Wild Birds

Garden birds all have their preferred feeding areas and fall into three main catagories these are: ground feeding, table feeding and hanging, bare this in mind when feeding birds in your garden and you will be able to attract a wider range of species.

Monthly feeding guide -June

Springtime/ early summer brings different feed requirements and the need for nest boxes as birds begin to prepare for their hatchlings. Food at this time needs to be benificial to both adults and young. The energy used by the female by egg laying is considerable, and feeding hungery hatchlings takes its toll on both parents.

The number of eggs and healthy young is dependent on a good diet. A whole nesting season may even be missed if there is inadequate sources of food available. During the breeding, nesting and weaning season birds require an increase in protein and calcium. You can help by providing insect based products for example suet feast insect.

Suprisingly the earlier summer months challenge birds with some of the largest food deficiecies of the year, supporting thier young while waiting for the crops and berries to grow.

General feeding should continue with lots of foods with a high protein and energy content.

With the increase in Softbilled Songbirds such as Robins, Thrushes and Blackbirds, food suitable for table and ground feeding is required ideally with a fruit or berry content.

It is important at this time of year to feed peanuts through a mesh feeder or nibbled during the summer to prevent young birds from trying to eat whole nut.

Fats and oils are an extremely valuable food souce, Sunflower Hearts can contain up to 60% oil and Peanuts up to 50%  The difference in food quality is therefore significant when comparing these highly palatable premium raw materials with cheap cereal based ingedients like wheat, which has a maximum oil content of around 5%

Sunflower kernels/hearts these are husk free so there is no mess and their high oil content make them a favouite with almost all birds, very popular, perfect for feeders, table or ground feeding, both regulars and visitors will enjoy the treat.

Water at this time of the year is very important it is used for drinking, cleaning, bathing and preening and a clean upply needs to be maintained to enable birds to clean their feathers and get rid of parasites. A good supply will attract a variety of birds to your garden for you to enjoy so its worth the effort.

View our range of wild bird feeds and treats in the online shop.

Bird Tables

No garden is complete with out a bird table, they provide the most efficient feeder for the greatest number of species, food is kept off the ground and a safe feeding place for birds is provided, they also make an attractive feature for your garden. A bird table will attract lots of small birds but big species like rooks, wood pigeons, even pheasants may visit, bird tables provide people with a convienient 'stage' to watch bird and bird behaviour, aggregations of birds that do not normally feed together may result in behaviour called 'dominance' where some birds may drive others off, Blackcaps visiting bird tables in the winter for instance are well known for driving off other species from the feeding site!'

Birds that you are most likely to have visiting a bird-table include:

• Blue Tit
• Great Tit
• Coal Tit
• Blackbird
• Starling
• House Sparrow
• Greenfinch
• Goldfinch
• Nuthatch
• Robin
• Chaffinch
• Song Thrush
• Mistle Thrush
• Collared Dove
• Woodpidgeon
• Jackdaw
• Wren

Hanging bird feeders

Birds you may see on a hanging bird feeder

• Blue Tit
• Great tit
• Coal Tit
• Lon-tailed Tit
• Starling
• House Sparrow
• Great Spotted Woodpecker
• Greenfinch
• Siskin 

Birds like Tits  and finches are most likely to visit hanging feeders, some of these birds are adapted to living high in trees and shrubs they naturally cling from twigs etc. and hang upside down to reach for food under leaves. other less agile birds such as the Chaffinch and Goldfinch can be helped by having perches on your hanging feeder. House Sparrows and Starlings which don't normally feed in this manner soon learn to exploit this free source of food-if rather clumsily, Robins may hover at the feeder and peck at the hanging food.

Care must be taken where you site your hanging feeder as the flurry of small birds can attract unwelcome visitors such as hunting Sparrowhawks, Jackdaws, Rooks and crows may also raid feeders.     

View our range of feeders, bird tables etc. in our online shop 

Hygiene is very important and a few precautions will help ensure that diseases are not transmitted between birds or to humans.

It is essential that tables and any feeding areas are checked and brushed or swept clean reguarly to ensure there is no build up of food particles or droppings, it also helps to move the feeding sites several times during a year.

Bird baths, tables and any solid feeding area should be reguarly scrubbed clean using hot saopy water, rinsed several times to remove all soap residue. Water containers should be rinsed reguarly, preferably daily during the warmer months and fresh water added.

Personal hygiene: do not bring feeders into the house to clean them do it outside with seperate utensils, wear gloves for cleaning feeders bird tables etc. always wash hands when finished.

As older feeding equipment becomes damaged or affected by time and weather you need to reguarly replace them to reduce the risk of disease.

New Wild Bird Products

Nest Boxes Nest Boxes shold be put up from early January to the end of February, when pairs of birds will be already exploring for potential nest sites. Nest boxes not only encourage garden birds to stay and breed near our homes, they also help species that are in decline in their natural habitats. Putting up several boxes increases the chance of at least one being used, and by using several styles there is a good chance than unusual species will arrive and nest. Don't give up if your box is not used in the first year, chances are that it will be used in future years!

If you have nest boxes up in your garden they need cleaning out after use, they should ideally be done in late autumn and filled with a handful of clean hay or wood shavings so increasing the chance of it being used by birds or small mammals as a winter roost. The old nest material should be removed and the box disinfected with boiling water to prevent the build up of parasites(don't use insecticides or flea powders)

Even if your garden is well stocked with food, birds will leave in the breeding season if they cannot find a suitable nest site, Keep birds in your garden all year round by putting up some nest boxes. More than 60 species are known to use nest boxes, obviously different species have different needs and preferences and much depends on where the box is situated and its suroundings.

A typical nest box is rectangular in shape upright with a small hole at the frount, its size depends on the nesting species. Small boxes attract Tits while the largest may be used by birds up to the size of Jackdaws. Open frounted boxes are used by species that nest on ledges and partly enclosed spaces, such as Robins, Spotted Flycatchers, Pied Wagtails and occasionally Blackbirds and Wrens.

Social species like House sparrows which are now in decline may use a collection of several adjacent boxes this could boost the numbers of these once common birds, House sparrows use Blue Tit sized boxes with entrance holes of 32mm (1 1/4") Most birds defend larger territories and prefer boxes spaced out around the garden.

Choosing a Nest Box

Nest boxes are designed with various hole sizes suited to particular species, below is a list of birds that prefer open or enclosed boxes and the preferred hole size:

Enclosed Nest Boxes:

Species Hole diameter

• Blue Tit 25mm (1")
• Great Tit 28mm (1")
• Tree Sparrow 28mm (1")
• Nuthatch 32mm (1 1/4")
• House sparrow 32mm (1 1/4")
• Starling 45mm (1 3/4")
• Great spotted woodpecker 50mm (2")
• Little Owl 70mm (2 3/4")
• Mallard 150mm (6")
• Stock Dove 150mm (6")
• Tawny Owl 150mm (6")
• Jackdaw 150mm (6")

 Half Open / Open Nest Boxes

Bird species

• Wren
• Pied wagtail
• Robin
• Blackbird
• Spotted Flycatcher
• Feral pigeon
• Kestrel

A half open box is simple in design and easy to clean, they are particularly attractive to Robins, Spotted Flycatchers and Wrens if positioned low within dense cover.

An open nest box gives species such as Blackbirds a platform on which they can build their nest, it is easy to maintain and offers excellent viewing opportunities.

Dogs

Training

To train your dog successfully you need to understand that dogs 'obey' certain natural laws of behaviour, it follows its natural instincts, our human rules cannot be applied to their behaviour.

Dog training is based on the right kind of communication between you and your dog you must learn to 'Think' like your dog and to understand its natural instincts.

Learning and behaviour require motivation, you need to understand about dogs learning behaviour, this is crucial the secret is to get your dog to do 'what it wants to do' If we expect our dog to obey commands we have to give those commands in a way that is appropriate for dogs

• Don't use long sentences
• Single words are best
• Don't shout loudly
• Use a quiet, friendly but firm tone
• First get your dog to understand the connection between hand movement, its behaviour and the reward, once understood move onto spoken commands
• Couple spoken commands to hand movements e.g. raised index finger for the command 'Sit'
• Be consistent with your commands.
• Only use spoken signals once (don't let your dog get used to ignoring commands)
• Praise (treat) your dog when it does something correctly.
• Rebuke undesired behaviour, a rebuke should always be an unpleasant surprise and carried out immediately your dog displays bad behaviour.
• A verbal rebuke should almost always be sufficient e.g. 'NO!' in a deep firm tone' before it does something it shouldn't, 'Bad dog' if you catch it doing something it shouldn't!

Your dog needs to see you as the Leader of the pack whom he willingly and happily Obeys.

You can begin to train your dog as early as three weeks old, incorporate training into your play sessions training must be fun for your dog not a chore! he needs to want to please you. During the first 8-24 weeks of life The Conditioning phase is the time your puppy will learn easily and for the long term/ this is a good time to take your puppy to a mixed puppy play group giving it chance to socialize with it's peers and discover it's boundaries in a playful atmosphere.

The most important commands are Sit! Down! stay! Go! Come!(or Here!) Heel! Give!

The main thing you will need lots of when training your puppy or older dog is lots and lots of patience, this combined with time and kindness give a winning combination! But to help you on your way we have a selection of Training Aids available for you in our online shop.

Things you may need to housetrain your puppy are a properly fitted crate, a collar and leash, some treats, and you may want to try Puppy training pads these are aimed to take the work out of house training puppies. The hygienic pads are scientifically treated to attract your dog, which encourages them to use the pad as a toilet, these are also good for indoor adult dogs. Reward your dog's good behaviour with tasty treats lots available in our online shop.

New Dog Products

Cats

Common Health Problems

Hairball Formation

All cats spend a considerable amount of time grooming their coats, in the process hair can be swallowed and may build up in the stomach. If the hair ball doesn't pass into the intestines, a cat may attempt to eliminate it with coughing or gagging. Feeding a special diet with powdered cellulose and beet pulp can decrease the likelihood of hairball formation. When you feed your cat a hairball management formula you may decrease its effectiveness if you combine it with other foods.