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Crushing peanuts

josusa47josusa47 Posts: 2,269
in Wildlife gardening
The RSPB says we shouldn't offer whole peanuts in an open feeder, because small birds may try to swallow them whole and choke.  So, how can I make peanuts available to birds that can't cling on to the recommended metal mesh feeders?  Does anyone supply good quality broken peanuts?  I'm currently buying whole peanuts and laboriously crushing them by hand, a few at a time in a pestle and mortar.  Is there any alternative?

Posts

  • madpenguinmadpenguin Isle of WightPosts: 1,550
    I buy peanut granules from here:-
    https://www.gardenbird.co.uk/wild-bird-peanut-granules.html
    I see they also do peanut splits:-
    https://www.gardenbird.co.uk/peanut-splits.html
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • hogweedhogweed Central ScotlandPosts: 3,931
    Have you got a food processor?
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Billericay, EssexPosts: 4,652
    or a pestle and mortar?
    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • RubytooRubytoo On the sofa, Southerly aspect.Posts: 1,185
    edited November 2018
    Most birds seem to take sunflower hearts here. Not sure of the nutritional or fat values compared to peanuts. I do use a feeder for peanuts in small amounts.  If I have been short of sunflower, put a couple of handfuls of peanuts in a strong bag and bashed with a rolling pin or mallet to break them up a bit.

    Our peanut feeder is metal holey one with a saucer on the base so most birds can get at them.  You can put a perch on most, even mesh ones if you get a thin garden twig or wood skewer like chop stick or kebab type, to push through the whole feeder? Or a more permanent perch of some kind?
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Isle of WightPosts: 1,550
    edited November 2018
    My birds round here have never taken to peanuts from a feeder but I make up my own ground mix with the granules and they seem to go that way!
    If I ever get round to making my own fat balls or bird pastry https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/f/14005/p/114542/916970.aspx#916970 I add them to that as well.
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • LynLyn DevonPosts: 14,098
    I put my peanuts in the food processor, just a couple of whizzes, cheaper than buying them ready chipped.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • wild edgeswild edges The north west of south east WalesPosts: 3,196
    I used to use a plastic bag and a rolling pin but I bought the granules that madpenguin recommended recently when they were on offer. GW magazine readers get 10% discount at Garden Bird too. Their peanut pricing has gone a bit random recently though. I don't know how fresh the granules stay compared to the whole nuts though so if you don't use much it might be better to smash them fresh when you need them.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 2,269
    Thanks everyone.
  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 17,047
    edited November 2018
    I just put some whole ones in a bag and stand on them to crush them so the ground feeders get some peanuts too.   
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
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