How to make a feeder? Not many people ask themselves this question, but there are still such people. Winter is a rather severe test for birds, and therefore making even one small feeder for them will be a serious help in survival. You can assemble the simplest models even without any instructions, but if you wish, you can start making more complex and beautiful products. Such a feeder will not only help the birds, but also decorate the yard.
How to make a feeder?
By making such a product on your own and hanging it in the yard, you can not only help the birds to winter. The birds will get used to the fact that there is food here. Thus, you can lure a large number of different birds into your own garden. They will build nests, give birth, etc. In other words, the feeder will help you see the hidden life of winged animals. And in the spring, excellent and beautiful singing will be heard in the courtyard. How to make a feeder, from what material? A variety of materials can be used as raw materials for assembly, however, there are some general rules that must be followed in any case.
- BeforeIn total, the feeder is made in order to feed the birds, and therefore it should be as convenient as possible. It should be convenient for visitors to remove food.
- It is almost necessary to have a side and a roof, as under the influence of rain, snow or wind, the food can become moldy or scatter. In the first case, the food will turn into poison.
- It is recommended to pay maximum attention to creating moisture protection for the feeder. Otherwise, it will quickly become unusable - you will have to make a new one.
- Walls, joints, corners and other structural elements should not be sharp and prickly.
- How to make a feeder so that other representatives do not steal food? Most often, this product is designed to help small species of birds. This means that the size of the feeder itself must also be small so that large birds do not steal food.
- The optimal height for placing the feeder is a height of one and a half meters. This distance is enough so that cats cannot reach the birds and at the same time it is convenient to pour food.
The last thing that is important to know is that birds get used to feeding, and therefore often travel many kilometers to their place of food. Lack of food can lead to their death.
Plywood product
How to make a do-it-yourself feeder from a material such as plywood? Of course, you can buy a feeder in the store, but it will take only a few hours to assemble the product yourself. This type of structure can beflat or gable roof, bunker compartment. The feeder itself should be open. In order not to make mistakes in the process of work, it is best to do everything according to the drawings. Of course, you can draw them yourself, but there are a lot of ready-made options on the Internet that you can use.
How to make a do-it-yourself feeder so that it performs its functions? Here we are talking about the fact that it is necessary to take into account the bird population in a particular area. Such winged inhabitants as jays, crows and pigeons may well eat all the food, because of which the smaller tits will remain hungry. Therefore, if you need to take care of smaller species, then the opening in the feeder should be suitable in size only for them.
To assemble a plywood structure, you will need a hammer, an electric jigsaw, nails, glue, plywood, sandpaper, 20x20 mm bars. You can make a bird feeder from improvised materials, in this case from plywood, as follows:
- All the necessary details are marked on a sheet of plywood and cut out. It is best to use a square of 25x25 cm as the bottom. As a roof, it is recommended to use the same design, but with large dimensions so that moisture does not get inside.
- All edges of each workpiece must be sanded with sandpaper to avoid burrs.
- From the available bars, it is necessary to cut four racks 25-30 cm long.
- You can use a shed model as a roof. In this case, two bars should be 2-3 cm higher than the other two copies.
- All connections firstglued with waterproof glue, and then additionally fixed with nails.
- It is necessary to attach all four racks to the bottom, and attach the sidewalls to them.
- The cover is fixed on the racks with self-tapping screws. Such a connection will be more reliable.
- A hardware with a hook is screwed into the roof, for which the feeder is hung in the right place.
As it turned out, making a feeder from improvised materials with your own hands is quite simple, and it will not take much time.
Dining room for birds (made of wood)
The main advantages of wood in the manufacture of feeders are durability and reliability. This is due to the very properties of wood, especially if it is carefully treated with protective agents from moisture. In order to successfully and independently assemble such a structure, you will need a drawing and the most minimal skills and knowledge of working with various tools. Boards to be used for assembly should be 18 to 20 mm thick. In order to construct the simplest version of the product, you will need: a 4.5x2 cm beam for racks, a 25x25 cm square of plywood for the bottom, two pieces for arranging a roof of 35x22 cm, as well as nails, self-tapping screws and glue.
Wood construction
You can also make a bird feeder from improvised means, in this case from wood, without any problems.
Assembly work starts from the ground. To do this, you need to connect a sheet of plywood, which plays the role of the bottom, and the sides. After thatit is necessary to cut the bars to the size of the bottom and, for fitting, glue them with their ends to the bottom. For this, waterproof glue is used. Self-tapping screws are used for final fixation. After all these steps, you should get a small frame. It is also worth adding that two parallel sides can be made 5 cm longer than the bottom itself. Perches can later be added to them.
After that, the bottom is nailed to the frame with nails. You get a box to which you need to nail four racks with a length of 18-20 cm. Next, you need to attach rafters to these racks. To do this, two beams must be connected to each other at a right angle. For additional fixation, they are interconnected with a small piece of wood. The result should be a right angle with the same sides. Two such details are needed. Here it is important to pay attention to the fact that the assembly work is carried out on the table. The dies should lie on the surface with their wide sides, and an additional beam is mounted on top. Then all the work will be done correctly.
After assembling the rafters, they can be attached to the racks using self-tapping screws. Next, two pieces of wood are nailed to the rafters, which will be the roof slope. The final touch will be the installation of perches. To do this, between those sides that have been elongated, it is necessary to fix the window glazing bead or sticks. They will act as perches.
You can mount such a feeder on a dug-in pole, or you can drill two holes in the ridge,install hooks inside and hang the product on a chain on a tree. The result is an excellent structure, in which the food is protected from wind, moisture and precipitation.
If there is a gazebo on the site, then inside you can hang the simplest feeder without a roof. The usual bottom with sides. In order to protect the wood product as much as possible, it is necessary to cover it with protective varnishes. Here you need to pay attention to the fact that they should be only water-based, so as not to harm the birds.
How to make a feeder from boxes of juice or milk
In order to independently design a feeder of this type, you will not need any special skills at all, even a child can handle such work. All you need to get started is:
- clean juice or milk carton;
- to hang the feeder, you will need a rope or nylon cord;
- adhesive plaster, marker;
- scissors or stationery knife.
How to make a box feeder? The first thing to do is to make two holes on opposite sides of the tetrapak. This is done so that it is convenient for winged animals to take food from there. In order for the birds not to damage the paws, the lower part of the hole is glued with adhesive tape. Further, under the holes that were made earlier, with the help of scissors or a knife, a small hole is pierced, inside of which the cardboard left over from cutting the holes is pushed. In the bent corners of the tetrapak, a through passage is made through which a rope, cord, wire is passed. After that, the designtied to a tree.
After reading the brief instructions, it becomes clear that the answer to the question of how to make a feeder out of the box is quite simple.
There are several nuances that relate to attaching the dining room to a tree. If you hang the product on a cord or something else, then in a strong wind it will swing strongly and may break off. To avoid this, the feeder can be attached directly to the tree trunk. To do this, holes must be made not on opposite sidewalls, but on adjacent ones.
How to make a juice box feeder? Here it must be said that the next option is feasible if there are two tetrapacks, and not one. One of the bags is cut along its narrow sides, but the top must be left intact. One third of the container is cut off from the second container, and a hole is cut in its front side, which will serve as a fodder board or the bottom of the feeder. Next, you need to combine the bottom with the package so that you get a triangle. Parts can be glued together or simply wrapped with tape.
So you can see that it's easy to make bird feeders out of boxes as described above.
The simplest plastic model
The first option is to make a simple product from a 1, 5 or 2 liter plastic bottle.
First you need to cut two holes on the sides of the bottle. It is very important here that they are located completely symmetrically, in relation to each other. The holes themselves canbe of any shape: round, square, rectangular, in the shape of an arch, etc. It is also important to note here that jumpers should remain between these holes. If you make a slot in the bottle that looks like an inverted letter "P", and then bend the plate up, you can get an excellent visor that protects the food from precipitation. When the question of how to make a bird feeder out of a box was considered, it was necessary to glue adhesive plaster on the bottom edge of the hole. This also needs to be done here. In addition to adhesive tape, fabric electrical tape can also be used. In this case, the edges will not be pointed and the birds will not damage the paws. In the lower part, you can make a hole into which the stick is then inserted. Thus, it turns out a feeder from a plastic bottle with a perch.
Other designs in the same material
You can make a bird feeder from a plastic bottle using a different manufacturing principle.
The second model was called the bunker feeder. The main advantage of the design is that the feed is poured with a margin for several days. As the birds eat it, the right amount will automatically be added to the feeding area.
In order to successfully assemble such a model, you need to have two plastic bottles of the same size. One of the bottles is marked with a marker before cutting so as not to be mistaken. Further, a hole is made in the bottom of the bottle, as in the first model, and thethe upper part, equal to one third of the entire bottle. In the upper part, two symmetrical holes are made on opposite sides of the bottle. With their help, the product will be suspended in the future. Next, a second bottle is taken and several holes are cut through its narrowest part - food will pour through them. It is worth noting here that you do not need to make them too large in diameter, it is better to expand them later, if necessary. Next, food is poured into the container, twisted with a lid and inserted into the first bottle, which is cut off by one third.
You can make a bird feeder out of plastic containers with another method. A hole is made in the cork into which twine is inserted for hanging. Next, two holes are made at different levels of the bottle. They should be symmetrical to the size of a small spoon. Above that part of the spoon where the bowl-shaped platform is located, the hole expands so that the birds can get it out of the container. After that, the bottle is filled with food and hung in a convenient place.
Using a 5 liter plastic container
How to make a bird feeder from a bottle? The question, as well as the answer, is quite simple, especially if a small capacity is used. However, in almost every home you can find plastic containers from under the water, the volume of which is 5 liters. Much more food can fit in it, and besides, several holes will allow several birds to feed at once.
Despite the fact that the volume of containers is larger, the work will still take placefast enough. To successfully complete the work, you will need a tape, wire for tying the finished structure, a clean plastic container with a volume of 5 liters, a sharp knife, secateurs or a clerical knife.
Next, you can start the work itself. It should be noted here that the holes are cut in different ways, depending on how the container will be hung. If it is suspended horizontally, then you need to cut a wide hole from the side of the bottom and a similar one from the side of the neck.
If vertical, then at a distance of 5-7 cm from the bottom you need to cut several square or three triangular holes. It is also quite convenient to tie a canteen for birds by the neck with a ribbon or wire. If a horizontal model is performed, then several places are cut with a knife through which the twine is threaded. Since the container itself, even filled with food, is light enough, a quarter of a brick is laid on its bottom so that it does not swing so much in the wind, and only then food is poured. How to make a plastic container feeder if there is only a 5-liter container? As you can see from the description of the work, this is not difficult at all.
High Capacity Hopper Feeder
The bunker model can also be assembled from a 5-liter container, but here you will need two more bottles of 1.5 liters each, as well as a marker, a stationery knife, and a rope.
At the bottom of the large container, several places are marked with a marker, which will be cut out and serve as a bird entrance. The best option is a fewsmall holes and one larger one so that a bottle with a volume of 1.5 liters passes through it. As in previous models, the part that should be larger is cut out in the shape of an inverted "P". The resulting visor is folded up, and serves as protection from the weather. The bottom and side edges are covered with a soft covering (fabric electrical tape, adhesive tape, etc.). How to make a plastic bottle feeder next?
After that, you need to take the bottle that will be inserted inside the 5-liter container and make several holes in the places where they will touch. A few more of the same are done a little higher. Of these, food will wake up as the birds eat it. A round hole is made in the cap of the larger bottle in such a way that, in a twisted state, the thread from the 1.5-liter bottle rises. After that, you need to take a second plastic bottle and cut off its neck and top so that a funnel forms. This funnel is put on the neck of the first bottle and twisted with a cork. After that, the feeder can be considered ready. Making a bird feeder from a plastic bottle, as described above, is quite simple and does not take much time.
Dining room for winged out of a shoebox
You can make feeders from the material that is available in abundance in almost any family. These can be cardboard boxes from under any electronic goods, shoes, etc. The advantage of this option is that there is already a bottom, walls, and a roof, although it will have to be slightly modified. Alsoit is best to choose boxes, the cardboard in which is as dense as possible, as well as laminated. It's not much, but it will still extend the life. As improvements, you will need to make a few holes on the sides so that the birds can fly inside and eat.
How to make a shoe box feeder, for example? In fact, the product is already ready from the beginning, you just need to refine it a little. Since cardboard is very afraid of moisture and is not able to resist it, it is advisable to wrap the entire box with tape. This will help the feeder to last through the winter. As usual, a hole is cut on the sides through which a cord, nylon thread, or something else is passed. The finished structure is hung on a tree. A small layer of sand or small stones can be poured onto the bottom so that the product does not sway much in the wind and the food does not scatter.
As unexpected as it may sound, you can even use a candy box to equip a bird feeder.
To do this, take the lid from the box and make an incision in its two opposite sides. It should be located in the middle of the side. After that, the cover is bent in half so that the axis falls on the line that connects these two cuts. In this case, the two cut edges will overlap each other and they can be joined together with a stapler. You can also use tape, but this option is less reliable. This part will act as a lid for the feeder. The bottom, of course, is cut out of the box itself so that it is slightly smaller than the size of the existingroofs. However, here you need to provide a small margin. These edges will fold over the entire perimeter and play the role of bumpers.
