Nick Isherwood wrote:

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JOHN TYMON wrote:

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Nick Isherwood wrote:

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Martyn. A hundred kilo's? Is that right? Do you not mean 10 kilo's?

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that will be 1 kg -ive seen em in there

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I was gonna say!! It'd need a low loader to get them out of the shop!!

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I think you all mean 100g. 1 kg of meal-worms would need one hell of a tub and as for 100kg...........................................................

JOHN TYMON wrote:

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Nick Isherwood wrote:

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Martyn. A hundred kilo's? Is that right? Do you not mean 10 kilo's?

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that will be 1 kg -ive seen em in there

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I was gonna say!! It'd need a low loader to get them out of the shop!!

Nick Isherwood wrote:

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Martyn. A hundred kilo's? Is that right? Do you not mean 10 kilo's?

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that will be 1 kg -ive seen em in there

Martyn. A hundred kilo's? Is that right? Do you not mean 10 kilo's?

B and M Bargains sell 100kg of dried mealworms for £1.99 in a resealable bag. The one I go to is in Leigh but they have other branches.

I don't know how the quality compares but the birds eat 'em, especially Starlings (just when I've put them out for my nesting Blut Tits!)

-- Edited by Martyn Jones on Monday 2nd of May 2011 03:50:59 PM

Aldi at present selling 100g tubs of dried mealworms for £ 2.49, I've never bought these before, could someone let me know if this is good value?.
Cheers Ian

I have been buying 15kg bags of dog food for £5.99 from Netto to feed wildfowl. I know there is a percentage of meat in it but there is also cereal and I'm sure there is more nutritional value than throwing bread.

I have also bought 25kg bags of a poultry mix for £7 from a seed merchant and the ducks have been going mad for it.

Pets at Home have a couple of offers on at the mo:

20kg of mixed bird seed for £9.99

Suet pellets 3 x 550g bags for £4 - works out cheaper than the 3kg bucket I usually get, and easier to store as well

Wilkinsons in Wigan (and I presume elsewhere) are selling large tubs of dried mealworms for £2 which is about £2.50 cheaper than anywhere else I've seen.

While on the subject of bird food,Now that the artic conditions are back and here to stay for a long time.
Please ask Neighbours,Workmates in fact anyone to put out scraps that are left over from meals out for the birds rather than throwing them in bins.
I have put a notice up in work to remind them to save leftovers for the wildlife.and to make sure nothing contains salt/
PLEASE DO THE SAME.

Originally posted by Mike Haylett today:

ASHTON IN MAKERFIELD OPEN AIR MARKET ON TUES AND SATURDAY IS THE PLACE TO BUY YOUR WILD BIRD FOOD. £1.00 A 0.5 KG BAG FOR BLACK AND WHITE SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND ALSO SUNFLOWER HEARTS. £3.00 BOUGHT ME A GOOD HALF CARRIER BAGFULL, REGARDS MIKE

i had the same problem the birds just would not eat my fat blocks the secret seams to be peanuts
my new recipie is
500gms veg oil (pura or crisp n dry not bottled)
400gms peanuts crushed/blended as fine as you can get it as close to flour as you can
200gms rasins,currants,saltanas either or or all finely chopped
100gms robin mix
dryed insects to tasted
method melt oil in pan allow to cool
mix all dry ingredeants in a bowland cool oil and mix well
this mix will fill a 9"square baking foil dish when set cut into 4 or coconuts wrap in foil and keep in the fridge (dont let the wife see what you are putting in the blocks she wont let you keep them in the fridge)
the only problem i have is keeping the starlings off them they can eat a whole block in a day

graeme

Martyn Jones wrote:

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My coconut shells need refilling with a bird food mixture - the original stuff seemed similar to fat balls when I bought it. Does anyone have any recommended recipes for creating the filling (is it lard or suet for example) so that the food does not fall out of the coconut. Or can someone tell me a good recipe for making fat balls please?

Ta, Martyn

P.S. I had a good five minutes of fun clapping the coconut shells together this morning and shouting Yee-ha! in the back garden :)

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it cheaper ,cleaner,and easier these days to just replace the half coconuts-in some places they are 10 for £10,it would cost you more to buy the lard and seed,and to be honest i don't know what they put in the propper ones but i find my home made ones from lard ,just sit there uneaten,while the real ones dissapear in no time.

My coconut shells need refilling with a bird food mixture - the original stuff seemed similar to fat balls when I bought it. Does anyone have any recommended recipes for creating the filling (is it lard or suet for example) so that the food does not fall out of the coconut. Or can someone tell me a good recipe for making fat balls please?

Ta, Martyn

P.S. I had a good five minutes of fun clapping the coconut shells together this morning and shouting Yee-ha! in the back garden :)

I have just received a delivery of sunflower hearts from `Freshpack' 0161 202 9555, (50LB FOR £30-99p delivered) that John Raynor told us about. Look like good seeds - quite large, probably premium quality from Vinehouse or others so its a big saving. I asked about his delivery areas and he said - local, south manchester and cheshire, he does not do north manchester. He is based in davyhulme.

Mike

Sid, fat and lard and dripping can! cause problems to all birds. As you know certain peanuts can also be harmful, so its a case of using small amounts and keeping a careful watch on your gardens birds.

Dirty tables and feeders are also a problem, for every right there is a wrong,take care.

keep birding

Anyone any thoughts on whether to use dripping or lard? It seems there may also be a possibility of lard damaging the feathers in some way - can this be true?

sid ashton wrote:

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Hi Paul - I too have a small log with holes drilled into it about 2 - 3 cm diameter but I use a mixture of beef dripping, sun flower hearts and porridge oats - I understood that lard was not good as it is too tacky or something or other and the birds have problems clearing their bills - is this correct or is it not important if it's lard or dripping?

Sid A

Paul Heaton wrote:

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Take care with this practise Pete, it will damage the tree in the long run, it has already seen off one of my trees, I now have piece of log with holes drilled into it,which I suspend from the branches. you save the tree and if you mix a little seed with the lard, you can attract more birds.

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Thank's Mike, I cycle that way now and then and Know Hollands Pie factory so should have no difficulty finding the mill.

There is a farm shop on Holcroft Lane in Culcheth where I get all my food from - can't remeber the name but it is just past Hanging Birch farm when travelling in the direction of Glazebrook.

I tend to buy mixed corn (approx £6-50 per 20Kg) and wild bird seed (approx £9 per 25Kg) and mix them - seems to work on Waterworks Lane!

They also do a song bird food (for thrushes etc) which is approx £23 for 25Kg - much cheaper than the RSPB bird table foods etc.

Pete Lane wrote:

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Just looked up Rising Bridge Corn Mill on Google and it gives the address as Back Lane Accrington ( Along with a map) The telephone number is the same.
Has anyone found the place??

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Hi Pete

Rising Bridge is in Baxenden. If you follow the A680 out of Accrington (Manchester Rd) you will go past Hollands Pies on the right and about a mile or so further on you will see a pub on the right called the Rising Bridge. The mill is opposite the pub - take the next left immediately after.

If you go past you hit a major roundabout where you can get on the M66 - there is a McD's nr the roundabout.

Coming from Manchester go to the end of the M66 (then A56) and at the roundabout go past the McD's and look for the turning on your right.

Cheers

Mike

-- Edited by Mike Baron at 08:32, 2009-01-06

Just looked up Rising Bridge Corn Mill on Google and it gives the address as Back Lane Accrington ( Along with a map) The telephone number is the same.
Has anyone found the place??

Hi Paul - I too have a small log with holes drilled into it about 2 - 3 cm diameter but I use a mixture of beef dripping, sun flower hearts and porridge oats - I understood that lard was not good as it is too tacky or something or other and the birds have problems clearing their bills - is this correct or is it not important if it's lard or dripping?

Sid A


blockquote>Paul Heaton wrote:

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Take care with this practise Pete, it will damage the tree in the long run, it has already seen off one of my trees, I now have piece of log with holes drilled into it,which I suspend from the branches. you save the tree and if you mix a little seed with the lard, you can attract more birds.

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Don't know what's going down here new computer not cooperating

-- Edited by sid ashton at 21:41, 2009-01-04

Take care with this practise Pete, it will damage the tree in the long run, it has already seen off one of my trees, I now have piece of log with holes drilled into it,which I suspend from the branches. you save the tree and if you mix a little seed with the lard, you can attract more birds.

I've been spreading lard on the bark of one of the trees in my back garden,the Great Spots love it,and if you do it somewhere fairly inacessible to Starlings it means only the Peckers can get it.

At a party at a neighbours last night and was told of the cheapest place in the world!!!! to buy bird food. Checked it out this morning and discovered that it may be TRUE.
25Kg Sunflower Hearts £24
20Kg Black Sunflower £17.75
25Kg Peanuts £21
Location, just North of Haslingdon,
Rising Bridge Corn Mill, Northfield Rd, Tel 01706 226010
Cheers Ian

I've found Vinehousefarm has got very expensive.
Try Charnwood Milling (01728-622300) for :-
no waste food 20kg 12.38
songbird 15kg 10.50
blk s/flower 15kg 13.97
small f/ball 100 11.46
delivery :-up to 24kg 6.75 and 25p/kilo after. delivery took 3days Food quality excellent.

for sunflower hearts I've found Brivale (01664 823230)
25kg - 36.25 delivered but I've not ordered yet and Feshpak that John posted may be better. Both the above companies have an online ordering facility. Hope this helps.
cheers
Mike

There is an advert on the back of the latest Cheshire & Wirral Ornithological Society (CAWOS) 'Bird News' advertising bird food.

The company is Freshpak Pet & Animal Foods (0161 202 9555) and they are cheap eg. Sunflower Hearts 25lbs/£15.50 or £50lbs/£30.50.

But the difference is they deliver to your door at no extra charge. This is within Cheshire but, as it is a Manchester area telephone code, they most probably deliver to parts of GM as well.

I've received deliveries in Hazel Grove and, taking petrol costs into account, this may well be the best deal at the moment.

Cheers, John

Where's Bamfords Ian?

Dean.

Just read your first post Ian

So ignore that request

-- Edited by Dean Macdonald at 23:08, 2008-11-01

On Thursday I bought 25 KG of sunflower hearts for 32£ at Bamfords which, I think, is where the stall at Bury Market buys it's food from.
Cheers Ian

There's a Pet food stall on Bury market that sells sunflower hearts at £7.50 for 4.5kg.
Which is on a par with Vine House farm, certainly one of cheapest i've seen locally.
I don't where the seed comes from though.

Dean.

I get through a scarey amount of bird food. The last 20Kg sack of black sunflower seeds which I use just for my allotment feeders has lasted 2 weeks! At home I use sunflower hearts, sunflower heart chips, niger seed and fat balls, all from Vine House Farms (I think I should get shares!). I don't think that they are the very cheapest but the prices inc. delivery and I particularly like the ethos of the farm and the consevation / habitat improvement work which they are involved in.
I think that we bird feeders do pay a premium though because I bought a 20Kg sack of organic food grade sunflower hearts from a food supplier a few months ago for £20! when I ran out of bird feed. These had even been imported from Holland! How mad is that? When I tried to make this a regular order from them, they refused and said that they were not prepared to bulk supply in future.
I think if you want cheap cheap cheap, contacting a wholesaler of human food, ordering in bulk, filling your house with sunflower seeds and getting all your mates to share it with you might just be the way to go.
In the mean time, I think that I just go to work to buy bird food.

At Aldi this a.m and they are selling large boxes of bird seed quite cheep, also fat balls.
Cheers Ian

Cheers Ian, I'll be sure to take a look.

Ive got to much time on my hands cause Ive just checked the web site and you are paying twice as much as you need to for feed,(as I suspect are many people) , check out this place.

Certainly not too busy to feed them Ian but I'm usually a little too busy to compare prices

I get mine from the mail order company CJ Wildlife, I haven't a clue how it compares but I buy in bulk and split it between myself and my dad. We buy sunflower hearts in 10 kg bags along with other types of seeds but I can't remember what they works out at price wise. I'm pretty sure they have a website though if you'd like to check

Walked around Elton this a.m. with P&N Johnson and he asked if anyone had discovered anywhere cheaper to buy birdfood (he does not have a computer). He was surprised that no one had, or perhaps everyone else is too busy birding to feed the garden birds!!!.???.

Like many people I feed the garden birds and have found myself spending more and more on a wide range of different foods. Last year after a conversation with Peter & Norma Johnson about this they informed me about where they bought their food from and I have found them to be at least half the price of any other supplier I know of. For example , last week I bought a 50 lb bag of sunflower hearts for 20£ and 20p.
I thought other birders may be interested to know this;
The shop is called R & E Bamford Ltd at:
Globe Mill
Midge Hall Lane
Leyland
I realise this is some distance away but when visited in conjunction with a trip to marshside/ martin mere etc its no problem !.
If anyone knows of anywhere cheaper than this I would love to know where it is.
Cheers Ian.

-- Edited by Ian Campbell at 13:45, 2007-10-04