Feeding the Birds

Curry_Queen

I'm really beginning to worry about you Racy ... especially after reading your OS posts in the daily thread today!!!!! :eek:


:rotfl:




Pssssst :shhh: get thineself over here lass and share the last of this wine bottle with me :shhh:

Jay-Jay_4

Great!!!!!!! I've been meaning to start a thread about feeding birds for a couple of weeks now. :j


I have wild bird seed and sometimes chopped bacon fat on my bird table. I also put out bits of apple and sometimes chopped fruit but what I would like is a definative list of exactly what's good to put out on the bird table and exactly what should be avoided.


over to you

RacyRed

Curry_Queen wrote:

I'm really beginning to worry about you Racy ... especially after reading your OS posts in the daily thread today!!!!! :eek:


:rotfl:




Pssssst :shhh: get thineself over here lass and share the last of this wine bottle with me :shhh:

Great! Just what I need


Its Nels! she's a bad influence on me

Queenie

Jay-Jay wrote:

.... but what I would like is a definative list of exactly what's good to put out on the bird table and exactly what should be avoided.


over to you

Links above :rotfl:

Jumoff

Hello everyone, I have just joined and thoroughly love the site.
Everyday I feed the birds with wildbird seed, left over bacon bits, etc. and have been doing this for 10 years so I have my 'regulars' and a few visitors. My concern is that, desite a good handwashing regime after touching anything that the birds have 'frequented', is there anything that we all should be doing to avoid catching this Avian Flu?
I will not stop feeding them but it is a worrying thought.
Regards from Cumbria

Curry_Queen

If you're really worried about bacteria on your hands after feeding the birds then get yourself some of the alcoholic hand rub such as they use in hospitals. I have a bottle I use at home when I've been handling my reptiles, and in between each one, and it's perfect for the job


You want to be looking for something with Chlorhexidine as the active ingredient, whether it be a hand rub or a soap to wash hands in, such as Hibiscrub.

summerday

Good thread! I was planning on sorting the freezer out soon, and I have loads of finger rolls in there that we didn't use up for summer bbqs and prob won't last till next summer. If I defrost them one at a time I could break them into crumbs and put them out for the little birds couldn't I?

Only thing that concerns me slightly is that there's one or 2 cats near our house that I know sometimes kill birds (I don't mean feral cats that catch prey to eat, just tame cats that catch birds to play with). Is there anything I can do to reduce the chances of the cats catching the birds with the food I put out for them. I'd hate to think that by putting food out for the birds in my garden I might in fact be delivering them to death instead.

anguk

saraht wrote:

Only thing that concerns me slightly is that there's one or 2 cats near our house that I know sometimes kill birds (I don't mean feral cats that catch prey to eat, just tame cats that catch birds to play with). Is there anything I can do to reduce the chances of the cats catching the birds with the food I put out for them. I'd hate to think that by putting food out for the birds in my garden I might in fact be delivering them to death instead.

You could buy them a collar with a bell on for Christmas! We've got a cat who likes to chase birds so we put a bell on her collar, at least that way the birds hear her coming!

ben500

Almost any kind of animal fat is suitable and high in energy, you can usually obtain it free of charge from your local butcher if you ask nicely, mine always hands over a bagfull to me every Friday and simply heat in a saucepan to melt it down to use for fatballs/blocks packed with allsorts of seed and dried fruit the birds go mental for it, it can melt in deep summer so best to restrict its use to tables then or an area that can be scrubbed vigorously below hanger to avoid attracting vermin. Squirrels are ingenious creatures monkey nuts set on strings are ideal distractions for them also mixed nuts in shells are pennies in the major supermarkets and can be used up until the next batch of cheapies next year if you want, hazelnuts can be left out unopened but almonds, brazils and walnuts should be cracked first, pecans can also be left out whole, place them high and if possible make it a bit of an adventure for the squirrel to actually get at them, you will find they much prefer the challenge rather than an easy raid on the bird table and this obviously results in more visitors to your garden. Crows will even use passing vehicles to crack larger nuts if you wish to leave some whole walnuts or pecans out. For water you can supply it cheaply using cage bird water feeders secured to walls many birds will adapt to them in wild if presented. I always leave a dogs bowl on and adjacent flat roof and regularly top up with water, shelled mixed nuts can be got much cheaper in the supermarket just after Christmas than you would pay in a regular pet food store but these don't keep as long. All of my family collect any shelled nuts left over after Christmas {Its unbelievable how much of this type of product is bought but never consumed just because its Christmas!}

Queenie

Haven't fed our birds tonight ... seeing as everyone else is

:think: they have been strangely ... absent today.