Heath House Modification Complete

[msalcido]

Well I've done the modifications on the Heath House. Mighty proud since it was my first time doing so. I've turned the 12 room house into a deluxe 6 room house. I drilled 2 inch holes 1 inch above the floor of the house. This will give the PM a seperate nesting chamber.

As you can see from the pics the house has this white stuff (i'm thinking PM poop) all over it. I did clean it (washed it out with a water hose) at the end of this past season. Is there something I can use to get the white off?

I've included pics and since this is my first time doing so, any feedback on if I need to change anything is greatly appreciated.


Thanks for everyone's assistance.

[John Miller]

Mike

It's looking nice.

Listen to the stuff RC said. He's one of the smartest people on here.

I would consider SREH plates for the doors, and add wing entrapment guards for safety.

..You could experiment with the tunnels, I think they look funny on houses because they "stick out"...but they are functional and martins like them, the latter being what matters.

John M

[phillip26r]

I modified one of these the exact same way a few years ago. I used the Excluder Adapter Plates for my SREH modification. It was a pain in the butt and not too pretty, but it works.

[daveh]

Mike, years ago I had enlarged my trio castle and mini castle by punching out a 2 inch inner hole that led to the adjacent compartment. It worked great for several years until this last season. I lost 3 birds in the castle, 2 in the back compartment and 1 stuck in the 2 inch inner hole. I now have enlarged all the inner holes to an egg shape size, 2 inches tall by 3 1/2 inches wide. I feel this should help deter wing entrapment. Since you have your house apart, I would recommend enlarging those inner holes or cutting out a big square in the walls. You don't want to go thru what I went thru.

dave

[msalcido]

Thanks John. I am definitely going to modify either adding the SREH doors or the tunnels. I'm just not sure how the tunnels would work on a plastic house when trying to lift up to do the nest checks.

DaveH - I wondered about enlarging the inner compartment holes but was following the instructions given on enlarging the Trio house. So keep the current size of hole at 1" above ground level, then cut the circle to be 2" tall and 3 1/2 " wide correct?

I wonder if adding the wing entrapment guards would be beneficial?

[daveh]

Mike, any shape larger than 2 inch would be great I did an egg shape because I had a punch and punched out each side of existing hole making an egg shape. 1 inch above floor seems good to me.

dave

[msalcido]

Thanks Dave. I went and re-read the originall reply from RC and he recommended to cut square and not cirlcular holes. So I redid. Now they are 1" above ground (same as before) 2" high and 2 1/2 " wide.

They are not exactly the straightest squares but they are the right size so hopefully they will do the trick and the PM's won't mind the uneveness . I've included some pics.

Tomorrow, I will be adding the cotter pins to keep the doors from being opened by unwanted visitors!

I greatly appreciate everyone's assistance.

Thanks!

[daveh]

Mike, I don't know if there is anything out there that works good on poop. I use a Scotch Bright by 3M, sponge on one side, and a scrubber pad on the other side. With lots of soapy water and soaking the poop a little, and elboe grease, I get most of it off. Some people think that leaving some poop on makes martins more at ease because it's been used before. I'm not a martin but I feel better in a clean house.

dave

[RC Moser]

Alcohol or carb. cleaner works for most of it, Just don't leave the carb. cleaner on too long or it will evaporate plus wear eye, skin protection, if inside use respirator. Or ir you want over the counter cleaner windex, Mr. clean, cuts it better than soap and water. never tried toilet bowl cleaner?

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

A real good cleaner is acetone (can buy at any box store). It removes paint, any oil quickly..you must wipe quickly it evaporates quickly. I use it to remove lexel caulk. Its about like fingernail polish

[RC Moser]

Tunnels on that house? Agree with John Funny in non-functional structure way. The only spot would be on the sides and that would create challenge due to the side panel snaps aren't really that strong to carry side load weight. IMO the weight of the tunnel (unless styrofoam) would put too much pressure on the side panel and may pop it off?? I guess you could fasten them to the floor to relieve any side pressure on the side panel? Guess you could copy trio long stud through the center portion of the side panels.

Front door tunnels would be in the road of opening the doors for nest checks. I suspose you could must remove them but this would severe pain every time you wanted to do nest checks and with different ages nestlings some may jump. I find it very tegious to do nest checks on this house when babies reach 18 days old or so due to it opens ajointing compartments. IF you don't use srehs don't forget about screen wire across the top compartment.

[msalcido]

Thanks RC. Decided against the tunnels. I modified it to where it is now a six room condo instead of 12.

But now I ask this question. What ensures the PMs won't just build their nest near the entrance. What makes them go into the other compartment? Are they that smart? I find it hard to believe they will realize they are safer further from the entrance????

[John Miller]

You are correct that once in a while, a female will choose to make her nest in the front compartment. I think the odds are less because you have made larger holes in the divider wall. On occasion when I've seen this (and it's not often), I leave it alone, but make sure the pre-nest in the back compartment is laying flaying and not obstructing in the back area. Once the babies get older and are moving about, they natually move all the way to the back.

John M

[RC Moser]

My PM must know they live in danger zone. had between 38 and 46 pairs for at least 10 years. and None have built nest in the front chamber. I have two houses (one like yours) with straight through and of course L shaped compartments. Some of the straight throughs have divider and and some don't. I can only speak for my site, But I would say the odds would be very low they would build in the front chamber.

[msalcido]

Thanks John and RC! I guess they have natural instinct that has them build their nests farthest from the openings. I guess I'll just have to wait and see!