Ideas for a sub floor in a Super Gourd??

[Mike Dingman]

Anyone have a good idea for a quick, easy item to put in the bottom of a super gourd to keep the nest material and the birds off the floor of a Super Gourd? I am in Florida, but we get some very cold nights for a good month or so for the early returning birds. I am prepared with hand warmers....
Thanks, Mike in Melbourne

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

I have used a small piece of 3/8in plywood, cut into about a 5in circle, but it won't fit thru the access hole, so I have cut that into half and placed those 2 small pieces on the bottom. That gives the martins a good subfloor. Then add a few pine needles. This is time consuming but the martins seem to like it.

I will say that most people simply put in a couple handfuls of pine needles mixed with oak leaves. This is very easy and should be sufficient.

Cold weather doesn't seem to bother the martins very much. They do get hungry during cold weather and sometimes starve to death during extended cold spells. Supplemental feeding is recommended to try to save the martins during such extended cold spells.

[John Miller]

I agree with Emil that pine needles probably are adequate, especially in your climate. That said, I have not made sub floors but have insulated some plastic gourds with great stuff foam insulation (comes in a squirt can) and it's my casual observation that martins like it.

Bernie N of Edmonton has described the technique, but you basically first wash/scour the interior bowl or all the interior. I think Bernie uses dishwash with ammonia, or you can use PVC cleaner. I rough it too with a little sandpaper. Wipe out and dry. Put a plastic glove over your hand and up your arm and squirt in an orange sized blob of foam and smear it around. It will dry over night and create a bumpy styrofoam barrier over the plastic, which martins may instinctively know is warmer -- it would radiate heat back toward them when they press against it. Note..the gloved hand part is important -- great stuff is difficult to remove from skin..has to wear off. And you will need to redrill or punch out the drain holes.

John

[Donnie Hurdt MN]

I have done sthe same with Natureling gourds it works great.......... And John is right, wear hand protection the stuff is very hard to get off your hands.

[Mike Dingman]

Thanks Emil, John, and Donnie:
Now I don't put all my gourds up at the beginning of the season like I used to because they come so early, we always get cold weather with a dozen birds or so. Now I put up one rack and 6 gourds and I add more to the rack as needed. That way I can modify just a few of the gourds and that makes it more manageable and that way I can confine the birds to the insulated gourds.
Thanks for all the great ideas.
Mike

[Gary W]

Hi Mike,

I think you could use a plastic lid from a margarine or butter container. They are usually 5 inches in diameter. That would at least cover the center area of a gourd, with easy placement through the access port. Of course you would have to be a user of that kind of product. I buy that stuff all the time, because I make a lot of sandwiches during the week.

Gary

[Linda Reynolds]

Mike, always good to hear from you and especially nice to hear you are prepared for 2011.

Contrary to some beliefs, cold weather DOES bother the martins, and can be as detrimental as being underfed. Cold equates to diminished or lack of food, and when martins are cold, they will not use their energy to hunt.

Keep your handwarmer supply, supplied. They have saved many of our martins when we have experienced a few early arrivals. Placing one under the nesting matererial in the gourds that are first used surely helps. At the beginning of the season when few gourds are used, it is easy to figure out what gourds are being used. Those are the gourds in which we place the handwarmers and believe me, this practice has saved martins.

Here is a link from a rehabber that you might find helpful:

http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15336

In regards to the sub-floor question, I have successfully used PPCA adhesive in the bottom of my Super Gourds and the application has held up well for five years. Much like the technique shared by John Miller, we applied a layer of PPCA and then raked it with a picnic fork. After cleaning the inside of the gourd, and then applying some PVC cleaner to etch the area, the PPCA has held firmly for at least four seasons and prevents the spinning of nests and nesting material.

Always wishing you the best of seasons, Mike.............Let us know if you need to use the warmers, and how they work for you and your colony.

[Scott D.- La]

Hey Mike,
Another way similar to Linda's, is to use Great Stuff. Get some disposable gloves and smear it around in the gourd. After it dry's, you can open the drain holes with a drill bit. The gourd must be cleaned well prior to using the Great Stuff with Acetone, paint thinner, ect. Once dry, I spray White Fusion spray paint over the Great Stuff. So far, it has held up well in my gourds and really think it helps with those cold temps in the early season.

[~Ray~Gingerich]

Maybe 1/8" hardware cloth with pine needles on top, that would give you some ventilation under the nest and if it ever gets wet it would drain quickly into the ventilated section. You could bend it enough to get through the access port. I never put a subfloor in mine but seems it would work.

[Mike Dingman]

Hi Linda:
Thanks for the post, I just now had time to read it. Merry Christmas to all.
I am going to start the process today on the gourds. I like the foam idea and I do use that for other things, I am familiar with it and how it works.
What is PPCA? Is it an insulating material? Or just a non-slip/skid material.
Thanks to everyone who shared their ideas. I bought a box/case of hand warmers, 40 of them, should be plenty. 18 hours of heat/warmer, should cover that early morning hour period when it is still very cold before the sun comes up.

[joeincan]

Try cutting off the bottom of a 1 gal plastic milk jug. Cut it about 1 inch off the bottom. See how that works. They work fine in my alum houses.