Aussie Finch Forum

I use those hanging white plastic seed hoppers with the green bottoms for my seed and water that i suspend on chain from my aviary ceiling. But about 2 years ago i noticed that the seed was disappearing at a much more rapid rate than usual. at first i thought it was the wind as large quantities seemed to be spilt on the aviary floor until i discovered the culprit. one of my ruddies had this annoying habit of flicking/tossing the seed form side to side as he ate, spilling far more than he consumed. I swear since then more have picked up the habit, something i never used to experience a problem with.

Its now out of control, my 30ish birds are tearing through 2 hoppers a week, with the vast majority left uneaten on the sand floor.

i feed approx half red panic and half standard finch mix that i purchase in bulk from the local stockfeed supplier. I've tried changing the ratio (both more or less panic) but it makes no difference. I get the feeling its a mindless habit. i keep ruddies, cordons, saints, RFPF, melbas, jacarinis, strawbs, OB's, painteds and a sole cuban. its seems to be mostly the ruddies (which i have a lot of) and the melbas who do it as far as i can tell.

anyone else have this problem? can i modify the seed hoppers? is their a better seed mix i can use for those species? i've even considered getting king quail to at least try and keep the floor clear but last time i had quail (californians) they annoyed me greatly with their flightiness.

any suggestions? i'm sick of the mess and its a waste of $$$$

Try separation of seeds to see what seeds they are favoring. .then you can work out a better ratio? I use mason jars with separate seeds and find certain times of year they eat more of one seed ...once run out I leave them to eat the rest so as not to get too fat on say canary seed.....

I've had the same problem in the past and you will find that the birds are looking for their favourite seed and anything in it's way gets chucked out.
I've done away with hoppers going for a tub about 10cm deep,usually find them in the reject shops.What I find good about this is that because of the depth it is hard for them to throw out the seed and when their favourite is gone then they will start on the rest.I change the seed about 5-6 days and find nearly all husk.
Jack

I think that is the best way to go Jack, a lot cleaner and no husks spread all over the floor. Bit off topic but you can tell a maggot feeder with all those pupae shells stuck all over the wall. Craig

Yeah Craig it does look like a slaughter house.
Jack

Melbas are shockers for it.

thanks for the tips everyone.

next time i stock up on seed i'll try buying separate samples of each type rather than just lots of the pre-mixed and feed out the samples to see whats being eaten.

And Tiaris, yes i noticed just today how much the melbas toss with those long beaks of theirs. lucky for them i find them so charismatic!

I gave up on hoppers a few years ago because of the high wastage. It's even more problematic with parrots, especially my Plum-headed parakeets who exclusively eat sunflower seeds and toss the rest.

I use large tubs from a reject shop also and just blow the husk out each weekend with a battery operated camping blower (the kind you inflate a air matteress with). It is portable and very effective.

hi I use these seed hoppers. Fresh seed in top hopper flicked seed and husks fall through to the bottom hopper for winnowing later. less mess more efficient. I did a full description on how to make one in the D.I.Y.forum