Birds pecked bale stack what to do

[jacobl741]

Today birds pecked a lot of my first cut silage stack, what’s best to do? Going to patch them all but does anyone have any ideas?

 

[nelly55]

White cheap paint,paint a circle with 2 eyes in the centre.on odd bales.

 

[The Seeker]

Get net in a big roll 50 meter x 20 or so

 

[dogglercowman1]

Net is the only way......we trap string in between bottom and next bale up and tie a tyre o shoulder of bottom bale and 2 tyres on top of every bale and then when net put on there is a cavity of 7 or 8 inches between all bales and top of net......lot of work but zero waste

 

[2wheels]

shotgun and shoot them as they are sitting on the bales

 

[Pan mixer]

Put one or two bales on top of the heap, the beaked darlings don't know if there is a predator hiding behind them.

 

[jacobl741]

Will patching them be adequate or do we think they will knackered? Nearly all the bales on the outside of the stack!!

 

[jacobl741]

And going for a net tomorow!

 

[farmideas]

Put one or two bales on top of the heap, the beaked darlings don't know if there is a predator hiding behind them.

I remember writing a piece with exactly this - the bale on top. Others have made 5 ft high plywood owls with faces painted on a swivel so they turn in the wind. Put on top.

 

[glasshouse]

Today birds pecked a lot of my first cut silage stack, what’s best to do? Going to patch them all but does anyone have any ideas?

If you can reach them, turn them upside down
I put a row of old bales in the middle on top then a net over

 

[DeeGee]

Will patching them be adequate or do we think they will knackered? Nearly all the bales on the outside of the stack!!

From experience when a nearby fire resulted in spark holes on dozens of bales, the damage is not as bad as you might fear. Yes, there was some localised mould here and there but the bales were by and large okay to be used for cattle feed and not nearly as bad as we had feared.
If you are able to access the most damaged bales and stack them with holes to the ground then it might help to seal them and reduce the spoilage, but if not then my experience suggests that the overall spoilage will be quite localised and much less than you might imagine.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Put one or two bales on top of the heap, the beaked darlings don't know if there is a predator hiding behind them.

+1, a bale at each end of the stack seems to be enough?

We're lucky with a lack of corvids but the gulls make up for their absence; especially on slug-infested pastures, and especially especially those baled and wrapped in the the darkness.

Main thing is to tip the bales onto their ends ASAP but your idea works well in both hemispheres

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Will patching them be adequate or do we think they will knackered? Nearly all the bales on the outside of the stack!!

Without seeing the damage, it likely won't be as bad on the inside as it looks from the outside.

What are you going to be feeding it to?
If they're good tight leafy bales they are remarkably poor at letting air travel beyond the immediate area of the hole, wrapped hay is a different story but by this time of year you won't have that?

Selling it is a different story, in which case I'd put another layer of plastic on the affected bales, farmers are fussier than their stock

 

[neilo]

 

[neilo]

Will patching them be adequate or do we think they will knackered? Nearly all the bales on the outside of the stack!!

They won’t be knackered if they’ve only just pecked the holes. If you can patch them with some silage tape you will certainly limit the damage. Might need a lot of tape though.

Then net.

 

[Cowabunga]

Will patching them be adequate or do we think they will knackered? Nearly all the bales on the outside of the stack!!

Depends on how long you've left them in a pecked state and how well you patch them.

I really do not understand the many farmers that leave wrapped bales where they land, all around fields, and other extended grazing enthusiasts who dump them in lines with no protection from the gulls and crows. The waste must be phenomenal.

 

[jacobl741]

Depends on how long you've left them in a pecked state and how well you patch them.

I really do not understand the many farmers that leave wrapped bales where they land, all around fields, and other extended grazing enthusiasts who dump them in lines with no protection from the gulls and crows. The waste must be phenomenal.

Patched them today, they were pecked yesterday I think. Ours were done in the stack, been stacked there a couple of months now and yesterday the birds decided to have them, never happened to us before

 

[The Seeker]

mine are self sealing anyways, the birds come along and peck them making a hole then after a month or so this white stuff slowly grows through the hole sealing it right back up

 

[andybk]

usually find its the ravens here that do the damage , especially if neighbour has a dead sheep about near our stack , they get in a frenzy , just pecking holes trying to pull the grass through , light MVF net stops it , it gets stuck in their claws so dont pitch , not to dear either £20-30 for a net to cover our whole stack of 60 bales

 

[bluebell]

had all this years ago, my view is if you go to all the cost of baling and wrapping and want good quality feed you have to do everything, like we decided to wrap at stack because yes it was easier for contractor to just leave wrapped in field but if they werent cleared in a couple of days we found birds, foxes etc would peck claw um in field? we wrap at stack , own baler and wrapper, put down rat bait scatchets under the bottom layer, and net whole stack a few old tyres on top of stack to keep net off the top and sides weighed down with those net sand bag things?