feed the birds?

[rsvp]

I only feed the birds in the Winter so few are coming into the garden for food at the moment. I'm am going away for all of February and am not certain I have someone willing to top up the feeder for me on a regular basis during that time. Do you think it better for me not to feed them at all or begin now then taper it off during the end of January?

[jules77]

I would probably feed them now and taper off. We have bought some huge seed feeders, and I only need to top them up once every few weeks. I have seen some up to 4 foot long at our local pet store.

[rsvp]

thanks Jules - will look into the jumbo sized feeders.

[rowanwitch]

feed and taper off at least you will help them through some of the winter then start againas soon as you get back with high fat type foods

[rsvp]

thanks for the suggestion rowanwitch - thought that was the way to go.

[rsvp]

trouble is trim there's no where else to go - am in the country without near neighbours - thnk I'll stick with the taper off option but thanks for the input

[rsvp]

what I meant was there is no-where else for them to get help with winter feeding - I know they are wild and subject to the wiles of the weather but I like to help them out during the bad weather.

[bizzylizzy]

Do things like, instead of chopping up fruit, put whole apples on the ground, birds like Blackbirds will take a while to work their way through those. You could try stringing up some peanuts, so the Blue tits have to work a little to get the nuts. Also make up some large fat balls with seeds and nuts in them, they will also last longer. You can buy seed sticks which will last longer too. A friend of mine has had some success using a chicken house style bird feeder. It's a big hopper that she fills with seed, it trickles down as the birds eat the seed in the tray at the bottom. She says it can last for several weeks before it needs filing. People might say this will encourage rats, but rats are going to eat any seed on the ground any way. I would never say, don't feed the birds. Feed them as long as you can, leave as much food as you can and they will move on when the food runs out. But you may well be able to leave enough treats in your garden to keep them interested during February. Good luck. It's nice to see that people care about our feathered friends. They need all the help they can get.

[rsvp]

thanks for the reply bizliz - have decided to get multple feeders and ask a reasonably near neighbour to fill them on a weekly basis - it would have been awful not to help the birds out if the weather was really bad. Not sure I'd enjoy my holiday as much if I was thinking of starving birds in the snow!!!!