[Jimmy Splash]

are there certain kinds of veg that birds eat when they're at their early growing stages?
i grow my veg in pots at first and then plant out to the allotment but i'm wary if those pesky pigeons will eat them.
thanks

[AnneB]

They seem to go big style for the brassicas at our site, so I would net all the cabbage family.  They don't seem to touch much else at the plot, but wood pigeons at home go for the redcurrants.

[mumofstig]

Pigeons like brassicas and Sparrows like peas and beans 

[Nige2Plots]

Valid points but don't forget the ground attack...............Slugs

[sjwishart]

I've 2 blackcurrent bushes, a redcurrent bush & a blueberry bush in my garden. They did have a good yeld of fruit until they where stripped of the fruit & the plants damaged.
I am blaming a couple pigeons Ive seen in my garden a few times....
Next year I shall be covering the plants.

[RsT]

Everything in my little patch!

Latest were parsnips, not sure if they were after the plants or searching for grubs/worms, but they are now covered as well!

Biggest assault was on the Swiss chard, can safely say they love it!
Strangely they haven't touched the strawberries yet.............

[bigben]

last year I had no probs with my peas but my brasicas were attacked a bit. This year the pigeons have moved in and started nesting in the trees next to the site. They have seriously trashed my peas, and brasicas as well as my soft fruit. At home the blackbirds and squirels have been at my strawberries. Even now they are netted they still try.

[sunshineband]

We end up covering virtually everything at some stage of its life, to avoid losses to birds, foxes, grubs and bugs,  or just a persistent strong wind 

[8doubles]

Pigeons like brassicas and Sparrows like peas and beans 

and beet and lettuce and for some reason the one chilli plant that i grew from seed.

Bless their little beaks !

[mumofstig]

I guess they are extra hungry this year, I love the birds but don't it make you  when you see them eating stuff you've grown lovingly to eat yourself

Lots more requests for various nets on the Christmas present list me thinks





oops! edit for banned word

[shokkyy]

It's very bizarre how much it varies though. My garden is surrounded by fields, teeming with every variety of bird, lots of pigeons, squirrels, foxes, etc., yet I never net anything except the strawberries and nothing ever gets attacked. The only thing I seem to need to protect against is rabbits, so chain link fencing. I can only think it must be that they don't go after the veggies or fruit because there's plenty of other things they can eat in the vicinity.

[gillian62]

I thought I was having major problems with slugs on my swiss chard, until I cottoned on that it was pigeons that I needed to blame.  So they are now covered in net curtain, like about 1/2 my plot - very fetching indeed, but crops safe underneath.