Premium shepherd's crook feeding station

2.5 out of 5

12

Extremely disappointed with this feeder. Certainly would not describe as sturdy. No assembly instructions - appears that poles slot together and then screw supplied connects them. However, holes in inner pole far too small so screw will not fit. Emailed for advice but days later no reply. Managed to use another screw to join poles but not confident it will hold up to weight of feeders plus birds as very wobbly. Chose RSPB as I assumed their products would be superior to other suppliers eg Argos but that has turned out not to be the case.

This is too short and too flimsy, the feeders hang low enough from my cats to catch any feeders and I"m sure any of 'my' squirrels would be able to leap up to the feeders.. My fault for not reading the dimensions

I have to use guardians on my feeders due to jackdaws in the garden. (they can cling on to even this narrow pole!) The pole bends over unevenly and the guardians knock against the pole. I would not have bought it if there had been a warning about this.

Brought this to fill in before revamping garden and getting a better station. Impressed with this as it seems sturdy and stood up to Gale Francis yesterday. I have no squirrels only Wood Pigeon who are too big for it

I bought this based on the fact that most squirrels will be deterred from climbing the thin pole. Unfortunately they can jump from ground level directly onto the feeder (and all I had on it was a fat ball, not a long feeder). It needs an extension pole.

I bought this about 6 years ago, when it was a bit cheaper. It's really easy to put together, and fairly stable, even in the Orkney winds. It has survived many a winter storm, which has impressed me. Both the birds and I love it, and I would definitely buy it again. It has lasted longer and stayed in better condition than some of the more expensive feeding stations which I have had previously.

I was bought this for my birthday on April 13th to replace my old one which was tatty BUT had done good service for probably 8 years. This new one has broken - snapped off where the thin pole goes in to the less thin one. The metal is so weak and the poles far too thin to take the full containers. I want to send it back and will do so when the purchaser finds the receipt. There was some wind but nothing that should cause that.

The pole length allows squirrels to jump accross from neaby bushes or trees so needs to be well away from any surrounding objects. A pole extention would help but does not seem to be an option,

Erected shepherds pole...within half an hour squirrels climbed up pole with ease, hung onto the feeders and proceeded to knaw at the plastic feeders to gain access to the food. RSPB advised baffle which I bought but low and behold it is not designed to fit the shepherds pole. Returned it. So all in all, if you have squirrels dont waste your money or time with this. Have reverted to hanging feeders from the washing line...

I guess it is my fault for not checking the measurement but this pole is not very tall which means once you have feeders hanging on it, vegetation in the garden between the pole and where you view from may obscure them. I was hoping I might retrieve the situation with an extension but the one on offer is for a thicker pole. It may be that the pole cannot be any longer as it already swings around when it has full feeders hanging on it. I think the utility of the pole may have been sacrificed to make it slim and unclimbable to squirrels. Next time I would get a stouter, longer pole. Disappointed

I am really pleased with this pole. This is the first pole we have had that is a success. It is easy to put together and put in the ground. We have it in the lawn near a tree, but not too near so squirrel can't jump from the tree, but birds can use it to fly from. We use it with the squirrel buster mini seed feeder and together the many intelligent and persevering squirrels we have around, are defeated. Occasionally one manages to get up the pole but this is rare, they usually slide down again. It he does get up he tries to balance to hang over to the feeder but hardly ever manages it. On the rare occasions he is successful, the squirrel buster feeder puts paid to his attempts. I don't feel too sorry for him as he feeds easily from the neighbour's feeder!

The desciption calls it ""sturdy"" but it feels very flimsy compared with my previous (RSPB) feeder pole. I put a suet ball feeder on one prong and a four-perch seed feeder on the other and it swayed alarmingly. Well, this is the first day of using it so we'll see how it stands up to the usual mob of sparrows.

RSPB response: Thank you for your review, sorry to hear that the Shepherd's Crook is not meeting expectations. The pole should be sturdy enough and definitely not sway when feeders are placed on it. Please could you contact customer services who can help with this.