How to Rid a Barn of Birds

Birds in the barn can cause messes, noise, and they eat your other animals' food. The most common culprit is the barn swallow. They are protected by federal law, so if they have laid eggs in their nest there's nothing you can do to them legally. However, there are a few methods to deter barn swallows from nesting in your barn. It takes a little time and energy, but you may be able to trick them into leaving your barn alone.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Soap, water and a sponge
• Toy snakes
• Fake owl
• Reflective tape
• Slick paint and paint brush

Keeping Out the Birds

1. Investigate the nest to make sure there are no eggs. If you don't see any, then knock the nest down. Clean the nesting area with soap and water and scrub all the mud away. This may keep the birds from recognizing their nesting site.

2. Lay large real-looking toy snakes around the rafters of the nesting site. Snakes eat birds and eggs, so the barn swallows may think the snakes are real and stay away.

3. You can also place a large, scary-looking fake owl in the nesting area. This may work for the same reason the snakes do: Birds are afraid of owls.

4. Hang long, thick strips of reflective tape from the ceiling so that they dangle and shine. This will catch the light and keep the birds away from their nesting site.

5. You can paint the beam where the nest was with slick paint. Barn birds like to build on barn rafters because they have rough surfaces, so if their nesting area becomes slick, they may not want to rebuild their nest in the same place.

Tips & Warnings

• The main thing to remember is to keep an eye for nests and knock them down as soon as you see them and see that there are no eggs inside.
• You have the option of hire a professional to relocate the birds, but this can be costly and more birds might show up.

References

• How to Get Rid of Barn Swallows