This cold / wet snap isn't helping any

[Chris B]

I had 3 nice scouts singing and hanging around the best gourd rack but the weather has really turned lousey here in N Alabama. It will be teens / low 20's tonight and I fear they won't make it. No supplemental feeding here, and I don't see how one can put any out in the wind and rain anyways. These are the most mature and smartest birds, but why the heck do they have to come up so early?

Good luck guys, I hope you pull through.

[~Ray~Gingerich]

Chris this might be the best time to get your birds trained, they will be hungry

[ToyinPA]

I had 3 nice scouts singing and hanging around the best gourd rack but the weather has really turned lousey here in N Alabama. It will be teens / low 20's tonight and I fear they won't make it. No supplemental feeding here, and I don't see how one can put any out in the wind and rain anyways. These are the most mature and smartest birds, but why the heck do they have to come up so early?

Good luck guys, I hope you pull through.

I agree ...it'd be a good time to attempt supplemental feeding. Also you can put hand warmers in the cavities. I use the 10 hour ones. I place them about an hour before dark. If you have houses & there are empty lower levels use those for the handwarmers & then close off the opening. The heat will warm the floor above.

We had 11 straight days of snow/freezing rain/wind & cold last year right after the first ones arrived. Handwarmrs & supplemental feeding saved them all.

I'm glad none are here right now. We just got 12.5 inches of snow & it's still coming down.

Toy in PA

[AkitaSan]

Please, don't give up. Food is fuel - don't worry about flipping crickets. Put the food directly in their gourd. Hand warmers are cheap to purchase, at least up North here and should be placed underneath the bedding. We experience this same situation every year and this is how our birds learned to eat crickets and eggs. Best of luck

[Shros]

AkitaSan, my colony is located in SouthCentral MI (near Jackson) and would like to talk to you about your supplemental feeding procedures. I had 9 pairs last year and I'm concerned about a cold/wet April. I don't live at the site (it's at my cottage) and I would like to talk strategy with you if you have some time. Bob.

[AkitaSan]

Hi Shros, nice to meet you; we are practically neighbors and I would love to talk Martins. If you would like, you can email me at [email protected].

[KyleJKP]

In what ways do you provide the supplemental food and what exactly do you use for food? This is my second year being a PM landlord and I had 2 show up 2 weeks ago and would hate to see anything happen to them due to inclement weather. It is misting rain and snow right now and looks to get down to 28 degrees tonight and 24 degrees tomorrow night before returning to the high 60s low 70s later this week.... How much cold can they take?.... Any info would be greatly appreciated

[AkitaSan]

Kyle, you are a lucky guy in that you only have 2 Martins rather than 2 dozen. Kudos to you for your concern. A Martin can probably make it three days without food, but to be sure they survive you can feed crickets, scrambled eggs, or both. We feed both and place the food directly in the nest cavity. There are some Martins that will not eat from the feeding tray, so to ensure that food is available to all in inclement weather we place it off to the side in the nest. You will find some good info at the top of the forum page about supplemental feeding. As our weather is changing I found it to be extremely important to erect a feeding tray as a Martin's normal source of food can disappear. There are many experts on this forum that I hope will chime in; so don't hesitate to ask questions.

[eyeamtheman]

There are topics on here y'all can read that gives detailed instructions on training your birds. It DOES take determination and persistence and it's easy to get frustrated. It usually always starts out with flipping crickets at them, then training them to eat eggs, then to eat either from a feeding tray. In my situation, my wrap around porch allows me to simply toss up handfuls of crickets and mostly eggs onto my roof, and the martins help themselves. Also, it's VERY satisfying when they can remember this the next year. It's amazing.

[Archer]

An experienced landlord has shared his experience with feeding and early arrivals. https://www.purplemartin.org/forum/view ... =2&t=31493

[Chris B]

So it was supposed to be in the teens/low 20's overnight. I looked out at the rack that has had activity and see a male laying on one of the porches just before sunset. He looked pretty hunkered down and when I walked down to investigate he flew to a nearby rack and a plastic gourd with porch. Panicking at the thought of him dying overnight, I cooked up some scrambled eggs and drove down to place them on the porches of a few gourds. Of course the eggs froze but the next morning I can see him going from porch to porch where the eggs were - not eating but checking things out. Putting eggs on the porches may be the solution to how I can feed them in cold weather. Only one more night of this and it will be warm again.

[AkitaSan]

Way to go Chris! In case your not aware, make sure you cut the egg into bird size pieces. Anything larger, they may not recognize as food. Replace a few times a day. Sounds like warmer temps are coming your way.