The Blue Birds have Arrived!!! Our insect control on the Homestead is half here now.

On our farm we have put up about 200 blue bird and swallow nesting boxes. While I do love seeing wild birds, we did not invest all this time and money into 200 boxes just so we could have birds to watch. Like everything else on our homestead/farm the blue birds and swallows have to work to pay rent for their nesting box.

The first year we moved to the homestead we only had about 60 head of cattle and that first spring/summer every one of them got pinkeye. Pinkeye is a nasty infection that cattle can get in there eyes. It is spread by flies landing on the cattle’s face and eyes. It is nasty infection that in extreme cases can leave a cow completely blind. That first summer we spent a lot of money on medications trying to keep the pinkeye under control. That next winter my dad said that he had read that blue birds and swallows eat about 850 flying insects a day. He suggested we build nesting boxes and put them up all over the farm. To be 100 percent honest I did not think this would work, but I took my dad’s advice and that first winter we built 100 boxes and put them up on the farm.

It has been truly amazing to see what these birds have done for the fly population here on the farm. We still have some flies but nothing like we had that first year. Last spring/summer with 200 nesting boxes up, we only had a handful of pinkeye infections in the herd. It has made a huge difference. We no longer use chemicals or vaccinations to try and control the flies or the pinkeye, we let nature take care of it.

There are all kinds of plans for bird boxes out on the internet. We have tried a few different styles. They all seem to work just fine. Ours are not fancy at all, they are very basic. We use hemlock lumber because it is cheap here in Kentucky. It costs us $1.97 for each house we build. In comparison it cost us about $400 dollars to treat the whole cow herd with chemical fly control. We no longer use any chemicals. These bird boxes have paid for themselves multiple times already.

An added bonus is we have an incredible amount of beautiful birds around the farm. Today while I was moving hay was the first time I saw the blue birds back. The swallows should be back soon as well. These birds work extremely hard at catching flies and in return we give them a nice safe warm place to raise their young. It is most definitely a win-win combination for us and for the birds. If you have a small or large homestead I would highly recommend building some bird boxes then sit back and enjoy the show!!!