broad bean seedlings under attack?

Probably a silly question, but my (first ever!) broad bean seedlings are just coming through, and it looks as if one of my friendly birds is trying to do a little helpful weeding on them...

What is the best way to protect them? the old "string woven over the seed-bed" method, or is there another more affective way?

 

I've seen chicken wire shaped into a half tunnel shape and placed on top of the seedlings and also small twigs/canes pushed into the ground around the plants with bean netting or finer stretched between them. Both will work. But beware the open ends of such things as birds soon work out how to get in.

Steve...

 

Not only will they need protecting from birds but they will soon also need protecting from frost. The usual suggestions is to use a cloche or some type of fleece. I have never grown them so someone who has may have other ideas.

 

Ty Grannie Annie - they are aquadulce, an autumn-sowing variety that can cope with temps down to -11c, apparently. I just wasn't expecting a bird-strike quite so quickly!
Half of the rows have a cold-frame over them, half are exposed to all the skies (and beaks) can throw at them.

I think I have some fencing somewhere, I'll see what I can do....

 

You could try an experiment.

A few years ago I put a bird feeder up in my garden. The birds looked at it from safe locations near it, but none ever went to it. So I did some research. It seems that before birds feed, they case out their intended feeding area to see if its safe. They apparently wont feed if it looks like an ambush opportunity for a cat or other larger predator. My bird feeder was mounted on the outhouse wall, about a foot from the roof, so for the birdies to use it they'd have been exposed to an ambush opportunity from above, as a cat could easily get close enough using the cover of the building.

So I wonder if we could apply that principle to protect seedlings by thinking like a cat or a bird, and positioning things so that the entire seedbed looked like an ambush risk.

 

Depends what type of bird is attacking your garden, but a plastic owl keeps quite a few different birds away. or just google "bird scarers".