Giant Bird Feeder Made From Milk Can

Giant Bird Feeder Made From Milk Can FARM HOME Miscellaneous Joe Gruber likes to know the birds he feeds will always have plenty to eat So he made a giant bird feeder out of an old milk can The can sits 6 ft up in the air on a 3-legged wooden stand He used a torch to cut out the bottom of the can and turned it upside down then bolted it to the clamp-on lid off a 55-gal barrel that serves as a feeding tray The lid has a rounded edge to keep the feed in The gap between the bottom of the can and the lid can be quickly adjusted by turning 4 bolts He drills 4 holes through the mouth of the can and through the lid then bends the bolts into an “L” shape and inserts them through the holes The bolts fit into nuts bolted on above and below the barrel lid To make a lid for the top of the feeder he inserts a piece of treated plywood and screws a strip of rubber matting on around the outside edge of it “They’re quite colorful and draw a lot of attention and you don’t have to fill them every day ” says Gruber “The milk can has a capacity of about 8 gal and uses up most of a 50-lb bag of bird feed I generally leave a 1/4-in gap at the bottom “I’ve made four feeders so far painting them Deere New Holland and Minneapolis Moline colors I also painted one light green for a neighbor lady ” The feeder’s legs are about 4 ft long and are made from treated lumber “I install a large plywood shelf about halfway up the legs In summer I place a plastic 5-gal pail of water on it and in the winter I add suet ” says Gruber “I use 2 by 6’s to make the legs and shave them down to 2 in wide at the bottom so the feeder isn’t as heavy It’s light enough that I can easily move it by hand when I mow my lawn ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Joe Gruber 218 2nd Ave N W No 201 Pierz Minn 56364 ph 320 232-7297

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