Desperate times, fed the Martins who own us some shrimp

[Broo&Tammy]

Hi All,
We are in southern Saskatchewan and have been Martin landlords 9 years. This spring we had the the worst run of bad weather we have ever experienced. Our birds were rain soaked, nighttime temps dropping below 0C and daytime highs of 4C. We had never fed our colony before but knew we had to do something. To compound things, We also were in contact with a covid+ person and in a 14 day lockdown. A friend picked us up a batch of crickets and we started flipping. The birds were hungry and it took very little to get the first couple to catch on. Soon we had most of the birds attempting to feed. We scrambled up some egg and they went for that too. After day one we had flipped 600 crickets, but our crickets were quite small. We called the pet store and ordered another 1000. Same thing, lots of tiny crickets. Many were too small to flip, so more egg. Tried for more crickets but all that were left in town were tiny. We had freezing rain move in . Couldn’t really ask anyone to drive an hour down the highway and cricket shop for us in those conditions. Hubby and I sat there staring out the window at 40 or so miserable, exhausted birds. I opened the freezer and the closest thing to a bug in there was a bag of jumbo shrimp. I looked up the nutritional information - high protein and cholesterol and low fat, comparable to a cricket. And if you are allergic to shrimp you will be allergic to cricket meal. I soaked and drained it, laid it on paper towel to dry it out some and chopped it up into just under 1/4 “ chunks. Said a small prayer. We started flipping and they loved it! The batch was small and we monitored them closely. I swear they revived a bit. Their poop had gotten quite runny (eggs? hunger?) and over 2 days got much better. All in all, We fed our birds for 6 + days and ALL SURVIVED! On day 7 the weather broke. They ate eggs and shrimp for breakfast and by lunch time they were touring the valley and ignoring our offerings. Best outcome. We have talked to other Martin landlords and lots of losses. We dodged a bullet. We will order “real crickets” and freeze prior to next years return but the shrimp did work, and the birds don’t seem any the worse for it.

[brent]

Wow! Wonderful survival strategy. Talk about thinking outside the box. Thanks for sharing this incredible experience.
Brent

[C.C.Martins]

Shrimp! Id never have guessed. what a wonderful solution, desperation breeds innovation. That was good thinking, congrats to you and your martins. keep the training going, flip every once in a while. weathers terrible when they first arrive.
good job!

[MJM]

I'm coming to your place for a plate of Shrimp and Eggs for breakfast!

[Broo&Tammy]

Thank you for your kindness:) I hope this could be helpful to others who don’t have access to overnight deliveries etc.
Frozen shrimp are far easier to find than good size crickets in a small town., LOL.
Our Martins now eat from a bird bath and it seems quite sociable with 4 or 5 chatting and munching.
We have ordered the 4 compartment tray but it will likely get here too late to be in service this year.
If anybody has a recommendation for good flipping spoons, I would love to know which ones work the best for you.

This is the weirdest weather this year, put eggs out the last 3 mornings and have winds gusting to 90 km and rain today.
We already have eggs in the nests so gotta keep the parents healthy!

Tammy

[C.C.Martins]

Wait 90k wind gusts??? Holy smokes. You guys are going through it.

I have the flipping spoon secret!

Dairy queen blizzard spoons! They really launch. And the blizzard is the bomb, I ask for 4 spoons....

[Broo&Tammy]

Picked up the spoons, they are amazing
Thanks!

[i_carumba]

I am glad you had success feeding the Martins. I am also in SK and went through the same weather. I could not get them to take any of my supplemental feeding and many died. I have a thread here about it.
Like you I got some crickets from the pet store and they were mostly too small to be of any use. I have since ordered 1000 1" crickets from Super Crickets Ca. They were large and a fraction of the price even
with the shipping cost. The weather had turned by the time I got them but I will have them on hand for if it ever happens again.

[Broo&Tammy]

OMG i_carumba. I cried like baby reading your post. My heart goes out to you.
We have been incredibly lucky so far and I hope you can teach your bunch to feed.
Just as FYI, we stood in freezing rain flipping crickets like maniacs for about 40 minutes until our first bird caught on.
But....
Once one gets the idea, the battle is won.
They had to be flipped VERY high initially. (For our crowd, at any rate)
The recommended DQ spoons will be amazing for this.
Hubby already picked some up and they are long with nice flex.
And red, easy to remember what they are for.
Also, you will get pooped on, wear a hat.
For us, I do think the chunks of shrimp saved the day, our birds had reached the point of needing something substantial, more than eggs and wimpy pet store crickets.
You have convinced me to order some “just in case” crickets now vs early next spring as this weather is so unpredictable, it is early May in mid June.
I wish you success. Good luck!

[Broo&Tammy]

I'm coming to your place for a plate of Shrimp and Eggs for breakfast!

Everybody eats when they come to our house

[C.C.Martins]

The DQ spoon idea came from John Barrow. He would know. I like the idea of having to buy something when my spoons break...

[Martintown33]

Hey Tom, I lost a substantial part of my colony (the experienced early arrivers), due to the friek 6 day freeze here in the Deep South, in early February. I tried spoon tossing them dead crickets (warmed up first) for 6 days. Also offered crickets on a platter, and even on the porches of the modified s and k houses..These birds were starving, but would not accept any of the 3 offerings. It’s hard to train them in summer, due to the abundance of dragon flies here. They are everywhere, so my PMs are too full too attempt to train in summer. But I need to get them trained next February, for the inevitable cold snaps. Any tips? All tips from LLs that have had success are welcomed.
Thanks,
Rob

[C.C.Martins]

Rob,
Sorry for your loss Rob. It was terrible, I won't go through that again. Lost all four early birds, like you tried crickets, eggs, even june bugs. Put them on porches, in cavities, on my roof. They wouldn't take at all. They all perished, I found one about a month ago tucked under one of our large rocks out back. Poor things.

If you have june bugs still around try this:

To catch them, place buckets under your outdoor lights, put in about an inch of grass so they try to dig down. Morning time go out and catch them. Iv got to beat the grackles to them, so start early. Iv also had lots of luck going to an empty ball park at night, they congregate under the lights in the parking lots. Filled a water bottle.

with a live june bug, put it on the spoon and send it up, chances are it will fly, the martins will go after it. Keep doing that and then substitute a cricket, once they know its food, they will take it. start alternating, once they accept the crickets your battle is won. Now they are taking the crickets in to their chicks.

even if its a dead june bug, you have to trigger a response in the martins. take the hard shell off its wings, spread the under wings and when it goes up it will pin wheel, looks alive. That is effective, it looks alive.

Some days our birds here aren't interested, however now they are taking it back in to feed chicks.

If say you have had no luck this season, your martins are fat and happy and they don't take to the food...you will be armed up and ready by Feb 2022.

[Martintown33]

Thanks for the tips, Tom. Yes, I don’t think they will take tossed food right now,, bcuz at this time of year, in steamy se La, the skies are absolutely clogged with big dragon flies. Just walking out into the backyard I can see them flying all over.. close to the ground and higher up too. The martins have absolutely no trouble snagging them, and are stuffed full! Which is great. Chicks stay well fed. June bugs are gone here, but I will have frozen crickets ready for next February... I might try catching some dragon flies, and freeze them for next February.. thanks again..
Good luck!
Rob