Elderly cat breathing difficulties when purring

[beach chick]

for the last few months I've had real probs with the sparrows pinching all the layers pellets. fair enough, I like to feed them - but they've got a well-stocked bird table!! it got so I was putting out handfuls of pellets 3-4 times a day, and never sure who was eating what.

 

I read on the (whispers) forum that if you put the feeders UNDER something, wild birds wont come - so I grubbed an old kids' table out of the field, put both hoppers underneath, and suddenly there are still pellets left every time I look! I know the chooks have found them, but fingers crossed the wildies wont.

 

to explain my set up: 50m electric fence; cube; 2 old eglu runs as covered outdoor space with corrugated plastic for dry and covers for shade; grubs in there never touched by wild birds. with 11 (now 10) girls, I have 5 feeders and 5 drinkers, but the galvanised feed hoppers were always preferred.

 

hope this idea might be useful to someone else!

[jos]

Thanks for the advice, Beach Chick, I have a huge problem with starlings... I will go and rootle out something to cover the girls feeders with immediately!

J

[Patricia W]

The robins and the pigeons in my garden aren't phased by anything like that - they are so bold they even go into the eglu, not just the run!

[Chucky Mama]

Pigeons are my problem. As they now have a ready food source their numbers are ever increasing

[Ms Tilytinkle]

Great idea. Will try if all else fails. Hmmm pigeons here too!! Yes ours are bold too & go into the run to find the pellets. One of the chickens, (bless - the bottom of the pecking order one ) chases the pigeons but they still return knowing they have a constant supply of food.

 

Do the pigeons manage to get at anyone else's grubs? My grubs are at the furthest end of the run and because I have a long wooden extension added onto omlet extensions its sooo difficult to fill the grubs easily. So much so I've recently ben putting their pellets in plant pots . Maybe I'll have to endure the dismantling of the runs & fill the grubs again.

Tis a nuisance, especially reading about the diseases they could bring.

 

Ms Tilyschickshavestartedlayingagainhad5yesterday.

[LJ's Chooks]

my girls make sure no body takes their food.... they will chase any cheeky garden birds the length of their garden if they catch any little bird....

 

When they go to bed in their cube run, that's a different matter and the pidgeons and crow love checking out what the girls have left behind (they are such messy eaters)

[beach chick]

2 weeks on - d&mn! no longer works, the starlings and sparrows are back and wise to my trick. time to investigate treadle feeders I think. grrrrrr

[Staffordmum]

A WIR is definately the answer IMO - to most problems!

 

We were spurred on the the dozens of crows/jackdaws that helped themselves to anything in the girls garden.

 

Now we have a roof, the only birds welcome are the lil' ones - (they squeeze through the gaps!)

 

At last, the fat balls are "safe" ...

 

Rgds,

 

Pat & Steve

[teri]

i have a pair of wood pigeons who visit every day but they only pick up the feed thats left on the lawn...the kids use it to get the chickens close enough to stroke dropping most of it along the way . the chickens just ignore them even if they are free ranging..they hate the magpies though and see them off very quickly.

pat and steve are right about the WIR ours has solved every problem we have come across its got a temporary roof at the moment.....just waiting for the rain to stop long enough for me to go out and put a proper one on.....gonna be a long wait!

[eggregiousness]

time to investigate treadle feeders I think. grrrrrr

That's what I was thinking! Are they definitely rat proof? Does food go mouldy in them if you only have a couple of hens?

[Staffordmum]

I just read this on the internet :

 

"Earthworms and also snails, slugs, ants, flies and beetles are often the intermediate hosts for various internal parasites of birds; so winter is a good time to use medication. If you routinely worm the birds two to four times a year, the next time could be just before the breeding season. As well as routinely worming the birds, try to limit the opportunities for picking up parasites and diseases. Using the right feeders and drinking equipment, avoiding muddy patches during the winter (we're still battling with our WIR floor following the adverse weather. Bought wood chippings yesterday and about to start from "scratch" ), and using clean bedding all help to keep the stock healthy.

 

Worms in poultry - Parasitic worms are, of course, much more common in free-range poultry than in cage systems where, in theory, the birds should be parasite-free.

 

At present, DEFRA's advice is to feed birds indoors to reduce contamination of their feed by wild birds."

 

And to think we postively encouraged the wild birds by placing feeding stations in the girls garden - just so they could clean up the mess beneath ...

 

Once again, a WIR wins hands down!

 

Rgds,

 

Pat & Steve