We have 8 eggs not hatched yet (our second group of) and our temps are already reaching the 90’s and will soon be way hotter here in Texas this year and my question is, after this bunch fledges is it ok if we take down the house so no more will lay eggs here at our house? Last year we lost a couple eggs during the hot times and I was running back and forth putting up umbrella over the bird house (to protect from he horrible heat in the sun) then taking it down at night and I don’t have that much time this summer plus it is already starting hotter than usual.
Sorry mis-type we have 5 eggs now – we also had 5 the batch last month, so total of 10 this year. We will take down till cooler next Spring, much too hot here even in the shade (humidity.
We were all shocked with that 8 egg count…glad you corrected it! Although I did just hear of someone having 7. We’ve known people to add foam insulation, umbrellas, etc to their nestboxes in the south. If you are on Face Book get on a Texas bluebird group or google your Texas Bluebird Society and I bet they have suggestions.
Good suggestions Tammy. Our temperatures are not as severe as Texas but it is getting warmer. I have added a foam sheet with 3/8″ spacers to the south facing side of my nestbox and will be adding a piece of T-111 siding cut to about 11″ x 12″ over the top of the box after all of the eggs hatch. It does keep the box cooler but I have never measured how much.