It’s no secret that a dairy farms’ success relies on the health and survival of its livestock. In order to be successful, livestock must be protected from all risk factors and potential damage.
These damages can mainly be caused by birds finding their way into the barn and making themselves at home. The dangers of birds in dairy barns affect livestock operations, sanitation and usefulness of products.
Keep dairy barns bird-free with these tips:
1. Bird-Proof the Interior of your Dairy Barn
Because barns are full of food and abundant shelter, they offer plenty of reasons for birds to come around. Barn swallows are the most common intruders and as they’re known to have a talent for reconstructing destroyed nests, they continue to return and rebuild. Due to federal protections, damaging bird nests or eggs inside is illegal.
Better ways to protect your barn without harming habitats include:
- Clean up any spilled grains, oats, seeds, wheat or other sources of feed
- Store feed in sealed, plastic containers that birds can’t peck through
- Use covered feeders for your barn animals with size dimensions that exclude birds
- Monitor the water level in troughs so that it’s deep enough for birds not to stand in, but shallow enough that water can’t be drunk by a bird perched on the edge
- Place reflective tape in areas birds tend to land
- Install noisemakers to scare away birds both inside and outside
Related: Federal Regulations: What You Need to Know About Getting Rid of Canadian Geese
2. Bird-Proof the Exterior of your Dairy Barn
Protection begins with the exterior. Although the inside of your dairy barn is the preferred nesting zone for birds, taking precautions on the outside can prevent them from getting in.
Determined swallows like nesting around the barn’s doorways, eaves or rafters. Making these areas unpleasant for inhabiting or too difficult to build a nest upon are good ways to deter birds from making your barn their home.
You can do this with the following steps:
- Hang long, thick plastic strips in doorways to prevent birds from flying into barns
- Block openings to lofts, vents and eaves with wood, metal, glass or wire mesh
- Cover the undersides of rafters with netting
- Install porcupine wires or spikes
- Design or purchase traps to catch birds and release them to another location
- Place predatory decoys outside the barn
Related: How to Repel Birds
3. Use Avian Control as Your Dairy Barn Bird Repellent
It’s in your best interest to protect your livestock during the cold weather months with an effective dairy barn bird repellent method such as Avian Control. Just a few of the benefits of using our liquid bird repellent spray include:
- Protecting your livestock from contaminated bird droppings
- Preserving your feed from foraging birds
- Saving money compared to other bird repellent methods
- Replacing old and ineffective dairy barn bird repellents
4. Replace Your Other Dairy Barn Bird Repellents
Our new formula not only repels birds from treated areas but also teaches birds and barn swallows not to come back. Avian Control was designed to address the failures of previous bird repellent technologies and improve the quality of protection on your property.
Other differences which make our product stand out include:
- Non-toxic formula is humane for humans, pets, livestock and even the birds
- UV rays only seen by birds reminds them of the irritation in treated areas
- No effect on growth or taste of treated areas, ensuring your livestock and feed are safe
Trust Avian Control with Your Dairy Barns this Season
Spraying the areas in and around your dairy barn with Avian Control will deter birds before they even think about setting up new nests for the season. Protect your livestock from avian diseases and droppings with Avian Control. Call 888.868.1982 to order or contact us for more information today!
How to Protect Dairy Barns From Bird Pests