£££ Price of bird food £££

I cant get over the price of a sack of peanuts £27.00 and mixed bird food £22.00 a sack !!!

I bought sack of peanuts last year £20.00 which is still a lot people in work thought I was mad "wasting money" was one answer !!!!, but you have it in for the winter plus it was so cold I coudnt watch out of the window the poor little mites starving hungary, rather than buying a little 1lb bag and one of my bird feeders is so long it takes about 2lb to fill

Moan over I bought a couple of 1lb bags , maybe hint I want a sack of peanuts as a xmas present to be honest I think this would make a great present to somone who likes feeding and watching the birds etc .




Spruce

 

Is that for 25kg Spruce?

If so its closer to £32 for peanuts at my local supplier.

 

I was tighter than that.
A couple of years ago I bought a large bag of "Bird Food" from Wilko's for £1. I thought I'd got a bargain.

I had to go out and sweep it up. The birds refused to eat it.

They are quite happy with dried fruit, cheese, cold meat etc. - Wilko's cheapo bird food. NOT A PRAYER.

Do I have fussy birds??

 

I've used this company for a couple of years now, from the research i've done they're the most competetive .....
Kennedy Wild Bird Food, Seed, Feeders, Nuts Free next day delivery

 

Cheapest place I've seen peanuts this year is B&M Bargains, 70p/Kg and that was in small bags, not sacks. B&M Stores: Stores

 

Hi Pete

Yes 25k bag

Louise I will have a look at the link , thanks

Spruce

 

No, you've not got fussy birds !
Those general, grain based foods aren't the nicest for them, it's better to go for sunflower hearts and if you want to add Asda's 69p muesli and some suet chips you've got a brilliant allround food.

From Kennedy (link below) i've also got their Economy Wild Bird Mixed Seed, i mix that with the above chips and muesli - this i used for the ground feeders.
For the clingers on the seed feeders i use just the sunflower hearts.


A bit of general info here now .......
It's worth doing some reading-up on a) what birds you want to attract into your feeding area, b) what foods are needed for those particular species and c) the specific types of feeder for them, because one food and feeder does NOT do all.

 

Another issue I have with Ground Feeders is "The Hoover".

Putting a generous portion out is fine initially. The Robin is usually first, followed by Spuggies and Blackbirds.
A few other miscellaneous have a go and then:- BOOM.

The Starlings appear in Gang format. End of food!

Known as the Hoover Effect locally.

 

I found a group of starlings hanging stubbornly from the peanut feeder this morning. They looked very uncomfortable, but they were darned if they were going to let those pesky sparrows have a turn.

When buying peanuts for birds, it's best to buy the ones which say 'tested for toxins to human food standards'. It does mean spending more, but poor quality peanuts can mean that you are harming the birds you're trying to help.

Wilkinsons is very good for niger seed, which can be an expensive buy elsewhere. I go through a lot of it, now that the goldfinches have finally figured out where to go for a free breakfast.

 

I paid £32.50 for a 20kg bag at The Range .

 

I am really quite surprised by this thread. Other than the fact I find the prices quite mind-boggling for simple nuts. I, like many of you, love to feed animals, be they wild or homeless .. the latter being my weakness which costs me more than a few nuts .... hundreds of Euros in fact .. but that is not the point.

The question I have is this ... in the UK are the berries and nuts not available these days to birds and other wildlife? I honestly ask this with all sincerity as I have been gone for more than 10 years now ...

 

It's undoubtably a growing industry, this thread bears that out well.

The berries around here aren't usually eaten in large degrees (that's what got me started a while ago) and i just wonder what with all the construction of new homes taking place in urban areas, like mine, whether there is actually a decent supply and variety of natural foods for them.

I visit someone, regularly, who's just sold hundreds of acres of fields to a developer.
Dozens of fields have been bulldozed, all signs of plantlife demolished and little boxes are popping up all over the area ...... this really concerns me and because of that i will always encourage folks to feed the wildlife - certainly in urban areas.
Rural areas that are in their natural state shouldn't need extravagant feeding regimes such as mine :WINK1: