Really bad news!!!

[Kyler]

Thanks everyone for helping me get through this situation! I had no clue what to do! So thanks a lot!!!!!! I will post all the pictures when everything is done this offseason!

Thanks again!!
Kyler,

[Okie]

Helped me too.
Would it be possible to do this with the house still on the pole? I have no way to remove it & would have to hire someone to do that.
Also since I am adding a gourd rack but leave the Trio up next year, should I still go to the trouble to insulate the Trio? I had planned to leave it up permanently & use nest box traps to catch S&S. Would the traps still fit?

Kyler My last 2 fledged Tuesday. I only count 4 perching on the house & am concerned the 2 I made fledge when parents were not around never got found by the parents. Makes me sick but I had to lower it bc there was a trap in it & I had been waiting to check it until all had fledged, but had not checked it for almost a week. It did have a decomposing female sparrow in it.
Could you get your supplies while you are in Dallas??
Good luck I hope your birds are all ok when you get home.

[taxidermy lady]

Sorry Kyler and Okie, I've been gone and don't take iPad with me! You know I need a break from that stuff sometimes!!!
I use the r-max on the roof and have cork on the outside walls. John M. Was the one that suggested the cork. The r-max with stands being wet. It still looks good after 2 years for me! Good luck!!!

[Kyler]

Okie,
You have the trio that slides up and down on the pole! So I think they are basically the same house just a little different! So on mine the roof is able to be removed by a total of six screws! Three on each side of the gable end! I think on yours their are the same screws that hold your roof on! So I think if you just remove the screws! The roof can slide up the pole a ways so you can get to the top of the compartments and then you can insulate them that way!

On the traps if you insulate the inside wall of the outside wall I think if you just cut the foam board so that the door will fit! If you are having a hard time understanding what I'm talking about! Look at page 2 on this thread! Mark has posted a picture of what he did!

Also I would keep the trio up! Because the martins that used it this year will use the same compartment next year! Also yes I would insulate the trio because you are going to have martins nesting the the house! I hope this helps!!

Also I can get all my supplies here in Dallas so I think I'm going to get most of it here!!

Sharon,
Thanks for mentioning the RMax insolation! I think I will use that or the foam board that Mark mentioned!! Thanks for the help! Are you still having visitors?

Kyler,

[Okie]

Hey Kyler I might see if I can manage that myself. Where are the screws, I haven't looked yet. Can I see them readily?
I really want to try it. That house is too hot for Oklahoma. Thankfully it was ok this year, but 2012 was over 100* every day in June.
How do you keep the roof up out of your way once you disconnect it from the house?
I think I am going to get a couple of Spar-O-Doors which would definitely work. But I still wonder about the boxed traps. They fit inside the compartments ok but it is a trick to get them past the railing & under to door cross bar, even when you take the door off. I have bent up the railings.

[DornCounty]

Kyler...

This is my opinion only. I don't think this is heat related.. at least not direct exposure to heat. These trios are very good at managing high temperatures. None of the retrofits mentioned will hurt so for sure do them if you have the $ and time, but I just don't think direct heat exposure is the main issue here. I have had almost the same temps as you but with higher humidity and seen none of the issues you have . I have the same house style as you. 2 summers ago I had a whole nesting period where the lowest High temp was 98 with 20 days over 100. I also have not heard of any issue from Deb in Pratt, KS who was hot also. I think she has a couple trios also.

I would lean towards House Sparrows or overall lack of feeding from parents. Which can be caused by heat as fewer bugs are available. that said it' was a wet spring out that way so I'm not sure that would be an issue.

[DornCounty]

Hey Kyler I might see if I can manage that myself. Where are the screws, I haven't looked yet. Can I see them readily?
I really want to try it. That house is too hot for Oklahoma. Thankfully it was ok this year, but 2012 was over 100* every day in June.
How do you keep the roof up out of your way once you disconnect it from the house?
I think I am going to get a couple of Spar-O-Doors which would definitely work. But I still wonder about the boxed traps. They fit inside the compartments ok but it is a trick to get them past the railing & under to door cross bar, even when you take the door off. I have bent up the railings.

OKie....
The roof comes off the same way on the pulley type trios. Won't be too big of a deal to insulate on the pole. But honestly at this point I'd wait till the offseason when you can take the house down.

I would not bother with any trap other than Spar-o-door in a trio. That may be the best trap combination in the business.

[Okie]

Thanks Dorn You have experience & I respect your opinion.
I don't take the house down...I can't & would not know how. Envious of all you who are handy! I am retired bc of traumatic arthritis in my hands. I can hardly hold a drill !! And forget twisting a screw by hand!
I wish I had known about the Spar-O-Doors when I bought all those Universals. But oh well experience is a good teacher.
I just cannot get it through my head that the aluminum house is not hot. It just does not make sense to me. I guess maybe I should do an experiment & measure temps in plastic & aluminum houses & the gourds when I get them. That would make me a believer.
Thanks for your input. I appreciate your posts & feel connected to you as a fellow Jayhawker, since I was born & raised in Wichita.

[Kyler]

Dorn,
Thanks for the advice! I have heard that the trios are made out of aluminum because they last a long time and also they heat up really fast and the good thing is that they cool down really quick!! So that is why I decided on them! I have four or five babies in a new nest that hatched about 2 days ago! The parents or SYs and they are still going in and out all the time! The ASY pair are still going in a out as well so I think their two babies that are left are still alive!! We have caught about 5 or 6 more house sparrows so I don't think we have anymore!! Thanks a lot!!!

Okie,
Just like Dorn said I would highly recommend to go with the Spare-o-door! For the trios! I put it up because right when my martins came I had a lot of sparrows! But now I have none! I have caught about 23 now!! Also that is exactly what I'm doing when the martins have fledged all their young! I am going to get the tempts with insulation and with out! I will post the results later in the season!!! As well the screws are at the gable end of the roof! The gable is the green part that the roof sets on! On the gable is 3 holes and right below their is the three screws!

Kyler,

[DornCounty]

Thanks Dorn You have experience & I respect your opinion.
I don't take the house down...I can't & would not know how. Envious of all you who are handy! I am retired bc of traumatic arthritis in my hands. I can hardly hold a drill !! And forget twisting a screw by hand!
I wish I had known about the Spar-O-Doors when I bought all those Universals. But oh well experience is a good teacher.
I just cannot get it through my head that the aluminum house is not hot. It just does not make sense to me. I guess maybe I should do an experiment & measure temps in plastic & aluminum houses & the gourds when I get them. That would make me a believer.
Thanks for your input. I appreciate your posts & feel connected to you as a fellow Jayhawker, since I was born & raised in Wichita.

Don't get me wrong.. the martins are for sure stressed during 100+ days. There are better setups for managing heat, but the trios do very well in heat, especially where they can catch a little wind. All that said if it is hot enough long enough, babies will be lost in Trios. Don't want to over sell it.

[Kyler]

Dorn,
Do you know the exact degree when insects start disappearing in the heat?

Kyler,

[DornCounty]

No.. not sure anyone does. I typically judge by how many the parents are bringing in.

Dorn,
Do you know the exact degree when insects start disappearing in the heat?

Kyler,

[Kyler]

Dorn,
Yeah sorry that is a hard question! But thanks we will be watching how many bugs they bring in!
Are your colonies mainly trios or what do you all have? Because it says 300 cavities!! Wow really cool!!

Kyler,

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

I agree with Dorn, its mainly the lack of food that causes problems. Some nests do better, and some nests do worse, even when all are on the same side. Some parents feed better than others so those that are fed better will do better....

But if it gets hot enough, then the temps will cause a lot of stress and you will probably get a lot more jumpers, so excessive temps (such as 100deg to 105 or higher) will contribute to the problem.

Double walls with air space between them is the best insulator, same with the roof, a double roof with air between the roofs will help a whole lot

[Kyler]

Emil,
Don't the ASY pairs feed better and bring more food to there babies than SYs because they have had more experience? I always thought is how it works? I still have 3 SY pairs on eggs and one has babies that I think are doing fine! Doing a nest check tomorrow so I will update that!!

Kyler,

[DornCounty]

Dorn,
Yeah sorry that is a hard question! But thanks we will be watching how many bugs they bring in!
Are your colonies mainly trios or what do you all have? Because it says 300 cavities!! Wow really cool!!

Kyler,

Yes.. all housing is Trio minus a couple. 40+ houses. Emil and I are Trio Jedis we will teach you the ways if you choose to obey the force.

[Kyler]

Dorn,
I chose these type of houses because a couple colonies in Colby have trios and they are full of martins! Also how many great views I heard about them! This is my first year with martins nesting in them so I need all the help I can't! Thanks so much!
I still don't know how you guys with 300+ cavities can manage that and keep it going!! but anyways that awesome! One day I want something like that! Is their anyway you could post pictures of your colonies?

Kyler,

[DebA]

Kyler,
It's so tough to find dead and missing babies. One question I don't think got answered, is yes, even with some deaths your parent martins will return if they survive migration.

I have Trendsetters, not Trios. Also metal. The TS has ventilation built in supposedly. Around the pole it is mesh in the interior. The compartments have a circle hole with vent cover and supposed to provide a chimney like air movement. They also come with exchangeable doors that have two big holes for ventilation.

My birds survived that heat last weekend and yesterday. Last year I was working away and oblivious that it had reached 111. Idiot. My husband saw my first ever jumpers. I ended losing 19 babies that were due to fledge within the week. A couple of complete nests were killed. After that I placed ice packs IN the compartment. I had them on front part of nest trays so nest bowls stayed dry. It saved the rest of them. As you can see I still beat myself up. But my colony came home this year.

I think you had a pesky SY slip in or sparrows.

Deb

[Kyler]

Deb,
Thank you so much for answering that question!! Because I think it would really suck doing all this work in the offseason and not have any birds return! That's crazy last year! Im really glad that they returned for you an all that!! Good luck with the rest of the season!!

Kyler,

[Okie]

I was in Lowes today & checked out the R Max so I can get that when I need it.
This has been a very informative thread Thanks to all who contributed.