Bird houses

Yet another example of natural chemical bonding is solidification of desert soils to build bird houses in Egypt. Nile silt was mixed with desert grass and river water to make tower shapes on concrete roofs (Fig. 1.2). Holes made in these towers provide shelter to the birds, which eventually are sold for food. The minerals from such rich soils consolidate when they are mixed with water and are dried in the intense sun of the desert. 

Bird houses on banks of Nile River made from silt and desert grass. 

For many years gourds have been used as pottery bird houses, and decorations. The shell of a gourd is hard, and when dried from the inside out can be a very useful tool. Birds like gourds because they are warm inside and the small holes keep away unwanted intruders. Watch for the cave dweller birds and birds that like dark, quiet places. They are the ones that would want to make your birdhouse their home. The birds that like... 

The best time to build the Gourd Bird-house is in the spring. This is the time when small birds look for places to nest in and build a home for their young. 

Now that you have built your very own bird-house and birdbath, you can become a bird watcher. Pick a spot where you can sit and watch your birdhouse or birdbath. Be very quiet so that you do not scare the birds away. A pair of binoculars will help you to see the birds more closely. This activity will make a great science project, so don t forget to get out your nature Journal and write down what you observe. The following questions will help you learn about the bird family living in your birdhouse. 

Table 1 shows production results for the flock. Differences were found in age of maturity and numbers of eggs. The LBW birds reached sexual maturity 7 d later than the SBW. This is in disagreement with Renema et al. (2007), who found that hen body weight did not affect age of sexual maturity when they were photo-stimulated at 22 wks. At 65 wks, birds fed 1.63 and 1.38 MJ ME/day produced the highest and the lowest number of eggs per hen housed (182.8 and 170). Pearson and Herron (1981) also reported maximum egg production for breeders fed 1.73 kcal ME/day when compared to allowances of 1.52 and 1.88 kcal ME/day (floor pens). This slight difference with our results can be attributed to a higher activity in birds housed in floor pens. 

As with other farm livestock, birds with the same apparent housing and nutrition facilities, and of the same genetic material, give vastly different results depending on the level of management. In surveys it has been clearly demonstrated that the farms which head the productivity league tables are the smaller units managed by the owner. 

The world production of turkeys is rising consistently. The smaller birds (4.5-6.5 kg) are kept rather like broilers, though not by organic producers, whilst the larger birds (8-15 kg) are reared in simple housing of the pole-barn type or even outdoors. Clean land which has not carried poultry or turkeys for two years is essential. Turkeys are extremely hardy and on range they need only simple housing or shelters. 

Hill, G. E. 2002. A Red Bird in a Brown Bag The Function and Evolution of Colotful Plumage in the House Finch. Oxford University Press, New York. 

McGraw, K. J., Nolan, P. M., and Crino, O. L. 2006b. Carotenoid accumulation strategies for becoming a colorful house finch Analyses of plasma and liver pigments in wild molting birds. Fund. Ecol. 20 678-688. 

Predation (e.g. by foxes and birds of prey) may also be a serious cause of mortality in free-range husbandry. Foxes can be kept away with a solid fence, which can be supplemented by an electric fence. Birds of prey are not a big problem for poultry houses that are closed at night and free of holes. However, keeping birds of prey such as the hawks away is not easy, especially for farms surrounded by forest or in a landscape with a lot of trees. In such situations, low structures should be provided as hiding places for the hens. 

Fleming, A., Corter, C., Surbey, M., Franks, P. and Steiner, M. (1995) Postpartum factors related to mother s recognition of newborn infant odours. J. Reprod. Infant. Psyc. 13, 197-210. Gower, D.B., Bird, S., Sharma, P. and House, F.R. (1985) Axillary 5 alpha-androst-16-en-3-one in men and women relationship with olfactory acuity to odorous 16-androstenes. Experientia 41, 1134-1136. 

Wet litter in broiler houses is undesirable, because it affects the climatic conditions for the fast-growing birds. The theoretical conclusion is that insulating the floor could prevent condensation, especially in situations where there is a high ground water level. The first trials and their findings are reported on below. 

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