Aussie Finch Forum

Now the wet and cold weather is here I'm finding it really hard to do the softbills some mornings due to severe arthritis. I know those automatic feeders exist but the success reports on here are generally mixed.

I have been wondering about putting enough mealies for 24-36 hours in a tray (eg a kitty litter tray) with some pollard in it to keep them alive (I always take the mealies out of the shipped bran and store in pollard thanks to Danny and Myzo). There's no way they'd pupate in that time in the current weather and won't dry out.

Is this a feasible option? I do find that at the moment if I put "too many" in on some evenings the mealies are still alive and kicking the next morning (and vice versa) so all I do then is a top up but I was wondering about taking it a step further and effectively doing the same thing every evening so that if it's lunchtime the next day before my joints get moving and stop hurting the birds are still ok.

Absolutely! Just do it. Mine only get fed once a day at this time of year and there is always some live food left each time.

Thanks Tint (exit left to Bunnings for suitable trays ).

My wrens and chats arrived from your mate AH in August last year so I've never had them "at this time of year".

Its almost essential to overfeed at this time of the year - if you get a cold night, the smaller birds will want to start feeding as soon as the suns up, which is quite a few hours before I'll top up the bowls. Mealworms will last several days in a tray as will maggots.

If the mealworms are out of sunlight they'll last for up to a week even without bran/pollard. I've just been giving each wren/chat aviary a couple of handfuls in the afternoon to ensure plenty still leftover at each feed. I wish termites lasted as well as them.

I generally put a large serve of M/Worms in about 45 min or so before dark. The reason is that it gives feeding birds a decent chance to feed chicks before dark but there are plenty left at first light next morning.
I DO NOT just throw them in a tray but put them in a dispenser which slows the rate they are available.
It is a simple square plastic box with a lid.I have fitted legs to the box to raise it about 25mm off the tray.
The base of my plastic box would be approx 100mm sq,right in the change of direction base to wall I have drilled 4 holes in the plastic
and polished the rough edge. I used a pop rivet drill bit which is approx. 1/8th diam. Dispensing can be slowed by less holes.
This system works in my big flight.If I put 500 worms out in an open tray all would be gone within the hour or less,by using the dispenser
Mealworms would be still dropping at least 3 hours later and the feeding birds make trip after trip.