…nourishing beaks across the nation

- one handmade feeder at a time!

We are ‘The Bird Boys’ - George & Zac, two brothers who decided to set up a business selling handmade ceramic bird feeders.

Our journey started March 2020, we walked dogs for a few pounds every week, but due to the government imposed lockdown restrictions we could no longer do this so we set about finding another way of making some money.

We came about the idea of bird feeders as more people were spending time at home with nothing to do and bird watching was becoming an increasingly popular hobby. But a quick glance at all the bird feeders on the market showed that there was a gap for something more unique, something more “designer”.

We settled on the tear drop design as it hung beautifully everywhere and could be equally as practical as any other bird feeder.

As our Dad works in the ceramic industry he taught us how to create slip cast moulds of our tear drop design so that we could make multiples of the product. We poured liquid clay (slip) into the moulds and let them dry, after about half an hour we tipped them and were left with the final product ready to be fired. After the first firing we experimented with various glaze combinations until we found ones that we liked and felt that other people would like too.

George and Zac, the bird boys holding ceramic bird feeders, one blue and one pink, in a park with trees and grass.
George and Zac sheppard selling their stoneware ceramic bird feeders as the bird boys at a craft event.
Display of handcrafted ceramic birdhouses and pottery cups arranged in wooden crates decorated with fake green vines and straw, with a candle in the center.

After we sold a few to local walkers passing by our house we realised we may be on to something, so we started a facebook page to get more interest. As interest grew throughout the autumn we found ourselves working every weekend to fulfil orders taken from the facebook page. As the demand was becoming too much for us to handle we decided to move to a website as we could control the supply and demand much better, and open up to a much wider audience.

We have been selling online and at local events ever since and have been overwhelmed by the continuing interest.

..and recently our little business has gone crazy! We hope you find something lovely on our site to buy, if we are out of stock, don’t worry we are constantly making more!

Come and say hi if you see us exhibiting at one of the many local events..

Thanks for stopping by and supporting us- George & Zac Sheppard