and, analogy aside, millet and boss are similar price. Peanuts, lucky for you, are about 4x more expensive, pound per pound. So your typical bag of bird seed is going to be about 3 parts red millet, 3 parts white (proso) millet, 3 parts boss, and 1 part peanuts.
Why is that lucky? Because the amino acid profile of peanuts is HIGHLY variable, like more than +/- 12%, based on location grown - but peanuts are typically low in lysine, tryptophan, methionine, and threonine - the four most common limitting acids in poultry feed.
Assuming the 3/3/3/1 ratio is correct, that bag of birdseed is about 14.5% protein (16%+ is the desire), 9.5% fiber (3-4% is the typically desired range), 21.4% fat (again, 3-4% is the normally desired range). It just scrapes the bottom of the acceptable methionine range (courtsey the white millet and boss), has less than half the desired lysine amount, only 60% of the minimum threonine, and misses on tryptophan, too!
But yes, they can eat it. Its about as nuitritional as a doritos locos taco with extra sour cream, hold the "beef".
