Nest Box questions

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HazellB
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Nest Box questions

Post by HazellB »

Nest Boxes - Do you buy, make or not bother putting them up?
What styles do you get most use out of, open fronted or ones with holes?
Do you bother putting out bedding material and do the birds take it?

Just wondering as I'm busy making a load of new boxes at the moment for our fields.
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Gwenoakes
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Re: Nest Box questions

Post by Gwenoakes »

The only nest boxes round here are those for the barn owls. We did have smaller boxes with holes for the likes of Blue Tits, but our cats used to climb up the trees and put their legs and feet through the holes and turf out the babies, so we took them down. The birds didnt seem to want to know if the boxes were on buildings which I thought a bit strange.

Having said all the above though we do have lots of out buildings here, barns, cart sheds and wash house, so no shortage of somewhere to go if they really want to.
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Mo
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Re: Nest Box questions

Post by Mo »

Ah, I'm with you now.
Thought you were talking about hens. The answer to that is I give them a piles of leaves which they make into their own nest in whichever is the favoured coop of the moment. And I have a load more leaves from the beech hedge, waiting in a compost dalek.
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Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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kitla
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Re: Nest Box questions

Post by kitla »

I have 5 nestboxes around the garden, 3 of which have been used at some point.
Last week I cleaned and diatomed the ones I could reach, (hoping to cut down the
risk of redmite in the chicken run this year!) I've been collecting the fluffy fur from
grooming Toffee dog over the last couple of months & I've put it into a wire bird feeder
hoping the birds will line their nests with it this year. No takers yet, probably too soon.
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
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HazellB
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Post by HazellB »

Gwen - We've finally decided to make barn owl boxes too. The barn on next door's farm (about 500 yds away) used to host a pair but they died during a harsh winter and no new ones have settled, so we're hoping to encourage them back by offering alternative housing in one of our big willows. We already had rough areas for next doors' owls to hunt on and poles for them to eat on, so maybe it'll work. Fingers crossed.

Nesting material - Horse hair goes down well. I spend hours trying to scrape it off the horses and shove great handfuls in the wire fence near the feeding station and the birds grab what they like the look of. Sometimes when we find old nests they are either one horse colour or another exclusively, which makes me smile. They like certain colours, just like humans :-D
When my only rugged mare gets her rugs off in spring they will be all turned inside out and thrown over a fence for a few days so the birds can pick them clean for me with luck. Saves my washer getting bunged up with stinky horse hair )t'
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bmpsands
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Re: Nest Box questions

Post by bmpsands »

We have 3 boxes and were used last year. One by blue tits and one by great tits.

There are sheep in the next door field at this time of year and they leave wool on the wire. Last year I collected some and stuck it among a couple of our bushes. Later, I saw some being taken into one box and at the end of the year it seems that both families had made use of it.
Bea; 19 hens (most of whom I intended to get); 6 bantams (which I never intended to have); old Benji dog and young Toby dog (who I definitely wanted). Three years into country living and loving it.
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Richard
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Re: Nest Box questions

Post by Richard »

I put three up last Autumn, none of them are taken yet but early days maybe.

Often the problem is that you live somewhere with so many natural places for them to nest, they'll ignore yours.

My walls are half tiled, the Tits are all nesting under the bottom row, along with some Wrens.

I've a Robin Box as well but that's not taken yet either.

I read the best time to put them up is Autumn / November time as, if they're going to use them, they'll be weathered by Spring.

Bit of a wait and watch I think.

Richard )t'

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