How To Make Homemade Birdseed – Feed Birds Better & Cheaper!:- It’s time to make your own homemade bird feed if you enjoy feeding birds but are fed up with the ever rising price of store-bought feeds! It can help you feed your feathery friends at a far lower cost and ensure that they are receiving some of the healthiest food available.
The cost of feeding birds is rising daily, just like everything else in this day and age. Nowadays, the price of many commercial bird foods is $10 per pound or more. And only if you purchase bigger bags or in bulk!
How To Make Homemade Birdseed – Feed Birds Better & Cheaper!
The fact that a lot of commercial feeds have a high percentage of filler elements makes it much more difficult. Fillers that give birds very little in the way of calories, fat, or nutrition. And that can have a significant impact on a bird’s diet. especially those who are attempting to endure the winter!
How To Make Homemade Bird Feed With Ease
A quality bird diet need to have three or more nutrient-rich ingredients. Variety allows varied dietary demands to be satisfied from the diversity of ingredients, and it also draws additional birds to your feeder.
For best health, birds’ diets should be somewhat balanced, just like that of people. Certain ingredients need to have more fat, while others need to have more fiber and protein. Keeping that in mind, let’s have a look at how to make your own homemade bird feed this year so you can maintain the fullness of all your bird feeders without going over budget!
Also see : Lemon Earthquake Cake Recipe – Step by Step Guide
The Best Ingredients – Getting The Most Bang For Your Buck!
Of course, there are countless seeds and high-quality food sources that are perfect for giving to birds. But some are much better options than others when it comes to feeding them a healthy diet and saving your hard-earned money.
For example, safflower seeds and dried fruit are both excellent sources of nutrition for birds. However, both also happen to be extremely costly. Safflower seeds in a fifty-pound bag can easily cost more than $50. Furthermore, dried fruit is just fruit, and you know how costly that can be!
What are some of the most affordable, nutrient-dense options available? The following four feed options can be mixed together to create a reasonably priced, yet extremely potent, bird feed mix:
Black Oil Sunflower Seeds – How To Make Homemade Bird Feed
Black oil sunflower seeds are a good option for your homemade feed because of their high fiber and protein content, as well as their fat level, which exceeds 25%. Better yet, waste is never a problem because most birds adore them!
While all varieties of sunflower seeds are nutrient-dense, nothing compares to black oil sunflower seeds. You can feed them to birds within the shell, outside the shell, or in combination to feed some of the smaller birds that are unable to reach the inside nuts.
To really provide their birds a nice variety, many homeowners who have bird feeders will combine a few different types of sunflower seeds with a part of Black Oil sunflower seeds. Although the price of sunflower seeds has increased slightly in recent years, they are still a very affordable bird food, especially when you buy them in large quantities.
Cracked Corn – How To Make Homemade Bird Feed
Cracked corn is a major winner when it comes to supplementing a bird’s diet with fiber and protein. When combined with black oil sunflower seed, it’s a terrific ally that gives birds a complete energy source.
Always choose broken corn over whole corn when buying corn for your feed. Whole corn is far more difficult for all birds to eat and will draw fewer little birds. Local feed stores typically sell 50-pound bags of cracked corn for less than $20.
White Millet – How To Make Homemade Bird Feed
Millet and milo are two ingredients that are frequently mistaken when it comes to bird seed and feed. Despite having similar names and sizes, they are quite different as bird food. Giving your birds the food they love and desire can be made easier by understanding the differences, that much is certain.
Both millet and milo are little, rounded seeds that frequently fall from feeders to the ground. For birds, millet is an excellent source of protein, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. It also has the added benefit of being fairly oil-rich.
Conversely, Milo serves as a filler in bird meals, and to be honest, most birds won’t eat it. It is not nearly as nutritious as millet, and most of the time it just dies on the ground. Always be sure that milo is not one of the primary ingredients in any bird feed you buy.
On the other hand, millet will draw large flocks of birds. Millet is a favourite food of ground-feeding birds, such as sparrows, cardinals, thrashers, and doves. Be aware that millet comes in two varieties: red and white. While both are beneficial to birds, white millet appears to be the grain of choice for them.
Peanuts – How To Make Homemade Bird Feed
Not to be overlooked are the humble peanut! For birds, peanuts are a fantastic source of nutrition. They are rich in fiber and oil, but they also provide birds with a fantastic amount of protein.
You can include the shells on the peanuts in your homemade bird food or leave them off. Since many birds like them with the shells on and other species find it much easier to simply devour the nuts, many enthusiastic bird feeders really enjoy to combine their handmade feed with both sorts.
When buying peanuts in large quantities at feed stores, they are frequently rather affordable. However, you must exercise caution because they have the potential to draw a large number of chipmunks and squirrels to your feeding spot.
Add A Bit Of Dried Fruit – How To Make Homemade Bird Feed
Dried fruit can be pricey, but if you can sprinkle some on occasionally, it can greatly help attract the birds! If you find raisins at a good deal, add them to your mix. Raisins are a good alternative and are generally found on the less expensive side of dried fruit. Your birds will be very appreciative of the treat!
A word of warning regarding raisins: it is better to keep them out of your yard if you have dogs or if they will be visiting. Both grapes and raisins may be extremely harmful to dogs.
Here’s to creating your own DIY bird food and feeding our tiny avian companions during the chilly, desolate winter months! Jim and Mary, happy bird feeding.
From their 46-acre Ohio farm, Jim and Mary Competti have been penning gardening, do-it-yourself, and cooking books for more than 15 years. In their free time, the two enjoy traveling and give frequent talks on anything related to gardening.
As usual, you can reach us by email at with any queries, suggestions, or just to say hi! The subscribe now form in the center of this post allows you to join our free email list.