They eat it just as much as the unroasted ones? How ingenious!

Miss Smarty Pants, THANKYOU!! I have a huge mess to deal with. Apparently, we bought the wrong seed blend, according to the birds and critters. I swear half of the bird seed is on the ground and my container pots under the tree with the feeder have about 1" of bird seed "mulch". I do enjoy the feeder and all the birds it attracts.

Skiekitty, This is the most awesome tip. I would click the green thumb up more than once if it would let me. So here's a few more

Wish I'd thought of it last winter! I switched feeders and started using a mixed seed... over the patio where I had all my winter sowing containers lined up. You guessed it -- millet seedlings sprouting in every jug!

We did this for our pigeons in the winter. To help warm them up We mixed it with oil and powdered vitamins They
all loved it :)

I grew a bunch of Black oil sunflowers from all the ones that fell..Apparently my birds don't go & clean up the ground
I will use this Thanks

I don't keep birdfeeders, but this sounds like a great idea.

I learned this the hard way after pulling bird seed weeds for 3 years.. Then when I was breeding canaries one of the fellow breeders asked if I had problems with the seed sprouting in the cage tray. When I affirmed that, that's when he told me to just roast the seeds for a few minutes & that kills the seed germ (the heart of the seed that sprouts). I asked if it changed the nutritional value and he said that it was a negligentable amount. Works like a charm with the cheap bird seed.

Is this for mixed seed only or for all seeds?

Thanks!

I grew sick and tired of cheap birdseed.Its mostly millit and the birds just shove it onto the ground.
The squirrel proof feeder on the deck gets a mix of peanut and sunflower seeds that have been chopped. I also add a Woodpecker mix of nuts and berries. There is no waste or shells to clean up in spring.
The feeder over the woodpile gets cracked corn,squirrels think they are really getting a treat.

Oh, thank you so much for this idea!! One of my birdfeeders is right over a part of the veggie garden & I spend a lot of time pulling up the volunteers.
Jo-Ann

I had a middle expensive mix one year and it came up plants that looked like young broccoli with a tiny yellow flower.
Its still coming up here and there.
I ended up using Roundup because most was i an area where there were very late emerging plants.
Its taken me 5 years to find a place for the feeder where cleanup isnt much work in spring.

My seed costs a bit more nut It's a bargain when I think of the raking,sweeping and bending.
I love to watch the birds,its better than TV. when confined for the winter.

Wow, who woulda thunk it?
THANKS!

Hi, crittergarden!

I raise exotic parrots and they usually leave empty hulls in the cups along with uneaten seeds so rather than clean the chaff off, I empty dishes everyday into a large container and replace it with fresh. I then put the used seed out for the wild birds and they have no problem picking through it for the uneaten seed. At least it doesn't go to waste.

Jan - I used to do the same thing with my canaries & the outside birdies. The mourning doves would scratch through the leftovers with no problems! Budgies never left any leftovers, though... what kinds of parrots do you raise? I miss my birds...

I have parrotlets, lineolated parakeets, pallid blue quakers & a couple of male red bellied parrots

lovemyhouse said:Hi, crittergarden!

Hi House!
I have just FINALLY gotten my garden all nestled up for Winter.
I wasn't ignoring your kind "Hi" - I was in the yard!

Good place to be.

ge1836 said:I grew sick and tired of cheap birdseed.Its mostly millit and the birds just shove it onto the ground.
The squirrel proof feeder on the deck gets a mix of peanut and sunflower seeds that have been chopped. I also add a Woodpecker mix of nuts and berries. There is no waste or shells to clean up in spring.
The feeder over the woodpile gets cracked corn,squirrels think they are really getting a treat.

Jo Ann, what kind of feeder do you use for the squirrel?? I have a squirrel proof feeder for birds but I like the idea of giving them their own feeder but it must be something they cannot tear up. Great idea!

One thing I've seen but haven't tried is a long long Eyehook hung from a bird feeder shepherd's hook. Get dried corn, thread it through the screw part of the eyehook, and then hang the hook from the shepherd's hook.