nest felts

[polly]

I have read about washable nest felts. Does any one know where I can buy some. Boddy and Ridewood do not appear to have any.

[Guest]

The latex bonded ones are washable. And they are safer to use as they don't unravel like the 'old fashioned horsehair carpet underlay' type did. I use them and wash and disinfect them at the end of the year.

 

http://www.everythingforpets.com/latex_bonded_nestfelts.pet/use.id.5.item_id.2329.dept.0/

[retired]

Geoff Clare @ Clares Pet Products - The very very best nestfelts on the market.

 

Washable and very hard to destroy and not very expensive i spoke to a bloke at the Dome Show in Doncaster who bought some in 2004 he is just starting to replace the first few for 2008 breeding

 

If you want to order some PM me and i will pass on Geoffs number to you

[jimmy white]

The latex bonded ones are washable. And they are safer to use as they don't unravel like the 'old fashioned horsehair carpet underlay' type did. I use them and wash and disinfect them at the end of the year.

 

http://www.everythingforpets.com/latex_bonded_nestfelts.pet/use.id.5.item_id.2329.dept.0/

 

at first i wondered how the latex would" breath" but looking closer at the pic on the advert, i see the holes on the bottom fitting the nest pan,,, they sound  quite good especialy the "able to wash" bit

[Michael J Burden]

I have looked at them and the horse hair types. I am considering buying dandy nests as they are the same price of the horse hair and you don't have to worry about cleaning them, just bin them.

[Back garden fancier]

Nest felts are cheap, just bin them. Not worth building up disease for the sake of a few pence.

[REDCHEQHEN]

I bought some washable ones at the NEHU Show - these were on the Murray and Mills stand

 

£3.00 for 10 as opposed to £2.00 for 10 for the 'horsehair' ones

 

but agree its probably safer to bin than reuse

[sammy]

Nest felts are cheap, just bin them. Not worth building up disease for the sake of a few pence.

 

thay only collect dust

[sapper756]

I managed to aquire an old indoor bowling mat, which  I cut to size, excellent as nest felts

[Guest SMUDGER PETE]

DO WHAT I DO GO IN A FIELD AND GET SOME KEKS AND TWIGS ...... BOWLS ,NEST  FELTS, BIN THEM.............. THAY WILL MAKE THERE OWN NEST KEEP IT AS THERE IN THE WILD LIFE MUCH BETTER FOR THE BIRD'S....     THE NATRUAL WAYS ;D

[sammy]

DO WHAT I DO GO IN A FIELD AND GET SOME KEKS AND TWIGS ...... BOWLS ,NEST  FELTS, BIN THEM.............. THAY WILL MAKE THERE OWN NEST KEEP IT AS THERE IN THE WILD LIFE MUCH BETTER FOR THE BIRD'S....     THE NATRUAL WAYS ;D

 

have to agree with you there lad been doing this for years plenty air gets up through the twigs for the eggs to breath just look at the wood pigeons nest you can see the eggs in it from the ground ,tried nest felts maybe they have good points but felt they held to much dust for my likeing

[Guest]

DO WHAT I DO GO IN A FIELD AND GET SOME KEKS AND TWIGS ...... BOWLS ,NEST  FELTS, BIN THEM.............. THAY WILL MAKE THERE OWN NEST KEEP IT AS THERE IN THE WILD LIFE MUCH BETTER FOR THE BIRD'S....     THE NATRUAL WAYS ;D

 

I have used all the three ways described.

 

(1) Yes, started with straw & twigs etc, on the box floor in the 1960's. Until my mentor asked me 'what the hell I was doing with the young birds keels? - they are all bent!

 

(2) Used dandynests in the 70's. I didn't like them because they didn't air the eggs and I thought that the paper mache was too absorbent, made too good a breeding ground for microbes.

 

(3) I now use the german-style plastic nest bowl with the open mesh bottom, with latex nest felt [air holes in bottom]. Chose that bowl because it was the closest to Old Hands recommended wire-mesh bottomed nest bowl, to allow air to circulate round the eggs. The birds build on top of the felt, they bring in pine twigs from the garden. Easy cleaned, its bone dry so just tip the lot out, sprinkle loft treatment on the used side of the nest felt, turn it over, sprinkle again on the unused side and with that side up, its ready for the next round;

 

I reckon I get the best of all worlds now, but I'm still looking to improve: there's a zeolite nest felt which has inbuilt antimicrobial features. Anybody any experience of that?

[DOVEScot]

El natural, we are now using heather, lavender, tobacco stalks and straw, cut into 4-6" lenghts and put in a picking basket so they can make there own

We had a young one survived the winter in the wall cote on the garage with little or no nesting material :-/

[THE FIFER]

nice cote,,

[sammy]

 

Yes, started with straw & twigs etc, on the box floor in the 1960's. Until my mentor asked me 'what the hell I was doing with the young birds keels? - they are all bent!

 

am a wee bit baffled by this wan bruno ,you seem to quote old hand quite a bit ,then you must have read his article and thoughts on how a young bird gets a bent keel ,which has a more logical explanation to it than anything i have ever read  

[DOVEScot]

nice cote,,

 

Thanks, no as daft as ah look  :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/ :-/

 

Here's the one I made for the front of the house

[Guest]

 

am a wee bit baffled by this wan bruno ,you seem to quote old hand quite a bit ,then you must have read his article and thoughts on how a young bird gets a bent keel ,which has a more logical explanation to it than anything i have ever read  

 

Yes, I read a lot in those days of what Old Hand said: but it was the late Josey Brown who pointed out to me that I was doing something wrong, because I had a lot of birds with bent keels.

 

If I remember right Old Hand reckoned it was the youngster's muscle growth outstripping the calcification of the keel? But I reckon it was more to do with poor nesting material, the youngsters posture while hunkering down on bare board and maybes the adult birds posture too?

 

Since changing to nest bowls, I've never had the problem again; and my first year breeding in 2003 after started up again, I'd one pair of eedjit yearlings who refused to use a nest bowl, I kid you not, when the hen sat, the eggs were in one corner, when the cock sat they were in the opposite corner; and when the hen came back, they went to the oppo corner again. Only one egg hatched, and the youngster was chilled a few times, and ended up splay-legged.

[Guest mytton6]

Whats the best way to keep the nest felts in the bowl , as mine always seem to bring them out with there  feet ????

       David

[jakjak]

Nest felts are cheap, just bin them. Not worth building up disease for the sake of a few pence.

 

I agree with you mate,

use them, and bin them,

I cant be bothered to wash nest felts, :

[DOVEScot]

 

I agree with you mate,

use them, and bin them,

I cant be bothered to wash nest felts, :

 

30p each and how long would it take to wash and dry them, then treat them, cannae be worth it surely:-/

[Guest]

Whats the best way to keep the nest felts in the bowl , as mine always seem to bring them out with there  feet ????

       David

 

The latex ones are a bit overlarge for the bowl. Tuck them in at / under the rim.

[Guest mytton6]

hI Bruno

 

           Most off my nest bowls are the old type no rims just thick pot no holes at all , i thought if i got some off the belgium ones with the four holes in you could put a few strands off cottom though to hold them in place

[Guest]

 

30p each and how long would it take to wash and dry them, then treat them, cannae be worth it surely:-/

 

I've never really given it that much thought. I changed to this type because they were both safer for the birds & re-usable, and at the end of September, the basket, training box, nest bowls and nest felts all get washed & disinfected and put away till following year. Its just a bucket of hot soapy water, cold rinse, spary with disinfectant & dry in the sun job.

[Guest]

hI Bruno

 

           Most off my nest bowls are the old type no rims just thick pot no holes at all , i thought if i got some off the belgium ones with the four holes in you could put a few strands off cottom though to hold them in place

 

I don't think they are suitable for the solid clay bowls. These mats breath, and during incubation there is a slight dampness to the underside of the felt. The plastic bowls are also designed to let a flow of air go under the bowl, the bowl bottom is usually perforated, and it stands a little way off the box floor..

[Ian Gill]

If your young uns have a wavy keel before they feather up ..give them a cod liver oil capsule and check them the next day ;)