Enlarge rooms in old Trio?

[Bird.nerd]

I have an old eight compartment trio house that's about 25 years old. I don't use it anymore because the apartments are too small. To those of you that have expanded yours into four compartments I want to know if you just remove the inside wall or simply, which might not be too simple, cut an entrance hole in the wall? I'm leaning towards removing the entire wall from each side and plugging the extra entrance hole. Also I want to line my bo11 gourds with timothy hay or pine bedding. I've seen mention of those using cedar bedding but that was a big no-no with parrots and chickens so I wouldn't be interested in an aromatic bedding. What, if any, do the martins prefer? Thanks.

[Tom Teague]

I did that last year for my neighbor. I drilled an entrance hole as opposed to removing the wall and it worked great. I went to Home Depot and bought a two inch bit. Worked great.

Tom

[Ravens5281]

Yea I agree with Tom I just used a 2 inch hole saw & don't put it directly in the center bc that makes it harder for an owl to
Reach directly straight in by moving it to one side or the other! I feel that by removing the entire wall makes the house less sturdy but that's my opinion!!
Here's how I did mine!!

[Ravens5281]

Yea I agree with Tom I just used a 2 inch hole saw & don't put it directly in the center bc that makes it harder for an owl to
Reach directly straight in by moving it to one side or the other! I feel that by removing the entire wall makes the house less sturdy but that's my opinion!!
Here's how I did mine!!

[John Miller]

These houses with 6 x 6 rooms have sustained the martin species. Martins can do okay in them, but they are at high risk should an owl find the housing, and are safer in deeper units.

Don't want to be a know it all...after too many years to count...still learning. But the hole in the interior wall ideally should be 3 inch diameter. Two inches in an interior wall poses a risk of wing entrapment. for some reason, a lot of fighting will go on at the interior wall hole.

Also, the hole should be about 1.5 inches off the floor to create a safe back room nesting pocket that will keep the babies secure until they are old enough to move about, at about 20 days -- to the front entrance to be fed and then move back to the rear at night.

John M

[threelilkids]

Same here, worked out great for me too. Have not had pairs stay in it but my house is in a spot that they visit but do not stay, it is a tree problem we are getting fixed this year. Mary

[Ravens5281]

John,
I'm just doing it exactly like Larry Melcher did his! He's got a YouTube video showing how & proves that it's effective!! & he's the president of the PMCA so I'd say he knows what he's talking about! If u take the wall out it leaves the babies more vulnerable bc it's all open & then they may decide to sleep towards the opening in which the birds enter & exit where an owl could easily take! With the walls being there the PMS are smart enough to know to nest in the back & which that provides a barrier for the birds to hide behind! The compartments r still enlarged! Larrys the president of the PMCA for a reason so I trust his method works! & don't take offense to this comment/reply I'm not trying to upset anyone here but just pointing out the facts of using his method of enlarging the compartments! Everyone has the right to do whatever they want to their house so not saying ur wrong just showing u why he did his like this & why I did the same!!
Stu III

[daveh]

I'm with John. I had to many wing entrapments with 2 inch inner holes. Since making my holes larger, they are 2 inches tall by 3 1/2 inches wide, not one wing entrapment. This was done on a castle and a minicastle 5 years ago. Make those inner holes 3 inches or larger.
dave

[Ravens5281]

Ok not sure how I'm going to do this now that I've already drilled them with the hole saw lol but will think of something
Thanks

[John Miller]

entrapment in the interior wall two inch hole may not occur unless you are near full occupancy, with a lot of fighting. but then it does happen from time to time, and worst of all it goes sight unseen until you do a nest check, and often there's a second deceased trapped martin inside in the nesting unit.

not sure of a quick way to enlarge the two inch round to three. I've fiddled with different approaches. You could just take the interior walls out, but I do like to have a bottom front to the back nest pocket, and I like it a little high-about 1.5 inches high in front. I suppose you could accomplish this with 6 x 6 nest trays sitting in the back room...

Trying to play mother nature isn't always easy!

[William Bagwell]

Some hole saw arbors have enough extra thread you can nest a smaller one inside the larger as a guide. Have done this myself and it should work unless the original hole was against an edge.

Much safer and way more expensive option is a knockout punch.

[daveh]

I'm with William. I borrowed a friends 2 inch knockout punch and punched 2 holes side by side to make an egg shape hole. Google knockout punch to see how they work.
dave

[John Miller]

I googled "knock out punch" and got recipes for some strong drink - h a. but I do see "knock out punch tool." .....I need to redo a donated Trio Castle that has two inch holes in the interior wall...will see if I can rent the tool.

[Anthony Neira]

Because of the Texas heat, I removed each "Center Wall " (aka "Blank Wall " ) & ended up with an opening of 1" wall on the sides & a 1.5" wall on the top & bottom of the center " Blank Door " Wall . I call it my " Texas Toast " opening , it provides support, as well as a large enough opening for the nest, & to let a BREEZE go thru it !

[Bird.nerd]

Instead of totally removing the interior walls, I detached each from the ceiling and floor and simply bent them flush with the back walls and secured it in place with bolts.

[Dave Reynolds]

I just removed my inside walls, and used tin snips, to cut out the amount you need to removed.. Then put the walls back in the house in their place. It was not that hard, just time consuming.. Good luck.

Dave

[Kyler]

Stu,
Dave explained it well. I agree just take the middle wall out because the center walls on the M12K's are just like the front doors. They are just on another wire that the doors hang on. Easy to remove. I started out with drilling mine out on my M12K's and then I just took the wall out! I like with the wall taken out beacuse you could buy or build some nest trays that will fit your compartments. But like I said before I just bought some used MSS12R's for a public site and I had to drill the holes out to double the compartments. I used a 2 1/8 inch hole saw so a little bigger but I will probably make them bigger in the future! Hope this helps wish you luck.

Kyler,

[Ravens5281]

Ok thanks Kyler!!! This does help brother!! I hope u the best of luck in the 2017 season & I hope that I can get some birds this year!!

[SueK]

Hello, am a new Trio Castle owner, converting to 3 compartment per floor as compared to 6... bought the 3" hole saw w/ a 1/4" pilot drill bit to keep it centered. Except I can't get it started, it's just skating on the metal instead of digging in. Tried to make a divot w/ a sharp nail, to no avail. How do I just get this started, please and TY?

[deancamp]

You can start the hole with a smaller drill bit to help guide the hole saw and get it started. You will need to put some pressure on it for the 3" saw to cut through the metal. If you have the house apart, put it on top of a piece of would to support it as you drill through.