wet Troyers

[Bird Brain]

One more thing to consider. The Troyer Horizontal only has 4 drainage holes in the bottom. The Vertical has 5. I drilled more drainage holes in the bottom of all my Troyers. I now have 9 drainage holes in the Horizontals and 10 in the Verticals. I have 2 elbow vents on top. This was one our wettest seasons ever and the extra ventilation and drainage holes kept my birds dry. Won't help you now, but will help you next year.

[hobbiehobbie]

Wow, you guys were right! Even just those tiny little vent holes helped tremendously. We are trying to construct the temporary foam heat shields right now (great suggestion) and we are also installing the door vents.

I do have one gourd that is in poor shape. The babies have already fledged from the gourd right next to it though. Can I move them right next door? or is that a bad idea? They look pretty stressed.

[C.C.Martins]

I wouldn't move them. No way. Make them comfortable yes but if you move them the adults will take it as a threat and abandon then you have a whole other issue. I added a handful of nesting material once early on last year, right after they showed up and claimed a cavity, they abandoned and went to the one next to it...if they did that because of some pine needles, think what would happen when chicks are removed.

[hobbiehobbie]

ok

Once again, that you for such a quick response.

You have likely saved quite a few of my baby Martins. We are so very grateful!!!

[Phil01]

Agree with Tom. Never move a nest with eggs or young. You’re doing great! The martins will thank you!
Phil

[defed]

i'm up north so not terribly humid. have never had wet nests (so far) but i did notice last yr that as the chicks got older, my camera would fog up more and more, especially in the morning until it warmed up.

[hobbiehobbie]

Yikes!

I just had a jumper out of that one gourd I was concerned about this morning. He fell straight to the ground. No flying at all.

This particular gourd in question is not a Troyer like most all of my other gourds. I'm not sure what it is....other than bottom of the barrel as far as quality goes. I put the jumper back in that same sketchy/questionable gourd, but I felt terrible doing so. He/she has two nest mates. They appear to be a week or two behind the majority of my other babies. So I don't feel they are super close to being able to fly successfully. I should have taken a picture of the desperate little fella....I just didn't think about it at the time.

[C.C.Martins]

Yikes!

I just had a jumper out of that one gourd I was concerned about this morning. He fell straight to the ground. No flying at all.

This particular gourd in question is not a Troyer like most all of my other gourds. I'm not sure what it is....other than bottom of the barrel as far as quality goes. I put the jumper back in that same sketchy/questionable gourd, but I felt terrible doing so. He/she has two nest mates. They appear to be a week or two behind the majority of my other babies. So I don't feel they are super close to being able to fly successfully. I should have taken a picture of the desperate little fella....I just didn't think about it at the time.

Is that gourd round, big 2 inch hole, has a long straight up neck?
You did right though, perhaps a quick trip to petsmart or a bait stand for some crickets. Freeze them, then if he jumps again thaw about 10 out...it can be fed and put back.
If you decide that route, let us know its not hard.

[defed]

Honestly, aren't those tiny little spots on the back a little bit silly? Perhaps there were instructions in the box that they came in detailing what all I needed to do to "fix" them, but I didn't see any.

i don't think there are any instructions w/ them. i never knew that they were meant to be drilled out until i saw it in the troyer catalog (i think), about 4 yrs after i got my 1st ones. that being said, i have not drilled or vented any of mine, yet. i am up north so i don't have as high of temps, though it will be 90 all next wk. maybe i'll get some elbows just in case.

[flyin-lowe]

I don't think it takes much of a hole to allow a little air flow.

[hobbiehobbie]

C.C. Martins,

This gourd is pretty much shaped like a "birdhouse" gourd, but plastic. It probably does have a two inch hole. It is not white - just kinda beige.
There are a ton of them around where we live. I suspect a neighbor donated us this one.
It reeks of tragedy and disaster.

Does anyone prefer natural gourds over plastic ones? I love the idea....I worry that they couldn't stand up to very much hawk pressure though

I don't have a lot of hope for those three babies. i watched closely for a couple of hours...they are definitely being fed. I sure will arm myself with some crickets though.

[hobbiehobbie]

I don't think it takes much of a hole to allow a little air flow.

I am sure you are right

[C.C.Martins]

C.C. Martins,

This gourd is pretty much shaped like a "birdhouse" gourd, but plastic. It probably does have a two inch hole. It is not white - just kinda beige.
There are a ton of them around where we live. I suspect a neighbor donated us this one.
It reeks of tragedy and disaster.

Does anyone prefer natural gourds over plastic ones? I love the idea....I worry that they couldn't stand up to very much hawk pressure though

I don't have a lot of hope for those three babies. i watched closely for a couple of hours...they are definitely being fed. I sure will arm myself with some crickets though.

Ok, was worried they were heath gourds. They are bad. Just phase them out next season and keep one around as a reminder of what they were living in.
Well your birds just may surprise you. Getting fed is a good sign.

I do prefer natural gourds, have 18 up here and 4 mixed in at our other site. Deep, dark and sturdy but real light even compared to say a supergourd. They would do fine if attacked. They aren't real thin like an egg shell. Id worry more if i had a trio house and it got attacked..
Takes a bit of work to get the correct tunnel, but PMCA sells natural gourds with access cap. Worth a look.

[Martintown33]

Great job on the venting.! you’re making it much better for your martins.. one other thing you could consider. If you’re getting jumpers, it could be due to mites… with all the heat , humidity, and un vented gourds, mites could be an issue.. if you haven’t treated with sevin dust, it wouldn’t hurt to put out a small amount ( 1/8 of a tsp)UNDER the nests, of the ones that still have a ways to go before fledgling.. .. but excellent work on the venting and shading!
Good luck,
Rob

[hobbiehobbie]

Thank you so much!

I always do put the sevin dust under the nest material. I even redusted this year.

I have learned a lot from reading the posts on this forum.

I really do appreciate the help that I have received. I have learned so much from you all

[hobbiehobbie]

I agree with all above. All of my Troyer horizontals have the holes drilled out in the back at an upward angle (think I used 3/8 drill bit) and the 1 inch pvc elbow in the cap and I have had no wet nests this season, so adding the ventilated caps should really help.
Something else you can do in the extreme heat is add shade. You can get sign board at your local home improvement store. The type people use for garage sale signs. Get white cause it helps reflect some sun. Zip tie it to your gourd hanging arms so that it is over the top of the gourds. Doesn’t take long to do.
Phil

Hey

Do any of y'all have a picture of your heat shields you could share with me? I have fashioned a few, but they look pretty sad. I just had three new clutches hatch out in the last week. Our forecast high for tomorrow 99 and sunny.

[Phil01]

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Hope these post ok….

[Phil01]

Those are from my late nest last year. Fledged July 29th. They were here till the first week in August and it was HOT. All fledged.
Just zip tied the sign board to the gourd arms. They were in the shade from 10:00am till very late afternoon… Take into account the direction in relation to the sun when you put them on.

[hobbiehobbie]

Thank you so much.

The arms that hold my gourds are curved, but I think you have given me and idea.

I appreciate your help!

[Phil01]

Pretty gourd rack! No problem at all. It doesn’t have to be pretty as you can see from mine.. lol Just needs to keep that hot afternoon sun off.
Good luck, hope all fledge for you.
Phil