woodchips

TMcC · Mon Feb 08, 2021 8:55 am

I am considering using small wood chips/bark as nesting material in gourds rather than pine straw. Anyone had experience ?

C.C.Martins · Mon Feb 08, 2021 9:50 am

I'd worry about eggs getting lost and or not incubating properly. Bad enough with all the leaves they bring in.

SSMartin · Mon Feb 08, 2021 10:31 am

I have had good success using wood (pine) shavings as a base in deep gourds especially for those subadults that build a poor nest and subject their young to splay legs.

D. Doll MN · Mon Feb 08, 2021 11:48 am

My close friend use wood chips. I think he has more problems with wet nest and mites then I do, but can't tell him anything. And I know of his mite problem because I band all his chicks each year. I just think the pine straw is thinner so it doesn't hold the moisture as well as a thicker piece of wood chip. That being said I also knew someone that use regular grass clipping from his lawn. He would dry it and use that, but checked after every rain and changed if it got wet. So most anything will work just keep an eye on it after a rain, to check that it is draining and not damp. One other important thing to watch out for if you buy your wood chips from a pet store. If they are colored chips they could have been sprayed with a deodorized chemical so be careful what you buy.

SSMartin · Mon Feb 08, 2021 12:44 pm

I agree with the above. I use shavings and don't underestimate mites they can kill your nestlings if they get out of hand. Treat for mites!

flyin-lowe · Mon Feb 08, 2021 2:36 pm

After years with martins and chickens I can tell you that shavings hold moisture a lot more than pine straw does. If you have nests that you are certain won't get wet (that's not always easy to do) shaving would work ok. However once they get wet they stay wet, especially with humidity and other factors. Pine straw won't retain moisture and dries out quicker when it does get wet. A wet nest will cool the chicks down too much if it stays wet for very long.

mjfog · Mon Feb 08, 2021 2:58 pm

I tried wood shavings in some of my gourds my first season. No more. They held moisture, swelled and tended to plug the drain holes. I stick with slash pine needles for "pre-nesting" and let Momma do the remainder of setting up shop.
Happy Martining, Mike

TMcC · Mon Feb 08, 2021 6:14 pm

Thanks for all the advice, I'll stay with pine straw.

flyin-lowe · Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:33 am

I have found that no matter how much pine straw I put in they end up building the nest the way they want on top. The nests at the end of the season usually don't look much like what I started with. I have some martins that remove all of the pine straw I put in and start from fresh. I still think the very bottom layer, being pine straw, will help water get through.