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Carol, have you looked here: http://nestboxbuilder.com Fred is a member here and builds wonderful boxes of all kinds. He probably has what you would want. He built one for me several years ago and his craftmanship is expert.
Gin
Atlanta, GAI love those things! There is a pair that passes through here from time to time. Their prehistoric look is impressive and reminds me there is a dinosaur in their ancestry.
Gin
Atlanta, GAThere are so many reasons why eggs don’t hatch but most of the time there is something wrong with the eggs and you can’t help that. Sometimes temperatures come into play if there is extreme heat or cold.
First clutch here 2 out of 5 hatched. Of course it didn’t matter since a wren came along and removed everything. Given a chance, I probably would have removed the unhatched 3 after a week. IF it’s just one I tend to leave that and let the birds decide.
Gin
Atlanta, GAChris, I don’t think there is ANYBODY who detests HOWR more than I do! Seriously.
This season I have a new female who is too dense to get around a wren guard. First attempt, only two of her eggs hatched and the second day after hatching the chicks were both removed by a wren. Second attempt, the first 3 eggs were stolen. She kept trying in the same box and apparently that wren finally got busy with his own nest and 2 were able to fledge last week. The craziest part was there were a total of 6 sticks loaded into the box.
So…good luck with those sneaky things. You could try a guard if you have time to watch and see if she accepts it.
Gin
Atlanta, GAYay Carol! Vacation. Time. Is. Here!
Gin
Atlanta, GADonna, you can put a little dot on each egg, using a sharpie. IF the dots move, you will know she’s been in because nobody else is going to turn the eggs. If there is no change in 24 hours, chances are good she is not alive. No way does a bird abandon viable eggs. Another thing you can do is wedge a piece of grass or straw in the hole. It’s pretty easy to do and will let you know if a bird has entered the box. Hoping for the best here.
Gin
Atlanta, GACarol, they might be taking worms into the nest about now. The first few days are what I call “tiny bug time”. When they do start taking them, you might see the birds bashing the worms around to kill them first. Seen that?
Gin
Atlanta, GACarol, they hatched five days ago and all is well. Except for one HOWR attack it’s been an uneventful season here.
Gin
Atlanta, GAI have a third clutch due to hatch today or tomorrow. That should be it for this pair. I know it’s the same ones because this female lays white eggs. Hot here but the box they are in never gets sun. That’s a good thing down here.
Gin
Atlanta, GAIF the wood isn’t ultra smooth, EABL don’t seem to need perches, kerfs or hardware cloth. Other species, such as TRES, sometimes need a little help. My boxes have hardware cloth under the entrance hole for insurance.
Gin
Atlanta, GASo what’s going to be the name of your mealworm company?
Gin
Atlanta, GAI don’t know ANYBODY who hasn’t lost eggs, chicks, or adults. Things do happen, sad to say. Even after you take all of the precautions, things seem to sometimes go wrong anyway. If you do this long enough and right now have a perfect record, one day things might change. Hope not but you just never know.
One year grackles pecked to death an incubating female in my backyard. No HOSP here but wren troubles happen here most seasons and I really don’t like those birds! I’ve had ants in the box when I didn’t grease the pole enough. One year an EABL killed CACH eggs so he could take their box. If I had just put the hole reducer on earlier. Dud eggs, sickly chicks, micro eggs, cow bird eggs in the box–I’ve seen all kinds of things in these 35 years or so. The good thing is most of the time things do work out for the birds.
I made mistakes, too, Jamie. We just do the best we can.
Gin
Atlanta, GABlue jays, crows, woodpeckers will all rob nests. Never heard of a jay taking young birds trying to fledge. That’s really bizarre.
Gin
Atlanta, GATherese, welcome here!
There are so many reasons for hatch failure. Among them are the age and health of the female, fertilizing failure, poor incubation, too hot or too cold temp in the box. It’s anybody’s guess.
You could move your box and see what the birds think of that. It’s very odd for a female to flush because of human traffic. Most times I can walk right up to a box, make noise and see a bird fly only when I open a box. Maybe this female is extremely skittish and moving the box would help her.
Gin
Atlanta, GAYou could start your own mealworm business! Think of the rewards and glamor!
Seriously, EABL around here always accept the pupae. You actually counted yours? That’s pretty funny right there.
Gin
Atlanta, GA -
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