FINCHforum

Excuse my ignorance, but I've never used seed hoppers before.

Just bought a bunch of them and in setting them up tonight, I'm not sure if I have this set up right or not. Shouldn't the seed be going naturally into the little beige part in front of the holes? The gravity only seems to effect the area behind it. The bird would really have to almost get inside this contraption to get at the seed.

Am I doing it right?

Are you sure that is the correct way to put it together? Mine are different... More seeds easy to be reached by birds..

Never had one like that but boy it seems hard to get to the seeds.

That's what I thought too! It's already assembled when it arrives, just put the top on it. It seems like it should flow over that divider thing so the seed is more easily accessible.

It's probably designed that way to cut back on waste. If that "trough" were always full the birds would be able to throw mouthfuls of seed just as they would do with an ordinary dish. You could put some seed there to get them interested in it. Bob

That looks right...I have over a dozen of these and they all look like that....to get them a little interested add just a tiny bit to the front trough. Continue to use your regular seed dish until you are certain they are going to it for a while.

Yep, that's the way they work. Once the birds starting using them, you will see that seeds are in that trough, too. Then, as they hull the seed, most of the hulls fall through those openings to the drawer below. You do have to watch all the birds to make sure they are using it. I have had birds peck at the sides, trying to get seed that they can see but can't reach. The larger birds have more trouble than the smaller birds--some of my Grenadiers do not like the hopper.

Agreed with Sally and Cindy These are all I use with all of my finches

That's the correct way to set these up Lisa . I use these all the time and have no trouble at all with my finch'es feeding from them . The bird's will figure these out quite quickly , good luck with them , good purchase
They're a great time saver when you have lots of bird's to feed ( not having to top up individual seed pots )
Regards , Mick M.

Yes it's right, and I was never able to get my birds to use them

Also be careful with these seed blends that have the big pieces of oats and pellets, because sometimes they can cause the flow of seed to stop, and I heard a horror story of someone who used these for vacation, the seed got stuck, and half their birds died

I bought one to try and it came assembled. Mind looks just like yours so I assme it is correct. I LOVE it. My birds are using it just fine. I put a seed disk next to it for a while till they got used to using it. I plan on buying more.

It seems like if one uses it then the other birds will eventually check it out too.

I have a couple of cages where it's a big hit and then some others where no one is going anywhere near it. One thing they all seem to like is hopping onto the roof of it!

Yup, that looks right! Once they start to use it, the seeds will end up on the other side of that divider. Mine do go right into it to eat; they kind of perch on the grid area, and they toss the hulls over their shoulder to fall through.
Great choice getting these! I really love mine. I go through way less seed, plus, they eat all the types of seed in the mix, and don't just pick through. And SOOOOO much less mess!
As others have said though, make sure you see everyone actually eating from them before you discontinue use of their old dishes.

We bought 25 of these hoppers and installed on our breeder cages and it was one of the best moves we ever made. The hoppers reduced our mess by atleast 75% and you can quickly tell at a glance how much seed is left. It is true that you must check the hopper occasionally to make sure it does not have an obstruction. I simply took a large paper clip and bent it straight and then bent a small hook in one end and every other day I stick that into the feed trough and drag it back and forth a couple times clearing any obstructions. All of our hooded seed dishes will be going to the bird fair next month to be sold cheap.

I use these hoppers instead of seed dishes... I have two in the flight cage and one in each of my other cages and my finches and canaries have no trouble eating out of them. Most times there are two birds in feeder at one time. They do keep things cleaner and less waste. The two I have in the flight cage I have removed the seed catcher and hang the feeder so they hang over a plastic shoe box. The finches can forage and when I clean I throw the remains in the shoe box out under my outdoor bird feeders.......