I am thinking of wringing birdie necks

[annp]

if they keep spilling the food. Has anyone else figured out a way to make them stop. It is 2 of my girls, Frosty and Dove. I fill the food bowls in the morning with the seed/pellet mix and they climb in and just start chicken scratching and spilling all the food out so it is all gone by lunchtime. I tried changing from the trough style bowls to a couple of feeder silos, kind of like for water but wider bottom. Well it took less than 1 day for these ladies to figure out they can climb on the little bowl thing and spill seed. I am at my wits end. Bird food is not cheap and with the pellet/seed combo I make it is getting very expensive very quickly.
What do you guys do with these types? Should I move them to a smaller cage with covered dishes? One thing that doesn't work by the way is threatening to pluck every feather from their body and selling them to pay for the food:)

[Budgietom]

I am having that problem too... :(

[Eoz]

You dont Threaten them!

Most budgies do it,
Try get a deeper dish, so its harder to kick the food up and over the sides.

[annp]

Deeper dish? Like how deep? The seed troughs are about 4 1/2 inches deep. Any deeper and they would need to climb in to eat. Then Frosty and Dove would have an excuse to chicken scratch.
And yeah I know threatening doesn't work but I feel a little better at least.;)

[Birdy101]

Try to get one of those tubes. The seed tubes I got are a bit wider though (atleast she stopped spilling her seed). Or you could fill up the food dish up to 2/3 and shake it once a day then change it the next. However you find it easy, good luck!

I think someone already posted this link before:
http://www.petco.com/product/6098/Avian-Select-Polly-Pals-Glass-Bird-Waterer.aspx

[atvchick95]

this is what birds do, Specially females its known as a nesting behavior, they also do it just for fun, foraging and well honestly because they can

Once i started using a dish like this - mine never did it again (and they're back to normal dishes now and they have not done it in months)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/RednecksDoItBest/My%20Birds/Cockatiel%20Pictures/Shyanne.jpg

all my birds including tiels as you can see kicked out food (boys included) this stoped them all they could still sit in when they ate (which is what they liked) but not even the tiels could get the food up and over the lip of the dish

I got em' at walmart in the dog isle - they're actually for dog crates


Also when you say u fill the dishes up - You're not talking ALL the way up? because they're only supposed to have like 2 Tsp (or Table spoons i always get it backwards) of food PER bird

[annp]

Birdy101 does that work for food? I use those for water, have a few in different areas of the cage. Tomorrow I will give them back the seed troughs and do 2 feeds until I can figure this out. That is a good idea.
I did change them to tubes this is what took those little bird brains less than 1 day to figure out.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2750997

See how there is a small amount of space they can climb into to spill? I will very also try using one of the water tubes to see if they figure it out.
I am not so sure the term bird brain should mean dumb. They seem to be outsmarting me.

[trixa]

my budgie does that too,.. she is female, and like atv said, they do it as a nesting behavior of just for fun... i always clean the floor up that time..:( anyway, how about buying a food dish with a cover on the top and with a hole to let them eat the seeds..?

[AngelWings]

My girls do that :XD:
i used to have one of those tubes but then i got new dishes and Kiki started throwing all the seeds/pellets around.. I don't mind it :XD: i guess i'm just happy my baby is back to being her energetic self :D but with those tubes i'm 100% sure she won't be able to go in it :)

[annp]

atvchick, yes I do count about 2 and 1/2 tsp of pellet/seed mix per bird. It is a good sized flight 7 ft long by 4 ft tall by 3 ft deep and has 8 birds. Also they get a plate of fresh veggie per day. The greens they will pick up and carry all over the cage and I lose quite a bit of that as well through the grate, but I am resigned to that loss. The pellet mix just miffs me, because all the birds need to eat and these ladies are playing and wasting thereby preventing the others from eating.
Frosty and Dove are both still young Frosty has a brown cere but I only got her from the pet store 3 months ago Dove has not even had her adult molt. I have watched both girls and they are having the time of their life. I will take my dog to Petsmart for her clicker training tomorrow and will try what you suggested. If that stops most of the wastage I will owe you big time.

[Kip.The.Great]

My lorikeet does that. :rolleyes:
I put some straw on the bottom of the cage, considering it was a girly nesting habit, she now makes a mess with the straw and the food! :mad: Owell, i just deal with it, lol. She does it in the water to, shes nutters. She gets soaking wet.

[atvchick95]

it made mine stop

now the only mess i have is from them not eating over the bowl or when they do when they bite into their pellets pieces go flying out of the cage because they don't eat with their head down in the dish They get a piece and lift up stand there and chow down all the while little pieces are being flung out :P

Or the best of the best - they get mad at the dishes on top (usually when they can't wait their turn for the other birds to get done) and they Throw the dishes off the top of the cage on to the floor RIGHT after I got done vacuuming the floor

but with over 30 birds in one room - i really hope no one expects the room to be spotless 24/7 - because Sorry to tell them That won't ever happen! :P

[annp]

Mine like to rub themselves in the tiny water tube also. When I see it I will hang the birdie bath on the cage. Or I pull out the spray bottle, that is a hilarious sight, they line up on 1 perch so I can spray them, they get 1 or 2 sprays fly off then get back in line. You gotta love them even when you are ready to holler.

[annp]

yeah I tell people who tell me they might get one cause they are so cute I let them know that I have a vacumm dedicated to that room alone. Not clean and tidy to be sure, but purposely wasting food, picture 2 and 1/2 tsp of pellet mix per bird in 3 seed troughs. Now you put that in the cage with the veggies and while everyone is enjoying veggies these girls start to play and chicken scratch. They take it down to almost nothing. I started adding millet to the cage so there would be seed available but they can't live on that it is not healthy.
I am going to take some of these suggestions, good ideas all of them, and start trying until Frosty and Dove get tired of their little game.

[Goldielover]

I'm sure after a period of trial and error you will find what suits your birds and cage set up. They're all different.:) atvchick95 found a deep dish worked well for her - I found a hooded cup with only a bit in it was enough to stop Midge. (Water now, that's a completely different issue). :D

[Birdy101]

Birdy101 does that work for food? I use those for water, have a few in different areas of the cage. Tomorrow I will give them back the seed troughs and do 2 feeds until I can figure this out. That is a good idea.
I did change them to tubes this is what took those little bird brains less than 1 day to figure out.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2750997

See how there is a small amount of space they can climb into to spill? I will very also try using one of the water tubes to see if they figure it out.
I am not so sure the term bird brain should mean dumb. They seem to be outsmarting me.

Theres actually a similar one. But it's a tube too, and it has more space for them to eat and a wider storage of seed. I got it with the cage I bought so I don't know where you could get it from.

Here's a pic i just took of it:

[lilifield]

Mine don't do the chicken scratch dance in the food dish. But they do other things that have made me threaten them with the Crock Pot but, they continue to call my bluff. I think the solution is to buy a heavy low-lip ceramic dish and keep the food there. I hope you find something that works for you.

[naburu]

My birds are all strangely tidy... None of them make messes with the alfalfa hay or the puff treats, or their seed. Guess I lucked out?

[pal0m1n0]

Are those silo feeders open on the top? IF so, some people have lost birds who tried to get into the seed from outside the cage.

[Pippin's mom]

Mine are not messy with their food either..not even too bad with their fresh food. I'm so happy about that and i have all boys.:)

I hope you can figure out a solution soon..I can imagine how frustrating that would get.:P

[lorri]

I use feed tubers they are not so mess like any other feeders I also use them for water and grit, they just hang on the cage.

Sorry they are called feed hoppers:)

[Goldielover]

Are those silo feeders open on the top? IF so, some people have lost birds who tried to get into the seed from outside the cage.


The ones I've seen are all closed at the top. I don't think I'd like the idea of an open one either.

[gpgilbertdm]

I am using the tubes in one of my cages. Pippa went wild for a few days and started scooping all of his food out right away before he even had time to eat any. I installed the tubes, and they not only solved the waste problem, but he seems to be entertained eating out of them. I have food in his regular feeding dish again too, but he doesn't scoop it out anymore.

[Goldielover]

I know what you mean about being entertained by the tube.:) Midge has a tube waterer, and in spite of having a perch she can reach it from, she much prefers to hang upside down from the bars while drinking from it. Of course, I suspect I'm probably at least as entertained by this as she is.:D

[Sarge]

I dont think they do it (kick seed ever were:) ) to bug you or for the fun of it. I have read a few publacation on larger birds that they tend to do this to feed ground dwelling birds/ animals im led to believe its instinct im not sure if its the same with smaller birds or not. have you also looked at what seed they are kicking out just a thought might be some thing they are not fond of
i have just come to relise that a good vacum clean and inside birds go hand in hand :rolleyes: Bec aka speedy and i just invested in a new vacum cleaner to help with the mess