Giant Bird Feeder

Giant Bird Feeder AG WORLD 33-2-22 When it's 40 degrees below zero in northwest Alberta, bird feeders get busy. The problem is that you have to fill them every day. That's why Sydney Stubbs built a feeder so big he only has to fill it once a month. "That feeder is a gold mine for attracting birds," says Stubbs. "In the summer, a fill will last for several months." The feeder holds three 5-gal. pails of birdseed at a time. It consists of a steel cage with a metal top mounted to a 4 1/2-ft. tall steel pipe with a modified garbage can to hold the seed. The can sits in a hole in the top of the cage. Holes in the base of the can empty out to a feeding tray. Stubbs made the tray by attaching a lid from a 5-gal. pail to the bottom of the garbage can. The cage keeps deer and other critters away from the seed, while the height makes it easy to work under. A funnel with the drain plugged stands upside down inside the garbage can. It ensures the seed is constantly moving to the outside rim as birds feed. An upside down cone mounted around the post and below the cage acts as a squirrel baffle. The strength of the cage allows Stubbs to hang accessories. When the weather is above freezing, a bird waterer sits inside the cage. In the summer he adds a couple hummingbird feeders. A salt block for deer mounts at the base of the pole. "The whole thing cost about $200," says Stubbs. "The protective grid was a bulk fluid container cage used to hold de-icer fluid at the airport. Setting it at the height I did lets me mow beneath it, and the deer can get under it to eat any fallen seed or sunflower hulls." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Sidney Stubbs, RR #1, Site 6, Box 21, Beaverlodge, Alberta, Canada T0H 0C0 (ph 780 354-3112).

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