onions and shallots

I never bother. You may need to keep the birds off though.

Slugs down south are not know for touching onions and they've never bothered my shallots.

Perhaps do a trial? Sprinkle lightly around most but leave a few shallots and onions and see what happens.
Personally I think you'll be safe from slugs and snails.

Like others, I've never noticed slugs having a go at garlic or onions. On tha allotment, I am a great believer in letting nature take her course give a little to the bugs and beasts by making sure there's plenty for us. (Its a different thing in the greenhouse & polytunnel where I pick and stamp every slug I see).

However, I do hoe around things regularly and if there's a slug too slow to get out of the way it gets chopped.

Never had problems with slugs and snails on garlic and shallots.

Birds can pull the sets up before they've had a chance to take root properly. I trim-off any long ends on the sets as I'm planting, so there's less for them to pull at.   

Never had problems with slugs and snails on garlic and shallots.

Birds can pull the sets up before they've had a chance to take root properly. I trim-off any long ends on the sets as I'm planting, so there's less for them to pull at.

Birds get the blame but I believe much of this moving of sets is mice or voles. Sets covered by tunnels still get moved considerable distances.