Micronised barley and/or maize

[SheffieldLass]

Has anyone used either micronised barley or micronised maize for feeding the garden wild birds? By micronized they mean cooked and flaked.

I was stocking up with the usual sunflower hearts and black sunflower seed at the local country store, and noticed that a bag of micronised barley had split and spilled its contents, and, well, it looked the sort of thing that my garden birds might eat. As they are flaked (rolled) they would seem to be much easier for the smaller birds like chaffinches and sparrows to eat - a bit like car squashed beech mast, or rolled oats rather than whole oats. And given the price of £6 for 25kg (or £7.50 for micronised maize), it was too good to not at least give it a try. At the very least the pheasants would probably take to it even if nothing else did. (The pheasants round here are dying in considerable numbers in the woods from the snow, by the way, presumably from starvation.)

I put some of the flaked barley out today, in addition to their usual sunflower seeds and yellow millet, and a female blackbird tucked in to it very readily. The other birds were not so quick on the uptake. I then went out for a walk, and when I returned it had all disappeared. So something had eaten it.

I've checked the nutritional content of a few grains, and maize has more fat than the barley, but less protein. And I can see why birds are quite keen on rolled oats, with the much higher fat content.

Grain ...........protein .. starch ... sugar ... fat
Wheat whole ...12.7% ... 75.6% ... 2.1% . 1.3%
Oats ............. 11.2% ... 64.9% .... 1.1% . 9.2%
Barley ............ 8.2% .... 78.8% .... ..........1%
Maize ............ 7.8% .... 76.8% ..............2.6%

I'll let you know what the birds think of it. I'm not sure whether the flaked maize would be better than the barley - given the fat content it might be.
Anyway, with more snow forecast on Thursday, and with so many of the woodland birds having moved into our gardens from the wider countryside in search of food, I thought it might be useful as cheap extra rations.

I could always mix it with a bit of lard if they want/need a bit more calorific oomph.

[SheffieldLass]

Well the flaked barley goes down well with the blackbirds. Chaffinches also are eating it, though they do prefer yellow millet and sunflower hearts, and the tree and house sparrows are also eating it, but do prefer the millet (which seems to be their favourite). One of my robins was not impressed. Turned it over and chucked it off the gate post, then fixed his beady eye on me and as good as told me to get his usual fare (sunflower and millet). Blue tit was seen taking it away. Marsh tit was also seen taking it away (they seem as big hoarders as the coal tit) ... its preference is sunflower first, then millet, then flaked barley. Great tit didn't seem interested, and I didn't see what the coal tit was up to after he'd run out of sunflower to stash. Dunnock also seemed to peck bits. When the sunflower and millet have run out it then disappears very quickly. I've only put it on the ground, not tried it in feeders.

It is a bit milder, though there's still plenty of snow around, but it has disappeared from under the hedges and some trees, so the birds are not quite as desperate for food as they were.

But it looks to be a successful cheap bird food with no wastage, so it will help the more expensive sunflower stretch further. It is about a sixth the price of sunflower hearts . I'll try the flaked maize in due course.

[Paul mabbott]

I would buy nothing from someone who could manufacture a word like 'micronized'.

Originally Posted by SheffieldLass

Has anyone used either micronised barley or micronised maize for feeding the garden wild birds? By micronized they mean cooked and flaked.
.........

[nightshade]

We use Crushed Maize for the chickens (along with whole Barley and Oats) the wild birds will always pinch the crushed maize.
So we feed Sunflower hearts, the maize, and kibbled peanuts to our wild birds
along with chopped greens and apple and suet/lard during the harder weather

[SheffieldLass]

Thanks, I'll try the maize too. Mixed with the crushed barley, some apple and sultanas added and it will be muesli for them. Though come to think of it, I remember people describing muesli as bird food when it first became popular ...

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by nightshade

We use Crushed Maize for the chickens (along with whole Barley and Oats) the wild birds will always pinch the crushed maize.
So we feed Sunflower hearts, the maize, and kibbled peanuts to our wild birds
along with chopped greens and apple and suet/lard during the harder weather

For the whole of her lengthy life, my aunt refused to eat maize that I cooked! "Chicken food!", she would say with no further comment!

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

For the whole of her lengthy life, my aunt refused to eat maize that I cooked! "Chicken food!", she would say with no further comment!

Did she ever get out of the run?