Bird stopper gets farmers hooked

Noticing birds flying into their water tank and family members often experiencing stomach bugs, schoolboy Brad Martin invented a gadget to stop the disease-dropping pests from getting into their water supply.

The Matarau Primary School 12-year-old was promoting his invention called "Bird Stop"' in the innovations tent at Fieldays this week.

He won his school's science fair contest recently and exhibited at the National School's Science Fair where he won best overall and he is the youngest competitor at this year's Fieldays.

Brad says the portable gadget with a plastic ballcock attached to a string and sinker seals the hole in the top of the tank, stopping the birds from having access to the water which they have been leaving droppings in.

He says one bird can drop faeces up to 45 times a day, which can contaminate the water and cause serious health issues, including stomach illnesses in humans.

"We had a real problem with bird faeces in the water. We had seen a few swallows flying into the tank.

"Everyone was getting sick all the time ... we needed to stop the birds from getting into the water tank ... Bird Stop does that.

"It sits on the hole and the birds can't move it. It's really important because bird crap carries 60 different types of diseases."

When On The Land caught up with Brad, dozens of farmers were listening to him as he demonstrated how the contraption works.

"There seems to be an awful lot of interest in it."

Brad sells his Bird Stop for $35. If you are interested in buying one or knowing more you can call him on 0274810450. He's also looking for an investor.

Meanwhile, the first day of Fieldays was bustling on the first day of the 45th event with 26,648 people through the gates on Wednesday.

Event manager Vanessa Richmond says it is typical for the first day of the event.

"The crowds turned up for our opening day and we're very pleased to be bringing everybody an extra special event this year with several new or reformatted areas.

"There has been a huge interest in our Innovations with its new format competition which has attracted amazing entrants."

Another busy area on day one was Kiwi's Best Kitchen which was extremely popular with visitors enjoying the new layout and demos from chefs, including Josh Emett, and the eight Rural Bachelors competing at this year's Fieldays.

Fieldays runs until Saturday with gates open 8am. Entry is $20 adults $15 children. For more information visit www.fieldays.co.nz