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For any of you that have a dog or a cat, here is an idea.
Our dog liberates so much hair it’s frightening, each year I hang up a couple of old peanut holders filled with her hair, the birds love it (and it stops it blowing all around the garden).
Build it and they will come.
Wow, that's a lot of 'Dog' you have there.
I've been trying to Brush both my fluffy cats with vigour, but they wont let go of much fluff as its still quite nippy here.
Does anybody know what else is OK to put out for nesting material..? Straw..? hay..? Is there a supplier of nesting materials available to purchase.
That new nest box I put up wont fill itself.! ;-)
Ha Ha.... just to answer my own question, I see nice fluffy wool is for sale on the RSPB shop.
Cosy.
I have put the nesting wool into an old peanut feeder for a couple of years now. I use a crochet hook to "tease" some strands through to make it easier for the small birds to pull out.
The necessity of bird-watching is a really good reason for avoiding all forms of housework.
The dust will still be there tomorrow - the birds may not be!
I've been collecting tumble drier fluff as previously suggested on the forum.
Juno asked if hay is OK to use. I was wondering the same as I have loads of the stuff.
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
I don't know about hay. I wonder whether the dust from it might be bad for the chicks - make them wheezy or something (bearing in mind a nest box is very enclosed).
Yes Squirrel, you are probably right. Better safe than sorry. Thanks.
I think I might have gone a bit overboard collecting our dogs hair, we get an awfull lot of hair from him every time we groom him, I haven't kept all of it as I have a carrier bag full, I wasn't sure how much I might need being my first spring helping out the birds. He's one of those dogs with a very thick undercoat and he moults all year round.
There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed.
He sounds like mine, she’s a German Shepherd. I have a carrier bag full which I’ve filled the feeders with. From now until the end of summer I groom her in the garden and stuff the hair in the feeders (if they need topping up) or I push it into the shrubs. We do have a large bird population and a huge garden.
Your best bet is to put some out and top it up when it’s all gone. You will soon work out how much you will need in future years.
Hi Wildlife freindly, my Mum used to have a German shepherd, and our dog is very much like him, in that you can easily get half a carrier bag full each time you groom him, he has a big fluffy bum like a German shepherd and the hair just keeps coming and coming. Thanks for that, I'll keep collecting it then, do you wash it before you put it out or is ok to stick it straight out as it is. I like the peanut feeder idea too.
Hi Juno,
Hay, grass, moss and wood shavings are also ok to use, but straw should never be used as it can harbour mold which can cause birds respiratory problems. Natural sheep wool is also commercially available and makes for a comfy nest!http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/p/Nestboxes/Nesting_wool.htm