Since the dairy farm near my home was turned into a housing development we've been having pigeon problems. Seems as though the dairy farm pigeons needed a new place to live and they love my paddock and barn. They've got shelter, water and feed thanks to our geese and goats. Help, I can't stand it any more. Everything is covered in pigeon droppings. Our goats water is fouled by the oils coming off the pigeons when they drink. UGH. What will get rid of them? We have hawks in the area but the pigeons are right back once the hawks leave.

Thanks Ellen

-- Ellen from NM (histepper47@aol.com), December 26, 2001

Answers

.22 birdshot works good without tearing your barn up. Outside of shooting them all I don't know of anything that'll keep them from coming back now that they've set up there. Owl decoys on the peaks of the barn might help some.

-- Dave (something@somewhere.com), December 26, 2001.

We strung electric fence wire up in the rafters to get rid of the birds. Just string it about 3 inches above the boards, yes you will kill some of them, but most will simply leave. After several months of this, then once again in the spring, we have NO birds in the dairy barn. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), December 26, 2001.

Had a problem like yours a couple years ago. Guns were tried, but you get only one shot and there gone. Then back again later. Time waster for me. I solved the problem by catching a few and exterminating those manually. The rest soon left as I guess they saw it was a danger to reside there. I took a fish landing net of large size, duct taped a long bambo pole to it, like comes in a carpet roll, then went in on the darkest nights. Used flaslight just enought to net them off the roost. They can't see in dark. They stopped roosting there after a couple raids. Don

-- Don (dairyagri@yahoo.com), December 26, 2001.

Hungry cats.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), December 26, 2001.

.22 birdshot and a crockpot or, as Jay noted, feed them to barn cats to acquire the taste.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 26, 2001.

Just sprinkle some feathers on the floor or place a controled fire in the barn, like in a charcoal portable grill.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), December 26, 2001.

I've never had much use for tom cats, but they can do a great job on pigeons once they get the taste for them. But for quick work, have someone scare them out of the barn so they come out in a flock and put a few shotgun shells of birdshot into the group. You'll get a number of them that way, and a few times of that treatment will discourage a lot of them. As with most problems, though, it's a do a little here, do a little there, kind of job. Just winnow them down where and when you can, and after while you'll see results.

Be specially careful about spilled and wasted feed, and if you see a nest being built, wait until you see the bird sitting on it then pull it down and destroy it. Encourage tom cats. :)

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), December 26, 2001.

Okay, so my neihbors cat is sooo fat (thanks to the pigeons) he's having trouble getting over the fence. My husband and his friend were shooting the bb gun at them yesterday and even tossed some of the one's he's killed up on the roof of the barn. THEY JUST DON'T CARE. My dog even gets some of them. She thinks it's great, really starting to like squab (ha ha).

-- (histepper47@aol.com), December 26, 2001.

Sell them to hunting dog trainers. Pigeons are a hot comodity for gun dog training. Post an add on your local net bulletin board and you'll probably get folks who are willing to pay for them, or to catch them. I can sell my pigeons for $2-4 a bird at times.

-- david dati (drdati@mwt.net), December 26, 2001.

Don is right, you have to catch them to get rid of them. They can't see or fly in the dark.

The hardest part of this task is what you are going to do with them once caught.

-- westbrook (westbrook_farms@yahoo.com), December 26, 2001.

I hadn't thought until recently about our "former" pigeon problem, but a neighbor we had feed our goats while we were out of town commented on how he was having problems with pidgeon droppings on everything. I suddenly realized we didn't have any this year. Usually we have dozens swooping in and out of the duck and chicken areas as well as into the barn. He commented that it was because of the guineas we have now, that they are known to drive the pigeons away. Now, he's been wrong about a lot of other things, but for some reason, the pigeons have moved away. Could it be?.... Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), December 27, 2001.

Pigeons taste really good fried in bacon grease :))))

Tracy

-- Tracy (zebella@mindspring.com), December 27, 2001.

Actually shooting them and eating them is a great way to reduce the population or at least make them roost somewhere else, we always picked the feathers off the breast and cut out the breast and then bake it with butter, it is a dark meat and very delicious, doves are also good eating but are a little smaller. You could also try one of those fake owls, they work at first then the pigeons will roost on them too. They do have people that trap them but I don't have the particulars on that. Good luck

-- Dave in Ohio (dr43147@yahoo.com), December 27, 2001.

My brother has raised racing homing pigeons for nearly 20 years now, and getting rid of them isn't easy. We always had city pigeons coming around, pigeons are pretty gregarious. If you have a lot of birds now, plan on attracting others really soon.

You can kill a lot of birds by stringing fishing line across the openings when they fly in and can't see the string. I know this works, 'cause my brother's birds occasionally hit a telephone line and were severely injured; unless we caught it, neighbors's cats had an easy feast.

If there is a place where the pigeons go that other your animals don't, bird snares would work in a pinch. Get a broomstick, tie loops of fishing lines onto it, the birds land and get their feet / toes entangled and presto, easy catch. These snare entangle ANY bird which lands on the sticks. Place the snare anywhere birds have a view; they normally land somewhere close by the food source to check out the area carefully before flying down to eat.

If food is always available, you might want to try just feeding enough so that your animals eat all the food. Just hang around, the pigeons will probably hold off.

Take advantage of the pigeon doo; I understand that it makes great fertilizer, doesn't have as much ammonia as chicken and can be used almost immediately.

Hope this helps you with your problem.

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), December 27, 2001.

You can use an Owl decoy, that will keep the away. Recently I saw one on the roof of the Medford OR.

-- hendo (redgate@echoweb.net), December 27, 2001.

I have found that anydaytime tricks just did not scare them off. There fast and hard to hit with the gun. But it seems the night raids had a scaring effect as I think they know there sitting ducks in the total darkness. As to killing them in the net I mentioned. Crude, but quick---foot on the head, while still in the net, shake it out and go for more. Don

-- Don (dairyagri@yahoo.com), December 27, 2001.

There is a very sticky product that you put where the birds roost. It gets on their feet and feathers. They hate it. Do not know the product name but it does help. Perhaps someone could think of a homemade product that would work.

-- ed (edfrhes@aol.com), December 27, 2001.

What if you feed them rice? I seem to recall that weddings started using bird seed because rice was deadly to birds. Might work to eradicate your infestation.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), December 28, 2001.

Ed, I think the sticky stuff is called bird-lime. It might be a natural defense as I have heard there is a 'bird-lime' tree in California.

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), December 28, 2001.