winter in ontario, looking for cheap wild bird feed,protein or fat%

[alanj]

hi
the local tscstore has scratch feed, cracked corn, layer feed on sale.
can i use this for wild birds, sparrows, doves, blackbirds, starlings, etc?
the regular bird seed is 3 times the cost.

should i go for high protein, high fat in the winter time?

thx

alanj

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

How about just making suet cakes for them?

Take about 1/2 cup vegetable shortening or lard, or the drippings from cooking bacon.
1/2 cup peanut butter
and melt them together, blend well
mix in
1/4 cup corn meal
1/8 cup oatmeal (old fashioned rolled oats not the instant stuff)
1/2 cup bird seed or black sunflower seeds
Mix it all together and pour it into a tin or bowl and put it into the freezer to set up. after it sets up pop it out of the mold (or not if it sits in the sun it'll leave an oil residue wherever it sat).

Makes a great high protein high energy treat for birds.

Warning don't set them out in the spring cause bears love them too.

 

[Bettacreek]

My parents were using chick feed in their feeder, with a mix of bird seed. They stopped using the chick feed, but they did use a good 3/4 of the bag. I'm not sure why they stopped, or if the songbirds were actually eating it or not (they have wild turkeys that they may have been feeding it to).