Following advice from my earlier post I checked my peanut feeder today and found that after about a month, the peanuts were looking a bit sorry for themselves. I binned them and cleaned the feeder and am planning to put it back out tomorrow. My question is this:
As I wasted peanuts this time around by filling the feeder, can I part-fill the feeder this time around? I was thinking that this might make it hard for the birds to feed as the food level might not be high enough once they are on the feeder. So then I thought - can I put something underneath so that the peanuts start about halfway up the feeder? Any ideas?
Hi somethingofadreamer, I don't fill my feeder up because of this reason, I threw away most of the nuts the first time I emptied it I only have a small peanut feed and I don't quite half it, and they manage fine.
There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed.
Half-filling a feeder is fine especially if food is getting wasted. However if they aren't taking the peanuts it might make more sense not to put them out at all as I found that the birds would hardly touch them unless they ran out of everything else!
Millie & Fly the Border Collies
I have to admit I have a couple of Blue Tits and Great Tits that come for a nibble of my feeders. The Peanut Feeder is hanging form a branch of a small tree in our back garden area.. The only downfall is the feeder is far to big for the ratio of birds that use it in the garden area - we need to replace the feeder with a smaller more compact one {a to do thing on the list}
Peanuts tend not to do too well if they are continually wet by the rain and the snow. A daily shake of the Peanut feeder does help to keep the Peanuts fresher for longer though.
On top of that we add loose Peanuts to the ground feeders (with the seed mixed) as an addition, and the Blue tits tend to take a nut form the ground feeders too.
Regards
Kathy and Dave
Certainly half fill it, if the birds want them they will get them. Alternatively, do away with your peanut feeder, grind your peanuts and put them in a seed feeder or on the table. They look awful, don't they, when they go mouldy and black. I have a small peanut feeder in the garden as I said earlier, but at work I have one with the cage round to stop squirrels and I have to fill it every week, twice a week throughout the summer. Its in an enclosed Patio just a short distance from a small wood.
Hi somethingofadreamer.It's absolutely fine to only half fill a peanut feeder. Its a great idea if it reduces the amount of waste. Plus the birds that enjoy peanuts still get their fix.Paul.
Warning! This post contains atrocious spelling, and terrible grammar. Approach with extreme edginess.
I've just emptied mine today and binned all the peanuts. They had gone mouldy because they had been wet. I don't think I'm going to replace it. They prefer the granules. I'll give it another try later in the year.
Cheers, Linda.
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I periodically check my peanut feeders and I also shake them from time to time as Blackbird suggests, but when they are nearly empty and they start to look a bit sorry for themselves I empty them onto the ground and the pigeons hoover them up.
I once did this shake up and down over the dustbin and about 20 earwigs fell out into the dustbin. Yuk! I had noticed that the birds were ignoring that feeder, and I tipped all of the peanuts into the bin that time.
Best wishes Chris
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I don't buy whole peanuts, just the granules. Besides the waste of money, I always thought it seemed rather cruel, to see poor little blue tits having to hang on to the feeder, whilst trying to peck through mesh to get a fragment of peanut. They have to eat such a lot to survive, especialy in this cold weather and therefore will go where the food is easier to access.
I buy whole peanuts its cheaper, but i chop them and add them to my ground mix, I do have two peanut feeder as I like to watch the squirrels getting them, i do get a few tits pecking at them as well.
Hey farmer, farmer, put away the D.D.T now. Give me spots on my apples, but leave me the birds and the bees, please!
Janet D said: I buy whole peanuts its cheaper, but i chop them and add them to my ground mix, I do have two peanut feeder as I like to watch the squirrels getting them, i do get a few tits pecking at them as well.
I've been buying them whole too and crushing them up, I put them on my bird tables along with a soft food mix and suet pellets, and my Blue tits always have a good feast on the peanut hanger before going to the table, they don't touch the nuts on the table though, they fly of with a pellet, my Dunnocks, Robins, and Blackbirds all eat off the tables, so I am not sure which of them are eating what.