Thanks,
Carmine
Hi...I'm new and need some equipment suggestions
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Guest
I am interested in becoming a landlord and I need some advice on what house I should buy. I was looking at the trio mini castle. Is that a good choice or should i go with the full size castle? Should I purchase any additional accessories to go with it? I think I have a pretty good site picked out - so hopefully I will be successful if I have the right equipment. What else should I know before I start - I would like to not be one of the people who haven't attracted any martins after 10 years of trying.
Thanks,
Carmine
Thanks,
Carmine
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Emil Pampell-Tx
- Posts: 6743
- Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:26 pm
- Location: Tx, Richmond (SW of Houston)
- Martin Colony History: First started in Gretna, La in 1969 with a small homemade house, have had martins ever since at 2 different homes in Texas
If you live in the South, martins seem to like gourds very well. I only use gourds, so I will not advise about houses, but many people like to hang 2 or 4 gourds under their house, as that is a pretty setup, and the martins do have a better choice with that arrangement.
Best of luck to you, and I hope that you are successful!
Best of luck to you, and I hope that you are successful!
PMCA Member, 250 gourds, 6 poles, 2traps
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Steve Kroenke
- Posts: 4342
- Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 6:49 pm
- Location: Louisiana/Logansport
Hey Carmine,
I have used many of the Trio products, including the mini and full size castle houses. These are well constructed houses and are popular with martins. However, I would recommend you create double nesting chambers so that the martins go through the outside entrance hole of one compartment and then enter another entrance in a side panel to reach the actual nest site. You cut the hole in the inside wall panel. You block off the outside entrance hole on the nest compartment. This does halve the number of available compartments, but most houses are rarely full anyway. These types of nesting compartments are well liked by martins and provide them with considerable protection from predators. I believe there are instructions for converting such houses in the Forum Archives. You should also install porch dividers to reduce male martin nest domination and prevent nestlings from moving on the porch from one nest to the other. You can place these dividers at the ?hexagonal? points on each porch level. So if you bought a 12 room house it would have 6 nesting compartments after the conversion. And if you bought the 24 room castle, you would have 12. I have mainly used converted 24 room castles.
I only use round holes in my Trios and the martins thrive in them. If there are other nearby martin colonies in your area, I would recommend you check with the landlords if possible to determine what type of entrance holes are provided and if starlings are a problem. Starling competition problems vary with geographic locations and many folks who use round holes have no problems. Every situation is different. Using a combination of round holes and srehs is a good idea if starlings are a problem. However, you can always use all round holes initially and see what happens. If starlings are a problem, then you may want to convert some of the round holes to srehs and see how the martins react. If you are able to trap/shoot starlings, then you may not need to convert any round holes to srehs. Again, every situation is different and you can't generalize from one location to another.
Emil?s advice about gourds is excellent. I would recommend you hang several natural gourds from the house and this may increase its attractiveness. I have a posting about natural gourds that you may find helpful. Martins really like natural gourds.
Also, be sure to install a snake guard at the bottom of your pole below the winch (I believe the castles do come with a winch system.). This is particularly true if you live in the Deep South where rat snakes are abundant. You can buy a snake guard from the PMCA.
Good luck.
Steve
I have used many of the Trio products, including the mini and full size castle houses. These are well constructed houses and are popular with martins. However, I would recommend you create double nesting chambers so that the martins go through the outside entrance hole of one compartment and then enter another entrance in a side panel to reach the actual nest site. You cut the hole in the inside wall panel. You block off the outside entrance hole on the nest compartment. This does halve the number of available compartments, but most houses are rarely full anyway. These types of nesting compartments are well liked by martins and provide them with considerable protection from predators. I believe there are instructions for converting such houses in the Forum Archives. You should also install porch dividers to reduce male martin nest domination and prevent nestlings from moving on the porch from one nest to the other. You can place these dividers at the ?hexagonal? points on each porch level. So if you bought a 12 room house it would have 6 nesting compartments after the conversion. And if you bought the 24 room castle, you would have 12. I have mainly used converted 24 room castles.
I only use round holes in my Trios and the martins thrive in them. If there are other nearby martin colonies in your area, I would recommend you check with the landlords if possible to determine what type of entrance holes are provided and if starlings are a problem. Starling competition problems vary with geographic locations and many folks who use round holes have no problems. Every situation is different. Using a combination of round holes and srehs is a good idea if starlings are a problem. However, you can always use all round holes initially and see what happens. If starlings are a problem, then you may want to convert some of the round holes to srehs and see how the martins react. If you are able to trap/shoot starlings, then you may not need to convert any round holes to srehs. Again, every situation is different and you can't generalize from one location to another.
Emil?s advice about gourds is excellent. I would recommend you hang several natural gourds from the house and this may increase its attractiveness. I have a posting about natural gourds that you may find helpful. Martins really like natural gourds.
Also, be sure to install a snake guard at the bottom of your pole below the winch (I believe the castles do come with a winch system.). This is particularly true if you live in the Deep South where rat snakes are abundant. You can buy a snake guard from the PMCA.
Good luck.
Steve
Last edited by Steve Kroenke on Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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John Miller
- Posts: 4866
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:11 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO
Hi Carmine
I'll comment on the house you mentioned. After 40 years, people still love the look of the castle. It has some good functional attributes: easy to raise and lower and units spaced around perimeter for better occupancy. (Aluminum doesn't offer much insulation in northern cool springs.)
As was mentioned here, do check out the information sheets on the homepage about modifying these houses.
Definitely hang a few natural gourds beneath any house. The male martins bond with the site, but females like to evaluate several compartment options before deciding to stay.
Couple of my other favorite products: S&K EZ lift pole with plastic or natural gourds. The flagpole design is very attractive. And the Trendsetter line, which spaces units around the perimeter like the castle, and I really like that Trendsetter houses have the holes in the sides of the compartments, so owls can't look right in.
Housing gets a little complicated. It might be wise to keep things simple and economial at first with about six natural gourds on a telescoping pole. S&K has a very good such starter setup. Not sure if it's available through PMCA, but I know the gourds are.
Read and learn all you can. Ask away here.
John Miller
I'll comment on the house you mentioned. After 40 years, people still love the look of the castle. It has some good functional attributes: easy to raise and lower and units spaced around perimeter for better occupancy. (Aluminum doesn't offer much insulation in northern cool springs.)
As was mentioned here, do check out the information sheets on the homepage about modifying these houses.
Definitely hang a few natural gourds beneath any house. The male martins bond with the site, but females like to evaluate several compartment options before deciding to stay.
Couple of my other favorite products: S&K EZ lift pole with plastic or natural gourds. The flagpole design is very attractive. And the Trendsetter line, which spaces units around the perimeter like the castle, and I really like that Trendsetter houses have the holes in the sides of the compartments, so owls can't look right in.
Housing gets a little complicated. It might be wise to keep things simple and economial at first with about six natural gourds on a telescoping pole. S&K has a very good such starter setup. Not sure if it's available through PMCA, but I know the gourds are.
Read and learn all you can. Ask away here.
John Miller
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John Atteberry
Sounds like you have a hard choice to make! I probably would go with the Mini-Castle house with 4 gourds hung underneath. Then you can add more housing or gourds when you get some martins to nest! I do love the looks of the Castles! So there you go! You make the call! Thanks John! P.S. Describe your set-up and what your site looks like! That would help alot too and helps out our curosity!!! HA!! John!
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Guest
Thanks for the helpful info. I'll go with the small castle and some gourds. Hopefully my area that I have picked out is attractive to the martins. I'm sure that is probably the most important aspect of attracting them.