I need some advice on what to do with an outside bird feeder. I hang
+5
I need some advice on what to do with an outside bird feeder. I hang one in a tree and ground feed with a baking sheet, that I punched holes in to allow water and the elements of winter to keep the seed from accumulating . What I do not like is the seed and peanut shellls do not Disintegrate and what a mess. I would like some suggestions as to how to keep the area clean.
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Okay, that didn't work out like a planned. The above link is to Chewy.com for a no waste, no hull wild bird mixture. Several companies off this type of seed.
We have a large bird feeder on a pole and get lots of birds. The seeds that get knocked onto the ground, the larger birds and squirrels eat, so that we never have left-overs. I don't know, if you have ground feeders, which would help to clean up the mess.
The squirrels and chipmunks take care of a lot of mine, I have mine above hostas and ferns so it is not real noticeable.
There is a problem when seed and nut hulls fall to the ground. It's a real issue for ground feeders if you don't keep the area cleaned periodically, seeds will become moldy which can cause illness/death. We rake under each of the feeders and put the seed debris in the compost; if you don't clean up the debris, you'll end up making compost under the feeders. There are hulless bird feeds, including seeds, peanuts, nuts, etc., which are a bit more expensive but require no ground maintenance. We also have several feeders under which we've placed pavers, just requires a quick sweep.
Don't know about the mice, probably raccoons, no, voles I haven't seen. I was at a local feed type store and they had a feeder for squirrels that you fill with peanuts or corn and they lift the lid to get a treat and that keeps them away from the bird feeder. They had about a dozen different squirrel feeders. We actually have one of the feeders that we put up last fall that is a compressed corn type food for the squirrels. They love it! As you can tell I turn to mush with animals. Goes with having four dogs, two birds(one is a Macaw), a hybrid cat, three freshwater fish tanks and three saltwater fish tanks. We have had every thing from spiders to snakes as pets.