big nuts for birds

[parsleythelion]

so i built my own huge bird feeder yet when i came to fill it with peanuts i found i'd made a slight oversight and the mesh was slightly too big. finally i found some smaller mesh but what to do with this big feeder now? where can i get bigger nuts?

[Ollie]

If it's large enough you could always put fat balls in it or better still make your own to fit it.

[parsleythelion]

yes, that's one idea. shame there isn't a cylindrical shaped nut about 2 feet long though.

[david156]

what about using it as a scraps feeder. Keeps it off the floor so that cats and rats are more likely to be discouraged.

[davecatt]

Hows this for an idea?

Get an oldish bread loaf that's gone hard enough on the outside so's it wont dissintegrate too quickly, scoop out the middle, fill with a mixture of shredded suet,meal worms and some of the bread crumbs, wrap in wire mesh, you could perhaps make afew holes in the side of the loaf.

Hang it up and see what you get. If I remember right the idea came from a Blue Peter show from when I was a kid. Long long time ago)

Dave

[parsleythelion]

the feeder (which i will not be dismantling as i fixed it v well) is about 4 inches in diameter. that was fine seeing as the nuts would gradually fall and fill the gaps around the edge but will loaves etc and a suet mix do the same? how will their little beaks get to the goodies inside the loaf?

i'm overthinking this aren't i?

[thunder]

Can you attach a piece of your smaller mesh to the inside of your feeder? If you can fix it closely enough, it should still allow the birds to reach peanuts.

henrya

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by Ollie

If it's large enough you could always put fat balls in it or better still make your own to fit it.

Sounds like the easiest option! Many smaller fat balls come in netting which isn't safe for birds, so taking them out of the netting and putting in the feeder could work best all round. (I'd be very careful putting a whole bread loaf out even with insides scraped out, bread goes mouldy very quickly in this damp weather and the toxins produced from mould can be dangerous for birds. The mould often isn't immediately obvious and could start on the inside of the loaf and spread to the feed it's stuffed with. Ideally only enough food should be put in feeders to last a few days, then washed/filled up again, although admittedly this isn't always practical).

If you are making your own feeders, you need to be able to dismantle them periodically in order to disinfect them and exercise proper hygeine when feeding birds. A dirty feeder potentially spreads diseases very quickly with fatal consequences.