David Hare-Scott wrote:
"BlackShadow" wrote in message
...
arky wrote:
PIGEONS they are driving me MAD eating all my sprouts,cabbages etc.
I love the birds on my allotment but these buggers are eating more veg
than i can grow. I have put up a net but these buggers carry baseball
bats and eat viagra. everyone on the allotment is having the same
problem so would welcome any help !!!!!!!!!! I could try pigeon
pie ?


I used to have constant pigeon problems until I introduced chickens. I have
chickens roaming all over my gardens and they eat every insect that is a
problem, deliver fresh eggs, add to the soil nutrient levels AND drive off
all other ground feeding birds. I have a mix of bantams (aggressive little
critters) and various full sized breeds.

BlackShadow

I like the sound of this solution. Is there any conflict with chooks and with
natives? We have bulk ducks, magpies, butcher birds, peewees, ibises etc that
already compete for various components of ground feed.

No. The native fauna are chicken friendly. It is the introduced species
like the Indian Mynah that they physically fight with. Magpies eat the
dog's dry food in preference to just about anything else, (I feed them
plenty each morning - the dog is still a bit resentful but has grown to
accept it) the Kookaburras only hunt fish and small animals, the Frogmouth
Owls also. The lizards also help keep insects down (geckos, green & pink
tree lizards and the Blue Tongues). I also encourage wasps, (Paper, Mud,
and Hornet) they leave me alone if I don't go near their nests and they are
the ULTIMATE in insect control. Encouraging them was a bit painful until I
developed techniques.


How do you stop the chooks scratching off mulch from veges gardens or from
trees?

Their scratching basically just aerates, it doesn't do more than stir it
around.


You can also net the plants, I know several people who are sick of bird/bat
losses have had to net whole vege gardens and all but the toughest fruit trees
as well.

Bats/Flying Foxes are a problem. I used to use an automatic scare gun for
them but now with neighbours that is a no no. They are very seasonal, only
when the mangoes are ripe or near ripe are they a real problem. I also used
to shoot them with a spotlight and a silenced .22 but with the new heavily
enforced regulations regarding firearms, I have resorted to electronics.
Outdoor passive infrared floodlights and my dog, who will joyfully leap
among the trees once the lights go off and the bats land. Fruit bats make
an enormous amount of noise, they actually crash into the trees rather than
land. The bats with their two metre plus wingspans are big enough to
trigger the security lights. We get a few nights of broken sleep when the
season starts, but then the bats find greener (and darker) pastures. The
neighbours don't mind as they all have mangoes as well. The parrots are
more of a problem as I like parrots and won't harm them. They aren't big
enough to trigger security lights so we just have to suffer some losses.
Leaving alternate food out for them helps salvage some of the fruit, but
really, as the crop is always far more abundant than we can possibly eat,
the parrots share is not a real loss. There are times in the late afternoon
when the parrot population outside the house are so noisy that we cannot
answer the phone, people can't hear us. Rozella's, and Lorikeets mostly,
occasional Cockatoos. We have a lot of palms and the parrots mostly go
after the various palm fruit/dates. I tried growing coffee a few years
back, but gave up as the parrots went crazy over the beans. Coffee is about
the only area where I am not self sufficient. I drink a lot of Espresso.


BlackShadow