# alternate nesting material???



## sinister357

i dont have access to quantity of dry grass. what other alternate material can i use as such? something i can get locally and cheaply if not for free.


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## A_Smith

sinister357 said:


> i dont have access to quantity of dry grass. what other alternate material can i use as such? *something i can get locally and cheaply if not for free.*


You my want to look in a craft store for ideas. Small bails of straw used for fall decorations can be unassembled for nest materials. Also look in garden centers in the clearence area now for the coconut planter material, usaly in some types of hanging baskets. Just two ideas. Get creative, your birds will be happy as long as they have something to build with. Mine are very happy just using feathers when nesting material is not available.  Oh ya feathers ARE a nest building material and FREE.


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## Skyeking

sinister357 said:


> i dont have access to quantity of dry grass. what other alternate material can i use as such? something i can get locally and cheaply if not for free.


Strips of white paper will work also, and clean pine needles work well.


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## sinister357

Trees Gray said:


> Strips of white paper will work also, and clean pine needles work well.


shredded paper you mean? thats an idea.


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## Skyeking

sinister357 said:


> shredded paper you mean? thats an idea.


Yes, you can use shredded paper, free of any print, like newspapers.


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## saiwa

i heard you can also use sand for the nesting bowls


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## Tennman1

Trees Gray, I didn't understand. You said shredded paper, free of any print, like newspapers. Was that sarcasm? I'll admit most newspapers are free of sensible information, but even that is print


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## sinister357

i actually have several pine trees in my backyard. the fallen dried needles aren't that long though..1/2 maybe??? and they have sharp ends... would that be a problem? also, how about wood shaving?


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## darkfur

My pigeons appreciate the feathers plucked out when one of my roosters gets cooked (I boil the feathers first to deal with any greeblies). If you know anyone who keeps chickens they'll surely let you have some free. I've noticed some birds will go outside and get their own nesting materials anyway, like leaves and twigs - very Noahs ark. What I do is hang up a little hay manger in the loft and let them choose what they want, I like chopped straw which you could get pretty cheap from a petshop or much cheaper from a farm supply place. I use wood shavings on the floor of the loft and they don't seem to put them in the nest often. If there is a cigarette manufacturer near you, tobacco stalks are nesting material par excellence. I grow pyrethrum daisy in my backyard and give dried bits of that to the birds too as an insecticidal nest material. Perhaps growing some of your own nesting material might be a solution. Also I make my nest liners myself out of papier-mache, using wallpaper paste (the kind without fungicide in it, it often says something on the packet about being suitable for kindergarten craft projects). Being in New Zealand I don't have easy access to the supplies a lot of you take for granted - I still use Foy's, Siegels, Global, but it has to be for something special due to postage costs. So I have to improvise a lot, like my nesting bowls are actually teracotta plant bowls that just happen to be the right size. Actually they are good because you can put a bolt through the hole in the bottom so it won't get knocked over. We call it the Number 8 Wire mentality - if you can't get it, make it out of number 8 wire (fencing wire)....


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## darkfur

I think Trees Gray meant newsprint paper by the way, which you can buy cheaply by the roll


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## thao100801

pick up small twigs outside , they will use the....all i used was twigs before i could get my hand on hay.


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## lostflight

I think you'd be fine if you simply give them a lining of cloth. I use my nephew and niece's old clothes that are thick kind of like a simple cotton sweater thick and cut it big enough to fill the bottom.


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## MaryOfExeter

I think she was referring to newspaper versus things like sales ads that have the slick, heavily printed pictures. The ink they use in newspapers is supposed to be safe and non-toxic.



Also, in my opinion, pine straw is the best nest material you can get. Just go to any local garden/landscaping place and they should have plenty of pine straw.


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## oma2003

Here we can go too the newspaper office and buy what they call the end rolls and it has tons of unprinted paper still left on the roll. they cost us 50 cents a roll. This would shred up very good. And has no ink nor any kind of printing done on it.


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## oma2003

I was wondering how often do you clean your lofts/coops and what material do most use to cover the floor and if you put DE or anything for mites on the material when you change the coop bedding


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## Columba livia!

I use dried ivy vines. they are easy for the birds to break and weave into the nesting bowls.


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## darkfur

oma2003 said:


> I was wondering how often do you clean your lofts/coops and what material do most use to cover the floor and if you put DE or anything for mites on the material when you change the coop bedding


I like untreated wood shavings for the floor, I can buy them cheap in a big bale and they absorb poop and make it easy to sweep out. You can either do a deep litter thing, or I put a thin layer and sweep everything out a couple of times a week and compost it. Some people use sand but then you can't really chuck it in the compost.


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## MaryOfExeter

I clean the entire loft every weekend. The perches and nest boxes/bowls may or may not need to be cleaned more often. I also prefer wood shavings. We bought some bags from the store and they seemed to have a low amount of dust. Then again, I was used to using our own wood shavings that we made, which tended to have lots of dust  I'm thinking of trying some cat litter too, which someone advised me to do last night. But at least with shavings, we can dump everything into the garden.


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## spirit wings

ah. I use the cat litter in the bottom of the bowl..the dust free kind...then put some shavings...dust free for horse stalls, on top....works real good, then they get some pine needles.. bought in a bale from a garden or feed store, and they make their nesties with those...the homers that are loft flown will get sticks from outside to add.


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## czarkos

shredded news paper and straw


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## Startail Fan

Sticks ,Straw and if I can find any I use tabacco stalks.


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## george simon

*Tobacco Stalks and pine neddles the long kind The tobacco stalks are great for keeping lice and mites off the young in the nest, and helps with keeping those nasties off the old birds as well * GEORGE


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## Crazy Pete

I go to the local carpet shop the last piece I got was over 2 ft wide and 14 ft long. cut a piece the size of the nest bowl then another the same size with a hole in the center for the eggs. You have to have some seven dust around for lice put a little on the carpet, you can cut 60 or 70 out of that. Then you can just change it all you want. Its free.
Dave


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## Crazy Pete

Another good point about carpet I've never had a babie with splayed leg. There little feet dont slide at all.
Dave


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## johnmcrin

I use aspen shavings as they do not harm the birds. Do not use pine, cedar, or other woods as they have toxic oils and scents.


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