Thatch Roof attacked by Jackdaws

[Julia33]

Hello - I'm new to this forum.

Two months ago I had my Grade II listed building re-thatched. Over the last couple of weeks I've noticed that a family of jackdaws have started to remove the thatch. Each day when I get home from work there is more and more reed on both the front and rear lawns. I'm really concerned that if they continue they will destroy the thatch. Has anyone else experienced this with a thatch and any ideas about what I can do to stop this from happening please?

Many thanks.

 

[CliffordPope]

I've seen wire netting stretched over thatch roofs - I always assumed to stop birds. But I don't really see how, if they just pull the straws as out of a pot. Perhaps they don't like standing on the netting and getting their claws tangled?

 

[Flyfisher]

I've no experience of thatch but my first thought was also wire netting that I've often seen on thatched roofs. I have a fair bit of experience of Jackdaws dropping twigs - and sometimes themselves! - down our chimneys so I can imagine the problem you're having.

Since the roof was only recently thatched, have you thought of asking the Thatcher for advice? They are likely to be the experts in such matters.

 

[formerly known as]

jackdaws are notoriously destructive. I can't see how you can stop them (given the 1981 wildlife act). Hopefully your thatcher might have some (legal) suggestions .........................

 

[tobydog]

We have similar problems with our thatch. It is covered in small gauge chicken wire but it doesn't stop the pigeons playing 'pick up sticks' every now and then. I've seen them fly off with the reed for nesting but, in the overall scheme of things, they take very little. I get more annoyed with then messing with the aesthetics of the roof and making it look scruffy. They look to be much keener on the more suitable silver birch offerings.

All wild birds are protected by the Wildlife Act but jackdaws fall under the category of corvids along with rooks, magpies, jays, etc. These are basically the one's known for being 'pests' and are, under special conditions, controllable. They are not, however, fair game for anyone with an air rifle and should only be shot by someone with a license. However, if you live in the country, it's pretty obvious that corvids are regarded as fair game at any time by any gun.

I wouldn't advocate having them shot because, like drug dealers, there will always be another just around the corner to take their place.

As your thatch is new, it's likely to stick out like a sore thumb right now. Maybe the jackdaw activity will slow down when it blends in better. You might also find that the jackdaws suddenly disappear. We had considerable numbers in our garden last year, but this year hardly any. Probably shot!

 

[formerly known as]

have a bale of straw on an outbuilding roof as an alternative target??

 

[Flyfisher]

Jackdaws are on the government's 'open licence' that allows many birds to be killed and their eggs and nests to be destroyed in order to "preserve public health or public safety" or to "prevent serious damage or disease".

This licence automatically applies to all 'authorised persons' (basically the relevant land or home owner), hence 'open'.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/393776/licence_to_kill_or_take_certain_birds_to_preserve_public_health_or_public_safety__GL05_.pdf

 

[mims&pip]

Hi and welcome

Our last house - in Wiltshire - was thatched and we did notice the occasional removal of reeds by the local birds. It was rethatched in 2008 during the previous owner's tenure, three years before we purchased and was also covered in the small gauge chicken wire. Having three cats was unfortunately no deterrent. Damage was extremely minimal though and completely unnoticeable either from ground level or from the attic bedrooms' dormer windows......we only knew as we occasionally caught the culprit in the act, so to speak :roll:

I would second Flyfisher's advice and ask your thatcher what they suggest.

Mims x

 

[tobydog]

Jackdaws are on the government's 'open licence' that allows many birds to be killed and their eggs and nests to be destroyed in order to "preserve public health or public safety" or to "prevent serious damage or disease".

This licence automatically applies to all 'authorised persons' (basically the relevant land or home owner), hence 'open'.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/393776/licence_to_kill_or_take_certain_birds_to_preserve_public_health_or_public_safety__GL05_.pdf

Thanks for clarifying the 'open' licence / Authorised Persons part. I would have magpies and jays shot for the rampaging they do through the numerous blue tit nests we encourage in our garden but that clearly doesn't qualify. I know it's just nature but it really makes me angry to see a magpie fly off with a young blue tit in its beak, with all the other blue tits clubbing together and trying to get it back.

 

[88v8]

Hello and welcome.
Surely it's covered in wire netting?

What are they doing with the thatch? Not nesting at this time of year.
Perhaps it contains grains or insects. Rats can also burrow into wheatstraw looking for ears, but not if it's netted.

What was it thatched with?

Ivor

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6043364/Thatched-roof-at-17th-century-cottage-ruined-by-jackdaws.html

http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/topic/76636-jackdaw-damage-to-thatched-roof/

 

[jonno]

I once had a terrible problem with crows. It needed a combination of things to see them off. The best items were bright scarer balloons with large mock eyes printed on them, some specialist anti-bird smelling liquid (it is intended for the ground, but, presumably, one could improvise to use it elsewhere) and a crow effigy (one hangs it upside to ward off crows, and the right way up for smaller birds). I don’t know whether these might work for jackdaws. Obviously, the balloons are too ugly to have up for long – and they kept deflating – but, surprisingly, they caused the most discomfit to the crows.

 

[88v8]

The OP has vanished. Perhaps the jackdaws got her.

If the damage is within ten feet of where you can reach with a ladder, take your pump-up garden sprayer and spray the thatch with a couple of gallons of 3% solution Jeyes Fluid. Spray when its been dry a few days so the spray will sink in.
I think that will stop them if they're after food.

Jeyes Fluid is also good to spray on north-slope valleys to prevent moss.

Ivor

 

[Flyfisher]

Jeyes Fluid is also good to spray on north-slope valleys to prevent moss.

Ooh - I wonder if that would work on tiles? Our north facing pantiles collect a lot of moss and the garage roof tiles are very badly spalled as a result (at least, I've always assumed it was the moss keeping them damp that was the cause).

 

[formerly known as]

copper strip at the ridge prevents moss - thatchers trick.

 

[malcolm]

I was going to put a copper strip across the ridge but it turns out the run off would corrode my aluminium gutter. I'm told the copper is an effective moss control.

 

[88v8]

Copper is mildly poisonous, so it might indeed.
It's better to inhibit moss on thatch, than to kill it. Moss roots into the thatch, and its removal takes a chunk of thatch along with it. Otoh, if it's left, its residual water-retaining properties encourage the eventual arrival of more moss.

Yes, spray your tiles. However, unless you can remove the old moss by brushing when dead it will, as mentioned above, continue to hold water and attract new moss. Which you can then kill with a further application.
Spalling can also consequate from a low pitch/slow runoff, or underbaked tiles. Some of the tiles in salvage yards are there because they originated from rooves that failed due to poor quality tiles.

Ivor

 

[88v8]

I was going to put a copper strip across the ridge but it turns out the run off would corrode my aluminium gutter. I'm told the copper is an effective moss control.

Copper gutters are available.
They are also effective against newt colonisation. One never sees newts in a copper gutter.

Ivor

 

[Flyfisher]

Interesting tip about copper strips inhibiting moss on tiles (and thatch). I still have some scaffolding against part of the house so will give it a try on the part of the roof that I can clear of moss with a broom. This should give a good control.

 

[steveb]

Copper gutters are available.
They are also effective against newt colonisation. One never sees newts in a copper gutter.

They are also quite effective against crocodiles

 

[Penners]

I was going to put a copper strip across the ridge but it turns out the run off would corrode my aluminium gutter.

Why not connect a garden light across the copper and aluminium and let the galvanic action save you money on your electricity bills? :wink:

I can't speak for other parts of the country, but here in East Anglia I have never seen a roof being thatched that does not have a final layer of wire netting placed across it. It's the logical solution.