How Much Do You Spend On Wild Bird Seed?

[Nyboy]

I just did the math, a $6.00 bag of seed lasts 4 days. I need 7 and half bags a month = $45 . x 12 months = $540 a year. Is my math right? Birds are going to be on their own soon.

 

[bobm]

Ask yourself or Mother Nature if feeding any wild critter is doing them a favor or harm when suddenly an artificial food souce dries up ?

 

[Beekissed]

I agree. We used to feed some every winter and it was great fun watching the birds coming to the feeder....but then I got to thinking about all that and decided I was doing them no favor. Winter serves to weed out the bird population but if I supplement to the degree that those weak birds are still in the breeding pool, I'm just causing the local bird population to be weaker in the long run.

Since we stopped feeding the birds in the winter, we've seen more varieties of birds than we ever saw when we fed them and birds are actually taking up residence in our meadow once again to have their families. Don't know if there is a correlation, but we fed them for years and didn't have that...stopped feeding them and within a few seasons our bird population during the spring and summer was higher in numbers and variety.

Also stopped feeding the hummingbirds at the same time but started planting flowers and trees they like instead. This Earth doesn't really need our help in that regard, I'm fully convinced.

That applies to feral cats as well. When folks started feeding them, that's when there started to be a problem. Never had a problem before that. Then they worsened that by spaying them and neutering them...especially the neutering.

 

[thistlebloom]

I disagree about the bird feeding doing more harm than good. I wondered about that myself and then read on a bird site (Audubon?) that it's not harmful to supplement even if it's sporadic. They don't depend solely on feeders.

I buy BOSS exclusively now and feed it to my horses and chickens as well.
I pay $15 to $20 for a 50 pound bag and it may last 2 to 3 months depending on the weather.

 

[Nyboy]

Maybe shallow but I started feeding them for me, I enjoy watching them . @Thistle have to look in to BOSS sounds much more reasonable.

 

[Beekissed]

That's most often the case for these kinds of things. At that point the kindness being done is to oneself and not necessarily to the animal, though it has the appearance of being kind and helpful to them.

God takes care of them sufficiently.

 

[canesisters]

What if you grow a stand of 'bird feed'?
There is a strip between my paddock and chicken run that is about 30' x 5'. This past summer, when I tossed out 'scratch' for my chickens (and I remembered to do it), I tossed a handful through the fence to that space. "Scratch" for my girls is sunflower seeds, the millet-filled bird seed, some corn + a little of their pellets and sometimes a little dry cat food. As summer came to a close, I have a strip of all sorts of seed covered 'weeds'. I've waded in there and cut off a couple of heads to toss to the chooks - they seemed to like picking it to death. Next year I'm going to be much more intentional about it. The wild birds are in that all the time too.

 

[thistlebloom]

What's wrong with feeding birds for our enjoyment?
It is kind and helpful to them too. Without feeders up I wouldn't have seen as many species as I enjoy watching now, and being able to see them up close makes me thankful that we have such a wonderful Creator that cared enough to design such marvelous artwork.

Bee, you hauled in extra apples to feed your local deer. Is that different somehow?

 

[majorcatfish]

how much does the dw and dd spend on bird seed and what not's during the winter..i do not want to know.....

 

[Beekissed]

What's wrong with feeding birds for our enjoyment?
It is kind and helpful to them too. Without feeders up I wouldn't have seen as many species as I enjoy watching now, and being able to see them up close makes me thankful that we have such a wonderful Creator that cared enough to design such marvelous artwork.

Bee, you hauled in extra apples to feed your local deer. Is that different somehow?

Yes...in a way. And, in a way..no. That wasn't to supplement their diet but to keep them coming back to a certain spot so we could harvest their meat later in hunting season. By thinning the deer herds in this manner we can insure that the remaining deer have more to eat this winter. This keeps our local deer herd stronger and producing well for a good harvest the following year.

So, same in that it was for our own purposes to gain food for our family, but different in that we are practicing judicious conservation of the wildlife by hunting them. Good for us and also good for them.