wasted food

[angie a]

I have very few birds in my garden that eat peanuts from the feeder, so to minimise the waste, I now put a tube of plastic water pipe in the centre of the feeder, & the nuts in the gap around the outside. It still gives the birds a large surface are to feed from, but nothing is in there long enough to go off, which must be better for the birds.

[Neillo]

good idea, I like that. I do have quite a problem with wasted food coming off my seed feeders. The starlings that barge in and kick the little ones out tend to just rifle through what's there throwing out the bits they dont want to find the bits that they do. I mowed yesterday (after leaving it a few weeks, so grass was quite high) and underneath my feeding station was just a large mushy mat of sprouting seed and uneaten bits. Looked horrible and didn't smell too great either.

Think I'll have to go back to no-grow seed again after experimenting with some expensive mixes - which the birds loved - but as I say, is making an awful mess. Might get a few ground table to catch the bits too.

[angie a]

Hi Neillo, Have you tried feeding your birds the cheaper, non-growing option of uncooked pastry? Approx 40% flour to 60% lard (no water),it should be fairly soft. I sometimes add a bit of dried fruit or seed. Whizzup in a food processer. I put it into one of the square, slim treat feeders. A.

[70007]

Pastry is quite a good idea, but I doubt that too many finches and other seed eating birds will try it. The problem with the rectangular wire mesh ground tables is that the mesh is a little too large and so nyger, linseed and rape tend to fall through it onto the grass and germinate.

A similar thing happens with hanging nyger feeders because the seed just seems to get thrown out. One of those large plantpot-saucer-thingys placed under the feeder will do the trick if you dont have rodents.

I think this problem is as much to do with the poor weather we have had, giving good conditions for germination and meaning moving feeders around is delayed due to miserable conditions.

[angie a]

Unfortunately I dont get finches is my garden. Although I'm surrounded by trees & fields, I only get sparrows, starlings, collared doves & pigeons. & they all seem to love the pastry. My mum gets a lot more species in her garden & they get through a batch a day!

[barn owl]

I have tried most foods now for the likkle devils including seed and nuts so i make what i can rather than buy in bulk they still get the usual seed and nuts but i find large bags of rice from lidl or aldi is so cheap that i cook up rice and mix with raisins and sultanas. i find that making a bread pudding works also as it doesnt tend to break up like most foods.
one and a half loafs bread (even stale) soak in water till nice and wet throw in an egg (not in shell ) haha. a cup of flour remember to take the cup out hehe. currants a cup full and same for sultanas, bake on meduim heat for an hr in a meat dish in oven allow to cool and cut in bigish squares it will go in mesh feaders or on a table etc.
i bet the ladies are thinking hey i know how to make bread pudding, so sorry this is for the guys to try out lol. its fun and edible too,
i also get fallen seed germinating at the base so i cut away the grass round the bottom and kinda fence the area in with bricks, then its easy to weed it out once a month or so.
it can be expensive when a lot of birds feed your garden so im constantly trying to ease the cost with cheap food.
regards owl.