for the season!
Point taken but when I asked in shop last year they are now apparently colored yellow or red to distinguish from 'real' guns. Big difference in price between various models but difficult to make decision without firing one to hear how loud and they weren't very keen to demonstrate in the middle of a town!!Be careful if you have a starting pistol.I had an old one ,ex my grandad,needed fixing so took it to the local firearms dealer.One look at it and in the disposal weaponry it went .Apparently Police regard starter pistols as imitation firearms,personally I wouldn't like to be shot by plod!!!
Moors Farmer
Member
- Location
- Somerset
Starter pistols are usually bright orange. There are replica blank firers available, which , i'm sure plod would disapprove of. I think orange is fine for making a noise.
In my experience .22 starter pistols are not noisy enough, even using long blanks. 8mm starter pistols are available and really do make a serious racket - definitely require ear protection. Their downside is that the 8mm blank rounds are comparatively expensive.
Ian Tremain
New Member
Hi, I'm the product manager for a product called Avianex, so a shameless post for a product I sell. It contains a polysulphide extract from Garlic and causes starlings guts ache. They eat it for between 1 and 3 weeks and slowly get the idea that they are getting sick. It has a strong garlic smell so the associate the smell with something they dislike. Ruminants have a very different digestive system so there's no adverse affect on intake and while I can't make any claims on it garlic can boost cow health too. This is year 4 of supply and it works in most but not all situations. Anyone feeding high levels of anything alkaline seem to have less success. 3kg /head/day of Caustic wheat, Home'n dry, maximom etc. seems to neutralise the effect in the starlings gut. We've run trials on cows and milk taint is the concern. However you'd need to feed 3 times the recommended rate to have any hint in the milk. For a dairy cow starlings can cause the loss of up to 1litre milk per day. Feeding it costs 5 pence a day for a 50g/day and once the starlings get sick the lower rate of 25g /day is sufficient (2.5ppd). More details can be seen on YouTube: just search for Avianex. It's sold through merchants across the country, or you can call Anode Feeds on 01278 556106 for more details. Starlings really are a pest that cause a great deal of disease and they are costly to any livestock farm, so whatever you try it's worth getting on top of the problem.
Good luck. Ian Tremain.
Good luck. Ian Tremain.
- Location
- Wiltshire
Got our laser from apm there are plenty of suppliers though. It's hand held about the size of a torch. The starlings hate the beam that comes from it. It will scare them off the trees they purch in 100m or more from the buildings. It's not as good at distance on a bright day buy will still work in the buildings. It wasn't cheap think it was just over £100.
I can't use a gas gun or the neighbours will be on the phone in 40 seconds.
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mushnt grummmble
Member
get the 12bore out and make lots of noise with it in the flying rats general direction and keep at it
ollie989898
Member
I like the idea of dropping them all with an air rifle.
A customer tried that avianex stuff and they were not deterred a jot.
A customer tried that avianex stuff and they were not deterred a jot.