MSE Bird feeding

Spirit_2

The garden birds are eating us out of house and home. I will have to put them on a diet.

We are fortunate in having a lot of birds coming to the garden and we currently feed Suet Blocks, Mixed seed,Peanuts, Niger seeds, Sunflower seeds and as a treat meal worms.
Most are in hanging feeders but some is cast on the ground. I also throw corn for the pheasants who frequent the garden.

I top up or feed daily and have recently bought a large sack of seed for £12.50 and we buy corn in sacks. The other feed I buy in smaller quantities and it is getting relatively expensive. Suet blocks are £1 each and I put out one per day. It is always gone in a day, and at times I am sure they could get through two or more. I am a bit stingy with meal worms but would like to be more generous.

I buy feed in a local hardware store, corn in the Ag merchants.

My husband claims that the birds "rate us on 'chirp advisor' and we want to keep our visitors but would like to cut the cost.

Any suggestions?

Gers

Oh my! One pound for a suet ball is outrageous.

There are loads on companies on the internet who sell bird food- one example I use is listed here, although I use others too. I also have a country store about eight miles away but they are more expensive.

One of the regulars here pointed me to the Original Factory Outlet, even though it's 30 odd miles away they have great bargains. Earlier this year I bought mealworms at an indecently low cost.

If you read the 'bird feeding' thread there are many ideas from others about different food to put out. My favourite is buying a block of lard, melting it and putting it into half a coconut shell rather than buying them ready made or even as a substitute for fatballs.

Good luck in your search, and with feeding the birds.

Arthog

It's cheaper to buy by the sack, and fat balls in 100s. I get all mine from a local pet food store who will deliver or at least load the car, as I go in person on my way home.
My monthly bill is £60. May seem a lot but the pleasure makes every penny worthwhile. It's a hobby.
Keep looking in your local area for each form of food you want to put out, and never pay delivery costs.
I give meal worms only occasionally as a treat because of the cost, and also avoid mixed seed as they were throwing it onto the ground - being choosy. I feed sunflower Hearts as they eat the lot. 20Kg for £29.
I feed slightly less in the Summer than Winter, remembering though that the parent birds are exhausted by the end of a day of feeding the young so they come to us to feed themselves.

Bunnygirl

I feed sunflower hearts as seed mix gets left I get online 20Kg Sunflower Hearts and 10Kg Suet Pellets for £29.99 I don't think s too bad. Mealworms are a stupid price I have started to put less out but I buy 4kg online as it cheaper the hedgehogs love them also.

TravellingAbuela

I get my big sacks of seed from Jollyes Pet Supermarket. The quality and content is far superior to the sack I once tried from Pets at Home for a very similar price. For fat balls I alternate between The Original Factory Shop and The Yorkshire Trading Outlet, depending who has an offer on! Suet blocks I get from Home Bargains at 3 for £1.79. Peanuts from a stall on Skipton market and anything else from Poundstretcher! It's very time consuming when I need to stock up on supplies for our feathered friends!

Sewsosew

A friend told me about a company called Twootz who sell bird food online and I get all my bird food from them now. Delivery is free on orders over £10 and they have frequent promotions too. At the moment they are selling suet blocks and coconut halves at 2 for £1.30.

cally6008

B&M stores have got an offer on the fat balls at the moment
Plastic tub of 50 balls = £3-99