Hi!
I have several feeders which are quite popular, including a nyjer seed one with two ports. However, the ports are part-way up the tube, meaning there is still a lot of seed left in that the finches can't get to. I obviously don't want to refill on top of this and leave it to rot and sprout, nor do I want to empty this out and put the old seed on top of new and mix it all up - so I was wondering if there was something I could block the lower end with? I imagine this is a common problem, so perhaps I am missing something about the feeder and how it's meant to be used! Entirely possible.
Thanks for your time.
Hi there, if the two ports are half way up the feeder I think it could be difficult to block the lower part of the feeder tube successfully without some of the fine nyjer seeds dropping through to the bottom and you may just be better purchasing another more suitable feeder. There are plastic feeders the same style but I have given you the link for the metal feeder with front facing perches as I think it would be more durable long term and worth the extra investment. It has 4 ports but you could just fill enough to cover the bottom 2 ports. HERE.
We had an old feeder with a similar problem and we filled it up to the lower port with building sand then put the seed in after that A bit messy but it worked for a while
Sand isn't such a bad idea to fill the gap between the bottom and lower feeding ports, as it can be removed into a bowl or bucket for cleaning, a job which all feeders require from time to time to keep the risk of disease and infection as low as possible.
Another possibility, and not quite so heavy, is a wooden of plastic cylinder of the same or close match to the inner diameter of the feeder, and so long as its not too tight a fit, also removeable for the necessary cleaning.