Crows spoiling bales

[kill]

If bales are damaged by crows then roll them over so damage in under the bale when stacked as water entering the bale is what actually dose the real damage and not the holes really.
Tape is virtually wasting money in my mind.

 

[Wilksy]

Nice looking job.

Knew a guy who was plagued by rooks and built a mahoosive ladder trap. As I recall, he got around 3-400 over a couple of weeks, moved it around a bit.

Cheers Steve,
Blimey that’s some going, farmers going bait this one with grain and lift one top panel out, get them used to coming and going,he said never empty one in day light or you never catch another one in it

 

[steveR]

Absolutely crazy, I wont say where it was, but you see the nests in the woodlands nearby, I can believe he would have been getting there even with some "farmer inflation"

To "control" the caught rooks, they went in wearing a full face helmet and a heavy long coat! Might have been him that said it should be done at night... as you suggest.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

I’ve got two ladder traps to make for this very reason

I was going to say ladder trap, I have one I made in the french barn waiting to put up, I will do it this week. What do you use to bait it? And how do you dispatch the crows you catch? I have caught crows in the past in a Larsen trap, but thought I may get more in a ladder trap.

 

[Wilksy]

I was going to say ladder trap, I have one I made in the french barn waiting to put up, I will do it this week. What do you use to bait it? And how do you dispatch the crows you catch? I have caught crows in the past in a Larsen trap, but thought I may get more in a ladder trap.

That trap will be baited with grain but eggs or carrion, and dispatch with a priest or neck them, leave it baited and open for them to get used to it, come and go as they please, then shut the door and close the top so the only access is through the ladder and jobs a good in’

 

[Ffermer Bach]

That trap will be baited with grain but eggs or carrion, and dispatch with a priest or neck them, leave it baited and open for them to get used to it, come and go as they please, then shut the door and close the top so the only access is through the ladder and jobs a good in’

Will do tomorrow, thanks

 

[Sir loin]

The only way to stop the crows but we have problems with rabbits in the bottom bales.

 

[Stw88]

The only way to stop the crows but we have problems with rabbits in the bottom bales.
View attachment 945880

Not just us then, rabbits or rats in the bottom. Birds on the top! Put them secure covers on and they holed a few bales with the wind flapping the covers. (We’re pretty exposed and get a lot of wind) Can’t win! tried stacking them bean tin which stopped the birds but the wind ripped the wrap off the outside bales.

 

[Little squeak]

Try stacking the bales in a different place. 35 years ago when I started making round bale silage I stacked them in the field and they got totally ravaged. I now stack them in the yard between a tall shed and a hedge with electric wires over it. All the birds prefer to land on the taller items giving them a better view of the surroundings. I have had no bird damage since putting them in that place. Other locations in the farmyard not between 2 higher roosting places were less sucesfull. I don't use covers at all now.

 

[Ryan774-80]

Blimey! Cocky buggers coming in buildings!!

They kept coming in our sheep shed last year had to have radio 1 going all day. They didn’t like their friend hanging off the cantilever much either.

 

[neilo]

Cheers Steve,
Blimey that’s some going, farmers going bait this one with grain and lift one top panel out, get them used to coming and going,he said never empty one in day light or you never catch another one in it

We have many hundreds of rooks roosting nearby (lots of trees & woods here) and I have a 3/4 built ladder trap in the shed.....on the ‘to do’ list for a couple of years.
Unfortunately, we also have plenty of do-gooders about, resulting in my neighbour’s trap getting broken up a few years ago.

Is there any reason you couldn’t mount a ladder trap on an old harvest trailer, then cart it away for the ‘dispatching’, so that it was out of sight of the remaining birds & those do-gooders? Surely they’d still go in once they were used to the parked trailer?

 

[Stw88]

Neighbour has a trap just out of sight behind a shed. Will be getting on for 2000 jack doors and rooks in the last 18 months. You wouldnt think it the amount that’s still about.

 

[Wilksy]

We have many hundreds of rooks roosting nearby (lots of trees & woods here) and I have a 3/4 built ladder trap in the shed.....on the ‘to do’ list for a couple of years.
Unfortunately, we also have plenty of do-gooders about, resulting in my neighbour’s trap getting broken up a few years ago.

Is there any reason you couldn’t mount a ladder trap on an old harvest trailer, then cart it away for the ‘dispatching’, so that it was out of sight of the remaining birds & those do-gooders? Surely they’d still go in once they were used to the parked trailer?

Can’t see why not, like you say once it’s been there a while, trick is to let them use it freely for a bit, if you can spare the trailer give it a try, I think you would have to cart it away after dark though just to be sure you didn’t tip off there mates, had a few larsens smashed up in places way off the beaten track, I think Basc sell a plaque stating the law and rules regarding trapping but they only stop an honest person

 

[TexelBen]

The covers aren't too expensive and they don't have to save many bales to pay for themselves.

I will send you details tomorrow.

Can you send me.details too please

 

[Sid]

Bales with holes in field....they joys of a combination.

Oh its so much quicker, cheaper, easier.

Not if you have 10% wastage due to damage.

Thousands of bales used this year and not one has any significant spoilage. 6 layers wrapped and stacked within 6 hours.

 

[Greythundercloudys]

Remember in around 95, dad got a Newlands bale wrapper from kerrs at linthgow, reversing type, we, ll we or he bale every field and l wrapped them behind a claas44 baler, so buy the time we got them lifted they were all picked and had went soft in the field, lost about 30 ewes with listeria that winter, so next year he bought a static one and just wrapped them at the pit, now everyone gets 6 wraps and stacked like cans, true you learn buy your mistakes.

 

[hally]

The covers aren't too expensive and they don't have to save many bales to pay for themselves.

I will send you details tomorrow.

You can send me details as well, mine are about knackered

 

[hally]

Can’t understand the logic of using clear wrap, tried it on a farm I worked on at Hexham nearly 40 years ago when the idea of wrapping was being developed and the bales were destroyed as the birds could see the seed heads, so concluded black was best ( other colours have been developed since obviously).
This year no bird damage but rats have spoiled a few sheep bales that have had to be fed to cows despite us throwing 50 packets of bait amongst the stack as we were building it.
Trapping them at the moment with good success other than they are eating all my chocolate

 

[TexelBen]

Can’t understand the logic of using clear wrap, tried it on a farm I worked on at Hexham nearly 40 years ago when the idea of wrapping was being developed and the bales were destroyed as the birds could see the seed heads, so concluded black was best ( other colours have been developed since obviously).
This year no bird damage but rats have spoiled a few sheep bales that have had to be fed to cows despite us throwing 50 packets of bait amongst the stack as we were building it.
Trapping them at the moment with good success other than they are eating all my chocolate

I've been using cheap own brand Nutella to good success

 

[hally]

I've been using cheap own brand Nutella to good success

I’ll try that, can’t be done with feeding all my best chocolate to rats