Hi all,
Hope you can help!
I've just recently started feeding birds in my small urban garden. But I'm unsure how often to change the food i put out. I'm using:
Peanuts, Seed Cake, Fat Cakes, Half a Coconut with Fat and Mealworms, and fat balls.
Any help would be appreciated as i dont want to harm any birds!
Thank you!
I won't be happy until I've got a penguin down :)
HI,
I think the advice is that you should only put out food that will be eaten within a few days. Feeders should be cleaned regulary and any mouldy food should be thrown away.
Hope this helps
Sarah
PS Welcome to the forums
I've learned that I still have a lot to learn...
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Hello Userlt,
Welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy it here.
I leave my sunflower hearts and nyjer seed longer than a few days. Good quality hangers stay dry inside and it doesn't go mouldy. Peanuts can go mouldy when they get wet, so care should be taken with those. Some suet/fat things do go off, but mine never last very long at the rate the starlings and jackdaws eat them. Fat balls are boycotted in my garden so I don't offer them. I think any food on tables or ground feeders/trays should be limited to a day's supply, especially in wet weather. It all depends on the food, the containers, and the weather in my opinion.
One of the reasons for the advice given to only put out a day's supply at once is to deter rodents and such like.
What does everyone else do? I hope what I do is OK. It takes forever for my 20 port flocker to empty!!!!
Cheers, Linda.
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Sparrow I think you are right.
My ground food is always gone in one day. My peanuts I have given up on. Fat balls no takers. Suet goes quickly. The nyger seed however is dry in the feeder and although it is only a four port one, I only have two golfinches so It has lasted a week or two. I shake it and check it regualry. Mixed seed goes in a day or two,
It is really only nyger seed i leave for longer and hope this is ok.
Hi all
Like Sparrow my nyger seed lasts longer than a few days in my hanging feeder and so do my sunflower hearts and peanut chips. I check the hanging feeders regularly and have even been known to empty some out onto a towel to dry if it rains for several days.
I have hanging peanut feeders and I shake the peanuts inside them up and down regularly to ensure that they don't go mouldy and stick together. If they start to get old and there aren't many left I put them in my ground feeder and the pigeons hoover them up.
Tip: If you want to remove the contents of a hanging feeder it's easier if you plug up the holes with a half a piece of kitchen towel scrunched up, or a cotton wool ball.
Best wishes Chris
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Woodpecker said: Tip: If you want to remove the contents of a hanging feeder it's easier if you plug up the holes with a half a piece of kitchen towel scrunched up, or a cotton wool ball.
I'll give that a try! I always end up with more seed on the kitchen floor than the container I am pouring it in to.
Thank you all for your replies!
They've been really helpful and there's some great tips i'll be using from now on. I hadd been findng it difficult to find out about this subject so am most grateful!
Thanks again
Steve
A belated welcome from me too Steve! :-)
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
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