Bird Feeders - Anyone Make their Own ?

[SuzieandFlo]

I was feeling a bit creative today and made 2 bird feeders .
As I don't have any feeders yet , I was thinking of ways I could attract more birds to my garden.
A couple of weeks ago , I made a mix of seed with fat and made it into "sausages" with string through the middle. It was messy to make , but fun. I wrapped them in cling film and put them in the fridge overnight to set. Next morning , I hung one on my washing line and 2 on the fence. They were all gone within 2 days. The birds here don't really touch shop bought fat balls so I was delighted they enjoyed my home made "sausage" version .
Apart from those , I have a half coconut shell filled with a seed/fat mixture , and all other food gets put on the ground and on a pallet with a solid top. I also put a little food on top of the garden shed.
I found something in a shop yesterday and immediately thought, "I could make a feeder out of that."
It was a rectangle of mesh made from what looks like coated heavy thread. Its normal use is on a baking tray, under food, in your oven !
It was easy to cut and I stitched it into a tube shape with strong thread. I cut the top and bottom off a 1.5 litre water bottle, sanded the cut edges smooth and made some holes in the base and lid with a heated nail. I made perches out of garden cane cut to size and pushed them through the mesh. Then I threaded a length of strimmer cord through the feeder base, up through the centre and out through the top.
I hung this one up late in the afternoon , filled with peanuts and sunflower hearts , so hopefully the birds will investigate it in the morning .
Later on , I made another feeder out of a 500ml Coke bottle for small seed. I made small holes (hot nail again) at the neck of the bottle and about a third of the way down. I also melted 4 grooves around the bottle top.
I put a piece of the mesh around the body so the birds have something to hold on to , with a cane perch through the bottle just below that. I cut the base off a 2 litre Coke bottle and melted a hole in the bottom. After I sanded off the edges I threaded a length of strimmer cord through the base of the bottle, down through it and out through the neck , through the 2 litre bottle base and tied a cane perch to the underside. This feeder is filled with a mix of small seeds , millet , hemp , nijer, etc. I haven't put this one out yet but will do in the morning.
I don't know if either of them will last long , especially as the Starlings will no doubt investigate. I'm hoping my regular Coal Tit and the local Blue Tits will find the food before the starlings wreck the feeders .
I'll take a couple of pictures of the feeders tomorrow.
Does anyone else make their own ?

[Mitty]

Heya,

I've made a coke-bottle-with-bamboo-perch feeder. I cut the seed holes a bit too big though, and made a mess of trying to use tape to make them smaller.

The sausages sounds easier, how do you make the seed/fat mix?

[SuzieandFlo]

Aw , that's not so good . How did you make the holes ? I used a small nail , held with a pair of pliers and heated the point with a lighter until it was hot enough to go through the plastic. I used a small nail for the small seed feeder and a bigger nail to make the perch holes through the plastic.
To make the "seed sausages" -
I made 3 different types , i.e. big seed , small seed , fruit and chopped nuts.
I started by puting some fat in a bowl and mashing it up a bit to soften it. I used Trex (vegetable fat block) as I couldn't get suet or lard.
I then added some seed and mixed it through the fat. I kept adding more seed until the mixture was full of seed but still sticking together.
I put a piece of cling film on the worktop and put some of the seed mixture on it. I then laid a length of string , which I'd tied several knots along the length, on top of the "strip" of seed mixture. I put more seed mixture on top of the length of string and squashed it together a little. I folded the end of the cling film over the bottom end of the mixture then carefully rolled the sausage in the cling film , shaping it with my fingers at the same time.
Once rolled up , I twisted the cling film at the top around the string I left uncovered to hang the sausage up with.
Next , I rolled the sausage back and forward on the worktop to get an even shape all the way along.
Once I had finished making and rolling the sausages , I put them on a tray and put them in the fridge overnight to set.
Once set , very carefully unwrap the cling film and hang the sausage out for the birds to enjoy.
Here is a picture of the first feeder I made. I took this on my mobile phone as my camera needs to be charged up.

[Cowgirl]

The spirit of Blue Peter lives on! Thank you for these wonderful ideas. Will study these designs & have a go myself, anything to stop from being charged exorbitant prices at the pet shop!

[pressld2]

They look really good SuzieandFlo! I haven't had a go at making any hanging feeders but knocked together a ground feeder from scraps and recycled materials: Ground feeding

Dave P.

[AshLee]

Wow SuzieandFlo, your feeder is excellent

[Geoff F]

I have always found that the hanging feeders are only regularly used by a few types of birds. Others like robins, chaffinches and blackbirds normally avoid this type of feeder but are happy to use a traditional design flat top table.

The problem which I have been attempting to overcome is that crows and pigeons swoop onto my tables and eat everything in minutes.

So I had a go at redesigning one of my double story bird tables.



I simply cut a hole in the top table and inserted a standard wire feeder with a block of wood screwed to the base in order to present the food at 'beak level'. I use a bottom layer of peanuts followed by mixed seed and a few more peanuts.

So far, it has been popular with all the birds which use my garden except the crows and pigeons. All of the table feeding birds quickly adapted to this design although it took the collared doves a bit longer to learn to peck at the feeder. I never consider them to be very 'bright'.

Now, I'm trying to come up with a practical but trendier garden feature design. Maybe add a pointed roof or something like that. Any ideas?

[Mitty]

Originally Posted by SuzieandFlo

I made 3 different types , i.e. big seed , small seed , fruit and chopped nuts.
I started by puting some fat in a bowl and mashing it up a bit to soften it. I used Trex (vegetable fat block) as I couldn't get suet or lard.
I then added some seed and mixed it through the fat. I kept adding more seed until the mixture was full of seed but still sticking together.
I put a piece of cling film on the worktop and put some of the seed mixture on it. I then laid a length of string , which I'd tied several knots along the length, on top of the "strip" of seed mixture. I put more seed mixture on top of the length of string and squashed it together a little. I folded the end of the cling film over the bottom end of the mixture then carefully rolled the sausage in the cling film , shaping it with my fingers at the same time.
Once rolled up , I twisted the cling film at the top around the string I left uncovered to hang the sausage up with.
Next , I rolled the sausage back and forward on the worktop to get an even shape all the way along.
Once I had finished making and rolling the sausages , I put them on a tray and put them in the fridge overnight to set.
Once set , very carefully unwrap the cling film and hang the sausage out for the birds to enjoy.

Hmm, think I can do that! Will definetely be buying fat and seeds on my next shop. Melting holes the bottle with a hot nail is a good tip too, I used a cutting knife and it was quite tricky.

Thanks SuzieandFlo!

[shelldud]

I have recently made a starling proof feeder that actually works. so the blue, coal and great tits now get their share of the fat cakes i make.
I like the idea of sausage one and geoff's feeder is excellent.

[AshLee]

What was your secret, shelldud?