Feeding station / seed catcher for aviaries - best design??

[Ursula]

I sure don't mind! I hope you can cut back on wasted seed as I do now.

In my aviary it's not so much the finches who are wasting seeds and knocking it off the feeder, it's more the budgies who are pigs when they are eating. Although, the Euro Goldfinch likes to throw out a lot of seed too...

[Stephanie]

I like that! Not a bad option, as the tray can be as big as required. I like that the design can be hung too. Only thing is how to easily empty the tray when it's full.

So that's a chicken feeder?

What's the material you have on the floor? Looks like a fine, light woodchip of some kind..???

Thanks

[Ursula]

No, both are hanging outdoor bird feeders that you can take apart for cleaning. (They basically separate into a bottom, a top and the clear plastic cylinder that holds the seed.) My husband drilled holes in the bottom of the feeders, and the big screws go through the holes, secured with washers and nuts, then they go through the tray, again secured above with nuts and below with washers and wingnuts.

I used to clean these feeders anyway every few weeks. I take them completely apart and wash them with hot water. Now I just take them apart outside. Then I blow out the hulls from the tray on our back deck (which is the messy part) and keep the remaining seed. Then I wash the tray and the feeder parts, put them back together and refill them.

The floor is covered with aspen shavings.

When you click on the pictures in picasa you should be able to scroll through my album. You'll see other pictures of the aviary. Most are older pictures and I have to take new ones, but the basic layout is still the same. (Currently I just have less real plants in there anymore because my young budgies are true destroyers and chew them all up. )