Buying food

[Magicboots]

Hi. I recently bought a lot of bird food from Wyevale - we always get rspb products - so spent quite a lot. Only problem is it's almost all gone in a couple of weeks. So we can't really keep this up for long.

My question is, are the cheaper brands any less "good" for the birds... like the bag of sunflower hearts was £19, but there was another brand or two, non-rspb which was half the price for the same size. I'm thinking of getting the cheap stuff now as I spend more on the birds than me almost lol Is any food good food? anything to avoid?
thx!

[ExiledWool]

I think it's personal. I buy less expensive because finances dictate so. Birds have no problem and happily munch away. However, I draw the line at the unbranded food in clear bags as I have found it goes to waste. Not to say everyone finds this though

[actionfinch]

Originally Posted by ExiledWool

I think it's personal. I buy less expensive because finances dictate so. Birds have no problem and happily munch away. However, I draw the line at the unbranded food in clear bags as I have found it goes to waste. Not to say everyone finds this though

i would agree, the only real thing that has gone to waste is my nyger feed, in the hope of drawing in finches i seen 2 goldfinches on it then nothing, not so long ago i got excited cause one came back and where he go , sunflower hearts...i even put it in my ground mix , put it on my table and it was still there, the birds here are fussy eaters.Look around, buy within your means..

[Kleftiwallah]

It's them flippin' wheat grains I think the 'cheaper' brands are bulked out with. The only way to use that mix is in "Birdy cakes" with suet, they seem to eat them then. . .Seen my first Redwing today. Cheers, Tony.

[ExiledWool]

Originally Posted by actionfinch

i would agree, the only real thing that has gone to waste is my nyger feed, in the hope of drawing in finches i seen 2 goldfinches on it then nothing, not so long ago i got excited cause one came back and where he go , sunflower hearts...i even put it in my ground mix , put it on my table and it was still there, the birds here are fussy eaters.Look around, buy within your means..

Nyger doesn't stay around long enough!! Have two feeders both of which are filled at least twice a week - regularly have in excess of 12 Goldfinches in the garden and the snow has brought in chaffinches and today, bramblings!!

[Harold Smith]

Hallo Magicboots,

Buying bird food can be a problem, particularly good quality food. I have found that buying branded foods from Supermarkets, DIY Stores and Garden Centres can be quite expensive. The smaller the pack the greater the cost. I also agree with ExiledWool that you need to be wary of unbranded bird foods; though some of it may be okay most of it tends to be cheap and nasty with little benifit to the birds.

There are are a number of reputable direct sellers who provide good quality bird food. Most of them can be found online. I usually buy my bird food in bulk, 50kg a time. I find this quite economical per kilo compared with the food from retailers. For several years now I have obtained my bird food from Vine House Farm who provide good quality food at a competive price and a delivery service I have never had to complain about.

Here is the link Vine House Farm bird foods, wild bird food, wild bird seed, online bird food shop so you can have a look for yourself. I hope it will be of some help to you.

Harold.

[SheffieldLass]

Sunflower hearts and black sunflower are expensive. My cheapest place for them was from a farm that specialised in pigeon food mixes, and bought in 22kg/15kg sacks. I then moved and now the cheapest local place that I've found is a country store that sells food for poultry/sheep/horses etc, but also stocks wild bird foods.

I also use yellow millet, which is about half the price of sunflower hearts and the sparrows and chaffinches love it, and the blackbirds, robins and tits will also take, when the sunflower has run out. I still have to find a local supplier though.

I wanted/needed some still cheaper food though, as the demand is so great right now. The cheap wild bird food left a lot of wastage, mainly the whole wheat and whole maize and peas in it, so I did not continue to use that. I've very recently discovered that certain poultry food goes down well with the birds - namely cooked flaked barley, and cooked flaked maize. I put them on the ground, not in bird feeders though, as they'd probably clog the usual type of hanging feeder. The barley is only £6.60 for a 25kg bag, and the maize £7.70 for 25kg. So very cheap. I get these from the same 'country store'.

I don't know whether flaked wheat is available, but in that form it would be palatable to many birds.

So check out your local poultry food suppliers, see what they stock.

[Madmills]

I've found that Anne Kennedy supply the most economical sunflower hearts.
A 25k sack for £37 (includes delivery).

[nightshade]

I have found that cheap bird food is (or can be) false economy as so much is wasted, the wheat in particular seems to be much harder than in days of yore
Crushed Maize, Sunflower Hearts, Peanuts (kibbled) Oats and Barley all bought by the sack locally and with a wheedled discount for "bulk"
It might be possible to find other people in the immediate area to split costs with, like the local wildlife trust or societies, asking around costs nowt.
To date I have used up most of my winter stock but the garden has been packed with small birds. I went out for sunflower hearts (Goldfinches) and my supplier refused to sell me a sack, a phone call later I had my seed but at an extra £2.00

[~T~]

I do my bird feeding on the cheap. As well as feeding household scraps I get seed, fat balls and peanuts out of poundland. The seed is Bill Oddies (or national trust if they dont have that) so it's at least decent. A fiver gets me 2 800g/1kg bags of seed(depending on what kind they have in), 16 fat balls and 3 of those mesh bags of nuts (mesh removed and nuts put into a proper feeder).

The only seed I shelled out more for was nyger seed and nothing has touched it as far as I can see