putting out nesting material

[Nursey]

When I've finished grooming my dogs, there is always lots of soft, fluffy hair in the brush - if I was to put it outside would birds take it for nesting material? and what about human hair from brushes? or would the smells put them off?

Thanks

Nursey

[Stewart J.]

Hi Nursey, put the dog hair out for the birds no problem at all, with human hair also ok provided its not covered in laquer or other sprays. They will really appreciate it, have watched birds plucking hairs from the backs of sheep over the years and bizzarely from road kill corpses on several occasions.

Stewart

:bounce:

[matt green]

all good stuff,i've got two shaggy [hairy] sheep dogs that regularly donate vast tufts of fuzz for the local blue tits and house sparrows.matt[not a proper birder]

[Nursey]

Thank you. I have a rough coated Lurcher and a wire haired Jack Russell, and between them they produce enough hair to stuff a mattress monthly it seems.

Regards

Nursey

[Mickymouse]

A friend of mine does the same with cat fur which I think is kind of cool.

Mick

[Katy Penland]

LOL! Love the irony, Mick!

[KCFoggin]

I watched a Chicadee snatch some hair off the back of my sleeping dog 2 summers ago. Pretty cool.

[alanhill]

I've put out dog hair for a couple of years now, and it seems to disappear very fast from the container (a 'peanut-style' cage only with a larger mesh). However my dog hair (bearded collie) is rather coarse and it seems to go down well with starlings but not so much with the smaller birds, where I think a finer fur is more appreciated.

Incidentally I read somewhere that you should not put out man-made fibres (eg so called 'cotton-wool'), but I can't remember the reason for this. Does anyone know?

Alan Hill

[drafthorse39]

I have a female pekin duck and a cayuga duck and the pekin preens alot so they take her feathers and when i bring her in at night i gather the fethers from her cage that morning and throw them out side and watch the sparrows take em. it is pretty cool.

[Katy Penland]

Incidentally I read somewhere that you should not put out man-made fibres (eg so called 'cotton-wool'), but I can't remember the reason for this. Does anyone know?

Alan HillI understand it's because synthetic fibers mat down when wet, losing their insulating qualities. It's why dryer lint isn't recommended.

[helenol]

A friend of mine does the same with cat fur which I think is kind of cool.

Mick
I do the same thing too Mick. Puts a smug grin on my face it does.

[alcedo.atthis]

Horse hair from the local stables after grooming. If there are young girls acting as grooms, they seem to be more interested in the birds welfare than the boys, so ask the girls.

Regards

Malky

[Birdee]

I have also put out dog hair. I have a german shepherd, and he's a neverending source for soft fluffy nesting material! The birds even fight over it! Mostly sparrows, though.

[baccalynnwv]

I have three horses, one of which is a small pony who looks like a wooly mammoth by spring. I always throw the hair out for the birds when I am done grooming. Where ever I groom them in the fields, the ground is covered with hair and then little birds in the spring. I have a white appaloosa that rolls all the time and leaves snow white patches of hair on the grass, a lot of the birds like this. I have even seen his hair in some of the nests around the house.

Becca