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Wood garden animal picnic bench

Garden animal feeder

This garden animal feeder is a great way to let your garden animals dine in style. I didn’t invent it, you’ll see a lot of these online, but I’ve found it’s a really good use of scrap wood. In fact this came from the same pallet as the hallway organiser.

Wrestling with pallets

Actually the most difficult part for me was taking the pallet apart, removing all the metal, and getting it nice and smooth. But if you can do that you’ll end up with some nice planks of wood which are ideal for a DIY woodworking project like this. It took about 1 hour to wrestle with the pallet and prep the wood, but only 30 mins to build the animal feeder. When you feel like giving up and heading to B&Q, remember these wise words:

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.

Abraham Lincoln

Building the animal feeder

Once you’ve planned the pieces you need and the dimensions, the garden animal feeder can be built fairly quickly and easily. The basic steps are as follows:

  • Cut the wood to size, and be aware that you’ll need to make 30 degree cuts for the legs
  • Glue and screw them together, or use nails, whichever you prefer
  • Apply a non toxic finish, I used linseed oil which is edible and highlights the wood grain nicely
  • Mount the feeder where you can see your garden friends enjoying their meal

Speaking of which, here’s my first customer.

Pigeon on garden animal feeder

And before long a queue started to form!

Pigeons on a garden animal feeder

This is a nice project for beginners, or even for kids, as it only requires simple tools and techniques. And it gives you a great sense of achievement when you see the animals lining up for their meal.

I was actually thinking about providing packs that contain all the wood cut to size, with holes pre-drilled, so then it could be made with just a hammer or a screwdriver. Not sure if there’s a demand for that though, what do you think?

If you’d like to make one of these, or have one made for you, feel free to contact me. Or you can receive my newsletter to get the latest news, updates and projects straight to your inbox.