Hi,
I picked up a bag of premium seed from the high-end garden shop nearby. It was about $10 for 5lbs.
I was wondering if it's really better than buying a 25lb bag of sunflower seed for $12 at wal mart?
Compared to the cheep-o seed I bought at home depot a few weeks ago (was mostly the little beige kernels with a sunflower seed here and there) They've really gone to town emptying my feeders in just a matter of days.
Is it worth it?
Hi,
I picked up a bag of premium seed from the high-end garden shop nearby. It was about $10 for 5lbs.
I was wondering if it's really better than buying a 25lb bag of sunflower seed for $12 at wal mart?
Compared to the cheep-o seed I bought at home depot a few weeks ago (was mostly the little beige kernels with a sunflower seed here and there) They've really gone to town emptying my feeders in just a matter of days.
Is it worth it?
When I used cheap bird seed, the birds that showed up would be very scruffy looking with moulting feathers, tattoos, and pierced beaks.
Since I changed to premium seed, the birds that show up are well feathered, not as raucous, and eat with their little toes pointing up.
YMMV.
Bill
-- Gmail and Google Groups. This century's answer to AOL and WebTV.
Winkin knows... Winkin will tell Blinkin. Blinkin will tell Nod. Nod will tell Barney. And Barney will tell you!
Try the cheap brand, see how much waste the birds dump onto the ground. I buy my seed from a local feed shop for about $0.30/lb. But you have to bag it yourself from the bulk bin. Your Wal-Mart bag is $0.48/lb and the premium seed is $2/lb. Ask yourself is it worth the $1.50 premium?
From my local feed shop, black oil sunflower seed only $0.69/lb, and about $0.50/lb for large sunflower seed. I bet the premium bird seed is mostly sunflowers, with some mullet and red mullet seeds, maybe cracked corn and peanuts. You can probably easily make your own premium bird seed mix for under $0.50/lb
-S
No. The birds can not read. They don't care or know the difference. Get the cheaper stuff.
Tom Randy wrote in news:2006031919124175249%Sorry@spamsucksnet:
the cheaper stuff is mostly millet. if what you want to attract is sparrows & pigeons, get the cheap stuff. if you want cardinals, grosbeaks, juncos, nuthatches, etc, get the more expensive blends with no millet. look at the types of seed the birds you want to attract prefer, & buy that. lee
Updated to current author, George W. Bush.
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I can get thistle and oil sunflower seeds for a whole lot less then $2 per pound, which is how much the seed mix the original poster was asking about. That's well above the rip off price rate.
My feeder gets a mix of finches, cardinals and chickadees using a mix that about 50% millet.
-S
If i don't feed the birds at all, will they eat more weed seeds and more caterpillar high up in the tree?
I just provide water, and from what i observe, the birds nimble at the weeds all the time.
I think putting bird feeders attracts more birds to your area. You'll often see them perch in trees for a bit and check out the bird feeder, to make sure the coast is clear. The more birds in your yard, the more likely they are to eat a few bugs on their way to the buffet.
-S
"Blarneystone" wrote in news:1142710756.784428.43200 @i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:
My boiwd friends enjoy the expensive stuff. It keeps them regular.
the birds will eat the Pennkote black sunflower seeds that you find at Lowes in 50 pound bags of $13 just fine. unless you can AFFORD the expensive kind, I don't bother. think of the birds and what they eat if they aren't supplimented. I've seen chickadee's in the parking lot eating FRENCH FRIES................so the cheaper seed is just fine. I get mine at the Co-op or Lowes (or Depot) and the birds tear it up just fine. I also hang suet baskets with suet (that I DO get at Wally World because theirs is the same and cheaper) because they need the extra protein when it's cold. Thistle seed for the tiny birds when I have the bucks in thistle socks, but once it's spring, they're on their own............. that's my take on it. I wouldn't waste my money on the fancy stuff unless I saw proof that they ate almost all of it and I had the money to throw away.. madgardener up on the ridge, back in Fairy Holler, overlooking English Mountain in Eastern TEnnessee, zone 7, Sunset zone 36
"Snooze" wrote in news:blpTf.2193$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com:
i buy a blend of grey sunflower, black oil sunflower, safflower, peanut (it has hazelnut, pistachio & a few other seeds & nuts). no millet. it costs me .64 per pound. the birds i feed don't eat the millet & i was tired of the mound of rotting millet on the ground under the feeders (the chickens might eat the millet, but i don't particularly like them eating under the feeders where they can get diseases from wild birds...). i buy thistle seperately & i don't remember how much that is, as the goldfinches, house & purple finches seem to like the blend more so i don't buy thistle more than once/year.
i don't particularly think that's a good price, but i buy my birdseed at the feed store when i'm buying feed for the livestock. i also can get a substantial discount if i preorder my birdseed in the fall. perhaps the OP lives in a city & buys at the grocery store. that kind of 'convenience' tends to have a high price. also, consumption rate may be including waste rate, which IME is *much* higher when using millet blends.
but how much of that millet are you shoveling off the lawn in the spring? lee
Almost none, because the mourning doves consume whatever is spilled.
-S
Check at your grocery store. Our's gives suet away and very few customers know this.
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