Cleaning Out Old Bird Boxes For Spring

Ever since I was little I have always loved spring time preparation. I grew up making wood duck boxes and blue bird houses with my grandpa down at the farm. The wood duck boxes and the wood shavings we place at the bottom of the box mimic an actual tree with a hole in it. We also put predator guards just below the wood duck boxes so the raccoons can't climb up and eat the eggs. Down at our farm we probably have about 50 wood duck boxes and probably about 100 blue bird houses scattered across the farm. 

On average, wood ducks hatch approximately 10 ducklings a year which means if each box was used, approximately 500 wood ducks would hatch on the farm, just from our boxes, each year. 

To prepare for a spring hatch we clean each box out and add new wood shavings within the wood duck boxes, and do any maintenance necessary. For the blue bird houses take out the old nests and make sure that they shut correctly. 

We place the wood duck boxes on the edge of ponds and place the blue bird houses along posts or fences. Making sure each bird house is approximately 200 feet away from each other since blue birds are pretty territorial. During the winter time mice will also nest within these houses. 

This preparation is honestly not promoted enough. The majority of my outdoor friends do the same thing every year, which is very helpful on a successful spring hatch.

Our full episode comes out Thursday 5/3 on my day at the farm with my grandpa. We go more in depth on spring time preparation and my experiences growing up on the farm! 

Here is just a glimpse of what goes on during our preparation season. I do recommend wearing gloves!