Recommended Feeders for a Colony

[tom_westhollywood]

Hello,

I have bought so many feeders over the years and I am hoping someone can give me some recommendations. I would like to buy something that can store a few lbs. of seed so I do not have to continuously refill them. I currently have a large flight cage about 90" wide and have about 15 Gouldians in there. I have tried wild bird feeders, vacation feeders, etc. but still have not found what I am looking for. I also noticed the birds are so wasteful with the seeds and wind up throwing a lot of them away. Though, price and budget is important, I don't want to spend $100 for the birdzerk or anything. I read that some people use rabbit feeders and wanted to know if anyone has had success feeding a colony of birds using a particular feeder and the birds are not so wasteful. I am currently using a soda bottle seed feeder that I bought on Ebay for $6 and it dispenses the seed quite nicely and can store a very large volume of seeds. I just noticed the birds are so wasteful.

Any assistance/recommendations will be greatly appreciated. I have done endless research using the google engine. Thank you!!

[Sally]

When you say vacation feeders, are you referring to the seed hoppers that so many vendors sell for around $6.50? I find with these that the seed hull drawer fills up faster than the hopper empties, so I have to empty this drawer more often. It also will not stop birds from being wasteful, I have one cage that I have had to remove the hopper and give them a dish, as they would empty the hopper in one day searching for a favorite seed. I got tired of finding an entire hopper's worth of seed all over the tray bottom.

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, and if you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier to answer locale-specific questions later on. Or does your member name give your location? We'd love to see photos of your flight cage and Gouldians!

[tom_westhollywood]

Hi Sally!

Yes, I have the hoppers and I did use it when I had the pairs set up in their own cage. I have decided to move them all into a very large flight cage and have been very successful breeding them. I only have 3 breeding pairs.

Anyway, back to the feeders. I have the hoppers and have used that but now that my colony has gotten bigger from a very successful breeding summer. I now have about 25 Gouldians in their, parents and babies. I do plan to move the babies out in a few months but in the meantime. I am currently using large feeders that are for wild birds. I bought a few from Walmart and was replacing the seeds every week. I have recently moved up to the 2 liter coke bottle seed feeder that I bought on Ebay but noticed they are very wasteful.

Was wondering if there are any breeders on here that use rabbit feeders and any success with that since you can fill it from the outside?

Thank you!

Tom

[lovezebs]

tom_westhollywood

Hi Tom, and welcome to the Forum.

Birds are messy eaters as a rule, and will eat the seeds that they like and toss the rest, it's just the nature of the beast.

Also, I think that a lot of Finch Seed Mixes, have certain types of seeds, that not all Finches eat. Some species eat the smaller seeds (Waxbills), some eat some of the bigger seeds and the small seeds (Canaries, Gouldians, etc.) Some will eat certain seeds during certain times of the year, and not other times. So unless they come up with species specific mixes (which would be even more expensive), we are stuck with tossed seeds that don't get eaten.

I sweep up the uneaten seeds off my floor a few times a day, and toss them out to the sparrows (who eat everything).

As to particular feeders, some people use (I think they are called seed hoppers ) to cut back on the waste and mess, but I don't think that would meet your needs for large feeders.

I am curious as to what the soda bottle feeder is. I have never heared of it, and would love to see a picture. Would also love to see pictures of your set up and your Gouldians.

Sorry I couldn't be of much help, but hopefully someone on here will be able to offer some thoughts or ideas.

Good luck

[tom_westhollywood]

Sure.. Let me try and take a picture of the set-up in the upcoming weeks. I am going out of the country on a mini-vacation. These feeders are great and not worry about refilling them. So far based on my experience, the soda feeder contains about 2 liters of seed and have lasted about 1.5-2 weeks for 15 Gouldians. I have 2 of them in the aviary. I don't have to worry about bugs getting in there because it is very tight and seeds are always flowing out. I bought them on Ebay for $6 which includes shipping. A few of these and you are set. I have all my Gouldians on water bottle and use the 2 - 64 oz Lixit water bottles. They will never empty the water bottle, I usually refill them with fresh water every week.

I am new and don't know how to attach a picture to my post so I am sending the link at this moment.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Window-Soda-B ... 1957674580

[lovezebs]

tom_westhollywood

That's a neat idea. Do they ever get plugged up, where the seeds don't come out?

My concern with any feeders and water bottles that are to last for any length of time, is that something will go wrong with them, and the birds will starve or die due to lack of water. I always leave several different options for them, so that if something goes wrong, they always have another food/water source.

Keep us updated on your feeder search. Personally, I would love to find a way to keep the seeds in the containers, rather than all over my floor:-D.

Best wishes.

[MariusStegmann]

I have thinking about fixing trays under my auto-feeders that can catch all the spilled seeds. I think that I can then use that seed for sprouting.