It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who gets upset when a barn swallow baby falls out and dies. I lost 4 babies this year, but 8 made it fine and I have 5 in one final nest right now whose lives are in the balance. I expect them out by next week). They only nest over the aisle though one couple picked a bad spot for a new nest this year (right in front of a stall door and one pooped on me one morning!). I get so worried I usually park a wheelbarrow full of loose hay under a nest of babies when they get to that teetering over the edge stage. We tried to save two of the lost ones this year, who fell out and were still alive. We put them back in the nest only to find one dead in the floor and the other dead and hanging off the side of the nest the next day. Yuck!
I didn’t read all the replies, so this might be a repeat, but:
diatomaceous earth sprinkled in the nest- chemical free and won’t bother other animals
pyrethrin spray (sold for pet birds in pet shops)
Microwaving the nest for a few minutes…but that’s not really possible with barn swallow nests
I worked on a research grant for a summer eliminating pests from nesting boxes inhabited by wild birds and observing how the lack of pests affected bird behavior using tiny video cameras in the nesting boxes…
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At least 10 nesting pairs every year. I’ve had to get quite creative in putting up shields to prevent their poop and feathers from falling into water buckets and hay areas in my stalls.
The cuties always seem to build their nests right above the most important and places in my barn.
But this year I have an additional barn swallow issue: Bird mites! (at least I think that’s what they are) and these microscopic creepy crawlies are getting all over me! Driving me crazy! Lots of additional showers!
Anyone else have this problem from barn swallows? I’ve only noticed the mites this year. Not sure what to do, if anything. 
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What I hate about my swallows:
- they nest by my stall doors sometimes
- babies fall out. ug. I hate this part
- Poop. Thankfully mine is minimal
What I love:
- I have no flies. Even SO noticed my bugs are at a minimal.
I’ve had so many dead babies this year! But no mites that I’ve noticed.
My barn becomes fully infested with swallows every year. I hate the poop but I love the birds and the happy chatter all summer! I think we must have 20+ nests in the barn right now (and it’s not a huge barn - 60 x 30 ish).
A few years ago it was an overpopulation issue where the swallows were laying too many eggs in the nests and so the youngest babies would get pushed out as soon as they hatched. I walked into my barn one day to 6 or 7 tiny barely-hatched bodies strewn about my aisleway :dead:
This year it seems like at least one baby falls out of each nest right before the babies are at the flying age…so when they’re fully feathered with just a few tufts of baby fuzz sticking out giving them the “Einstein” look (though Einsteins they are clearly not!). Usually the age at which they’re easiest to save via temporary nesting fixes.
My usual approach is to half-fill a bucket with hay and then hang it somewhere below the nest. Keeps the babies safe from the barn cats and also keeps them close enough to mom to still get fed. But this year every single one of the babies has died despite the bucket “save.” Ugh! I’m so tired of finding the poor dead babies the next day! I’ve also found the carcasses of several babies who fell out and I didn’t notice for what appears to be several days (+). I’ve never seen this many almost-grown babies fall out of nests!
