Trendsetter ventilation and positioning questions

[jedin]

Hi all!
Our first martins last year (one successful SY pair) have left us upgrading to a new Trendsetter that arrived last week. We are thrilled with it! Because of the heat last year we ordered the ventilated doors. First question, as we are hoping to have earlier arrivals this year, should we leave the regular doors in and only switch them out later when we get into the heat of the summer? Or just begin with the ventilated doors?

Second question: We are going to put up this house very close to the placement of the pole/house from last year. We have a few gourds to put up on that old pole down the road. I know we researched distance for another house we had tree swallows in, but I can't recall what distance the martin houses need to be from one another.

Thanks, and good luck to everyone!

[John Miller]

If you are closely managing the housing, I'd recommend using regular doors until about first week in June. I'd even leave the interior vent closed. But if this were a house sitting out with minimal management, I'd prefer to see it well vented. Martins generally hole up and survive the cold periods in April-May, but excessive heat in June-July can be a killer for the babies.

A gourd rack "down the road" may not get martins until the first house is filled. So many variables it's difficult to say for sure. If one male early in the season takes a liking to the gourd rack, that might jump start it earlier. as far as how close, no hard rules either. I usually say whatever seems to fit the landscape because difficult to second guess which the martins will favor and how soon.
John

[jedin]

Thanks John. We'll be closely managing, so will leave the solid doors in and switch out later. And I haven't discovered the interior vent yet...so I'll go check it out.

We plan on just seeing how things go with this house. Hoping the pair from last year and/or the "kids" will show up. We did have a lot of what I thought of as "supervision" from several older males after the young pair settled in last year. After the young fledged we had 4 other adults daily and some over night. So I suppose we could attract some new birds.

As an aside, we also had a total of around 20 fledged TS and 15 BB. Atleast 6 of the BB wintered here and often stayed in the old martin house that was lowered to about 4 feet. We have to monitor things tightly to make sure there are homes for returning TS and they don't get the martin house.

I'm adding a photo of our 5 fledges from last year. It was taken 7/30. They continued to come and stay overnight for a couple of weeks.

[MingjoMartins]

Jedin -

I have the original prototype of the Trendsetter 16, not certain which one that your purchased but they are very well constructed martin houses. Even in the heat of summer (Ohio) - the trendsetter cavities that have the open internal vents seem to vent very well, and stay very dry in our humid Ohio weather. I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the original doors and simply having the internal vent opened to create the chimney effect.

Good luck and keep us posted!

John

[DebA]

My new Trendsetter 12 (x2) should arrive this week. I didn't order the ventilated doors and have been fretting about it. Especially after I read about your dead dogs name being yelled, John, after you completed a ventilation hole on your own. I had thought, well if it seems they are suffering I will just drill out my own. Sounds a little harder than I imagined. Or maybe it's just you. Haha.

We get super hot here too. 2 years ago we stayed in the 108 to 114 range. That was crazy. Last year wasn't as bad but consistently over 103 and spiking up higher. Funny how we aclimate and suddenly 95 was a cool day.

I would use ice packs and ran a mister on my old house. Not sure if I will need that or not now. I have heard about the venting with the chimney effect. Anyway...I am wondering if I should follow Jedin's lead and change out the doors in June. Also eager to compare notes with you and how you like the Trendsetter.

Deb

[jedin]

Thanks John in OH. I am hoping for this. Last year I had the luxury with our first ever pair of being able to pack the remaining compartments with ice. It really seemed to make a difference. We got a new one, 12 compartment, sres openings.

DebA...I'll keep you posted. I feel these trendsetters seem to address a variety of housing challenges and they are well made, nice houses. Also, you posted last year about sparrows and mentioned the old porsche for sale on the road (that you made sure not to shoot at ). Is it still there, for sale? Hubby often a porsche rehabber. Thanks

[DebA]

That's right! We sold it to a neighbor friend that lives about 3 miles from us. More like we got a new jeep top and he fixed our old tractor hydraulics, etc... I guess he has a love for that particular year of Porsche.

That is exactly how I feel about the Trendsetter. My husband had some sticker shock especially when I said no, I want two. I did have to pull out the arsenal of expensive hobby toys he's bought over the years and he just smiled. My houses should have shipped today. I'm trying four gourds underneath.

Speaking of shooting...this ammo shortage is cutting into our at the ready .22 supply. We've tried Gander Mtn, Cabellas, a small town local store, and our Walmart...and nothing.
Deb

[jedin]

DebA, What model was it. Dave has a few 356, and likes 914.

[DebA]

944. Not sure what year. I'm awake bc coyotes were real close to the house. Our 2 yr old Doberman, Roxi, went out the doggy door and sounded very aggressive. We have an enclosed a back yard so she was safe. Good girl.

[Bill Pec]

Jedin,

If your Trendsetter is similar to my unit, you will find the interior vent hole near the back of the internal side wall. There is a small metal disc covering the vent hole that is designed to pivot out of the way to open the vent.

Bill

[Carlton]

I lost babies in my Trendsetter, MSS's and gourds last June. When it gets up above 100 (We had 104 for days with no breeze and high humidity) no housing is safe. I too bought the vented access doors for my Trendsetter and will put them on this year once the temps get into the 80's. I even used misters over my houses and gourds and still lost MANY young. I do think that if I had not used the misters I most likely would have lost all the young. It was a just awful June and July in DE.

I love all my housing though and know it was just a horrible summer weatherwise. HOPE this season is not a repeat.

I keep the interior vents closed until temps get up into the 80's. They are very fine houses and I think the new vented sides are an EXCELLENT addition.

[John Miller]

Deb

I'm not sure what size hole the manufactuer is putting in his doors...I am concerned it's not as large as 7/8 inch I'd prefer, but you can double check. The vent hole in back is 7/8.

I bought a 7/8 inch metal hole saw bit (attaches to drill) to drill. It's fairly easy to drill the doors; take them off and lay flat on a board. sand any rough edges a little.

The harder part for me was that I chose in several of these houses -- I manage more than I can count - to also put a hole in the very back wall. In the 8 and 12 compartment units, this required me to get a drill extension to reach back there, and the wall there is double layer..so takes a minute or two of metal screeching, but is feasible.

I plugged everything and plan to open in early June. this is all experimental to see if seems to help.

In a pinch last summer, I wedged some of my doors about one inch open at the tops with a little stick and taped over to hold secure -- not pretty, but something to consider if you have a few late nests in July-August and extreme heat -- 100 plus -- sets in (as it usually does).

Don't let me cause anyone to panic with my hot air. I'm here in the hot city, it's Missouri but fewer cool breezes than in the country. Dave H on the other side of the state has Trendsetters on a hill, I think, and had no problems last year.

John M

[DebA]

I like your methods, John! When I heard the dog name story I thought maybe I better not tackle drilling my own holes. I cannot wait to receive the house and explore it thoroughly. We certainly get breezes out here.

Jedin, thank you for posting this thread. The forum shows there is always someone else wondering the same things as you!

Deb

[daveh]

John is correct. I do have a pretty good breeze most the time. I lost 5 babies in the wooden North Star. It was a very late nest and the sub adult parents abandoned it because of the heat I think or being young, they didn't know what to do. The Trendsetter 26 had 8 successful nests and no losses. If it would have been full, maybe there would have been some loses. I'm looking at my records and those 5 babies were the only ones I lost. There were 13-14 eggs total that I lost but they could have been not fertile and sometimes females lay eggs in the wrong compartments and leave them. It was a hot stressful year but successful. Banded I think around 255 babies.

I leave the Trendsetter vents open all the time because I might forget to open in the summertime when needed. They work well for me.

dave

[john e]

I own a Trendsetter 12, and last summer I lost 9 babies to hear. That was before I started misting. I also will be using ice packs this year.

It's hard for me to understand how these new doors are made. Can someone explain? John, you said you drilled a 7/8" hold in the doors. What do you cover the holes with when it is cold? The modified doors seem pretty expensive. Just wondering if they are worth the money or if I could do the same by modifying my existing doors.

Any comments appreciated.

John

[John Miller]

Hello John

I've become addicted to aluminum duct tape. Got started using it to cover asbestos tape on some heating ducts in a rental house to meet code.

Aluminum duct tape does't seem to leave residue when pulled off like the regular, so less risky to birds. It has a white wax paper backing you pull off. I cut the paper slightly smaller and laid over my holes, so they appear white from the ground. Martha Stewart would be proud.

I cut two 7/8 inch holes along the top of the doors. John I also cut some lengths of one-fourth inch styrofoam and insulated some of my exterior walls, thinking it may slow heat coming through when the sun is low enough to shine there -- but as you know these houses have wide porches already. Whether any of this helps in 105 degree heat, I don't know. John M