Birds are destroying my crops

[Bill1964]

Hi, I am a farmer in Victoria, Australia and since this year birds started eating at my grapes.
Can someone help with telling me the best way to get rid of birds from my vineyard?

Thanks a lot for your help.

 

[davidroberts30]

gun?
couple of old retired guys out metal detecting(mobile scarecrows)?

 

[Simon Chiles]

Hi, I am a farmer in Victoria, Australia and since this year birds started eating at my grapes.
Can someone help with telling me the best way to get rid of birds from my vineyard?

Thanks a lot for your help.

These
https://www.birdcontrol.net/

are the most effective thing I’ve found, although I know nothing about farming vineyards. They are quiet and easy to use. Basically the birds think it’s a bird of prey hovering over them so go elsewhere.

 

[Exfarmer]

in a lot of Europe they put mesh over the crop. I am surprised it has not been an issue before

 

[Bogweevil]

Nets, parakeets worst problem, need to a good cold winter to thin them out a bit. Those Euro Continental people use overall nets for hail protection. Hail seldom a problem in UK vineyards so we just use drape-over or sidewall nets.

 

[Chae1]

When i worked in Australia they injected a sheep with a chemical used in growing citrus fruits. It dropped dead, and the birds that ate the dead sheep dropped dead pretty quick.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Dear god....surely the vegans would be in uproar if you shot anything eating their foods... wouldn’t want them to starve though would we...

 

[whiteford]

Same way they do it in New Zealand, put nets up and chase them out!

 

[Dry Rot]

I think it was R4 at sparrow fart, anyway too early for my brain to be up to speed, but I clearly heard that they had a serious sparrow problem in China. So they called everyone out to scare them and keep them on the wing. It sounds incredible but apparently millions of the birds died from exhaustion. So all you need is a few million Chinese immigrants. Problem solved!

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b&q=chinese+sp[arrow+problem

 

[stewart]

We spray ours with a folier feed that tastes like sh!t, birds don't generally come back for a second bite.

 

[essexpete]

We spray ours with a folier feed that tastes like sh!t, birds don't generally come back for a second bite.

And the wine?

 

[stewart]

And the wine?

I'm growing fruit not grapes and we spray before flowering so may not work for grapes close to picking.

 

[Gone Shooting]

Shooting season nearly over - send 10 first class tickets and 5 star hotel booking for a couple of weeks and I am sure I could round up some guns and we will pop over - no charge to a forum member of course - pm me with suitable dates.

 

[Bill1964]

Hello, thank you for your reactions, I am sorry for the late reply, I could try the bird repellent but my neighbor told me he already tried a lot of solutions including the bird repellent but the birds kept coming back. I feel that netting is a good option but it is very expensive and I would rather find a cheaper option.
Shooting is not an option for me as I believe there should another way to repel these birds in a more friendly way.

 

[davidroberts30]

if your shooting is like mine they are quite safe

 

[Brisel]

Hello, thank you for your reactions, I am sorry for the late reply, I could try the bird repellent but my neighbor told me he already tried a lot of solutions including the bird repellent but the birds kept coming back. I feel that netting is a good option but it is very expensive and I would rather find a cheaper option.
Shooting is not an option for me as I believe there should another way to repel these birds in a more friendly way.

How about a bird of prey? A mate of mine spends a few months of the year at Marlborough in New Zealand flying hawks & falcons around vineyards to do just what you need.

 

[Ronald M.]

Hey Bill, I had the same problem last year and I managed to solve it with a laser deterrent. https://birdcontrolgroup.com/automated-laser-bird-repellent/

 

[Bill1964]

Thank you all for the tips, I will look into it and see what the perfect fit would be for my vineyard.