We had birds in our old barn and I didn't really mind but when we built our new barn they moved over there and the battle has been on ever since. We have a 58x60 pole barn for horses and equipment.
We have sparrows and barn swallows. I don't really mind the barn swallows since they work hard eating all the bugs they can find and are fun to watch when they dive bomb the barn cats. Poor cats just learn to duck a little when they walk across open areas. They only stick around for nesting and then are gone.
We have tried OWLS: Save your money. Even when you move them every week the birds still seem to know they are fake. I hang them with filiment and they move in the breeze. After a day the birds perch right by them.
PIE PANS: Hanging from the rafters. They don't like the shiny surface and the noise when they bang. At least in theory. Didn't work.
SCARE EYES: They are big balloons with the shiny eyes that blow in the breeze. Didn't work.
CHEMICAL POWDER: Smelly and irritating. This is not the Gel, have not tried that yet. This is the white powder. Worked for a week and then the birds just kicked it off the posts. I used this on the top of the posts where they would build nests. You should see the wonderful nests up there now. Didn't work.
BARN CATS: Works, as long as the birds are stupid enough to get on the ground. I have no hay loft and the cats have no way to get up to the rafters. I have no mice though! I got 4 cats from a neighbors farm when their house burned and they moved away. Verdict: works somewhat. Expensive. Shots and spay/nueter all cats so I don't turn into one of those old people with 100 cats. Added bonus; Kids love playing with them.
BB GUN: I hate to kill but this works the best. BB gun only since I have metal siding on the barn, even then I pumped a few too many times on occasion. I can spend an hour and eradicate the birds for a while. Shoot 'em, they drop, dogs pick them up and eat them. No muss, no fuss...unless they die right up on the rafter next to the wall and bleed down the wall. I only shoot the sparrows and leave the swallows. A great way to hone your target skills on a quiet evening.
One thing I might try is CD-ROMS. I saw they did this at the Desert Museum in Tucsan. Don't know about results though. Another variation of the shiny irritating principle. I have a ton of them I could hang but it would take days to do.
SPIKES: Havn't done this but would think it is effective. Expensive for me to do all the possible perching locations in the rafters but it would stand to reason that the birds would now want the spike poking them in the butt every time they try to land.
ELECTRONIC SOUNDS: Looked into it. Didn't do it. Just wasn't convinced. The ultra-sonic sounds will disturb other animals, I asked them about it and they said it would bother the horses, cats and dogs too. Audible ones might work for a while but the program has to be changed as the birds get used to it. Audible sounds are microchip recordings of birds predators. No guarantee.
I leave all the birds alone when they have babies because I am a softy. In fact last week I returned three barn swallows to the nests that fell out.
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) ) but it did shock them and after a fright or two they stayed away there is something eles people use too but i can't recall what it is. the owls and hawk dummys are ment to be good some have glass eyes look more lifelike than painted .wind chimes etc etc work for a while oh yea any food or food trees??