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Cost of bird food
BobTheGardener
Posts: 11,384
Hi all, I know there have been a lot of threads over the years about feeding birds but after recently buying some birdfood in bulk, I couldn't believe the difference in costs compared to buying from the supermarket (where I normally get it) so thought I'd share! These are just some examples:
20kg sunflower hearts £24 - supermarket £60, saving £36
20kg wild bird seed husk free £22 - supermarket 'no mess' £80, saving £58
5kg dried mealworms £42 - supermarket £150 (!!!), saving £108
No doubt some stores/supermarkets have better prices than those above, but many of their prices are just unbelievable - take the meal worms for example - Asda charge £3 for just 100g, that's £30 per kg! 
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
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cheers
Hi Alan, no problem. The seed I get is 'Johnson & Jeff Superior Wild Bird Seed Husk Free' from Burnhills, the sunflower hearts are from Croston Corn Mill and mealworms from Hoof & Hound. Google will find them for you.
Thanks Bob, I'll check those out as well. There's lots for them to eat naturally in my garden but watching them on the feeders gives me a lot of pleasure.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Nut, the J&J seed mix includes quite large raisins so you may want to check they won't block your feeders - easy to pick out by hand though which I do and put those onto my bird table for the blackbirds (who love 'em.
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I always buy my sunflower hearts in bulk, usually in 25kg sacks. Some suppliers hearts have a lot of powdery husk within it, which blocks feeders. I never buy from supermarkets, but sometimes when Wilkinsons have their seed on offer I buy it.
My last sunflower heart puchase was this...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230913605734?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
It was good quality seed without any husk or powder.
Is it wheat that the bird spit out.
I bought cheap seed before and had a big area if wild cereals taking root
I never tell my husband what it has cost when I unload the car boot. Usually a sack of sunflower hearts, a premium no waste seed and a blackbird/robin mix. I do feel guilty (but not for long) as it is just so much cheaper in the long run. The bags that the supermarkets sell wouldn't last an afternoon. Although, at the moment I'm not having to put too much out.
I tried to start a thread about this just last week here because I have found myself that buying in bulk is much cheaper:
http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/wildlife-gardening/bird-seed/211079.html
But nobody seemed interested!
Hi Lancashire Lass, It's a bit random whether a thread gets picked-up and depends on how busy the forum is - I'm sure it's nothing to do with you!
One thing which might help is to remember to press Enter after you paste a link in, otherwise it doesn't work and readers have to copy & paste it from within the message into their browser address bar - something which some members might struggle with.
My feeders haven't been getting much attention from the birds lately (and from before I changed seed so it's not the mix) - I'm not sure whether it's because there is plenty of natural food about, the prolonged wet spell has proved fatal for many birds or I have a sparrow hawk hanging around again!