Is there any cheap substitute for wild bird seed?

It's going to be frigid here. The weather predictors are saying it will be colder than usual which means temps near zero!

Br-r-r-r-r.

That sounds beautiful, fields of sunflowers! Too bad the government might tax the farmers out of existence but it's that way all over now. I guess I'll have to toss out anything I can find and keep the dogs inside so that don't eat it! Birds are survivors but the temps are going to be so cold this year, so they say, that I'm afraid many might not make it without nutritious food.

Thanks, Peavey! I did have some sunflowers come up from some seeds the birds either dropped or defecated but they yielded no seeds at all! I think the seeds must be genetically altered, darn it. I will get some sunflower seeds next year and try to harvest a large crop, figure out a way to protect them. Love your avatar!! I remember helping my Grandma do laundry with one of those but she would not let me operate the wringer--she knew first hand how it felt to get a finger caught in one of those!

GMO, yuck. I hope you can find the regular black oil seed sunflower that will reproduce. I've had it grow from dropped seed here, too and it made a seed head, so I didn't even think of any of it being genetically modified. You're one of the few people who even know what that picture is! One person even asked me about it. He couldn't figure out what it was for.

Hopefully, I can find some bread marked down. Here bread is very expensive, about $3 a loaf for decent stuff. I would hate to give them the cheap, white flour bread that most people buy for $.99, it's got a lot of refined sugar in it. Still, it's a good idea so thanks!

Thank you Bunny! I won't order the sample since a 50 pound bag of their seed would be about $120. But I do see things there that birds will eat that I wasn't aware of and I can look around for cheap prices. You've been a real help.

Oh, and I'm a sucker for animals. I have 6 stray cats that eat about a pound of cat food a day. I love watching the birds and will not let them starve, you should see the map of winter I found: http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/55890/accuweathercom-winter-20112012.asp Looks like it's gonna be BAD!! But at least you'll have a nice one.

I searched and got this http://sweet-seed.com/free-sample-2/?gclid=CJfZ1K6XjKwCFUy4tgodgXEfmQ NOT A REFERRAL LINK...its about the discussion

Birds, at least the housebirds I'm familiar with, have rather fragile systems and I don't want to hurt them. I'll probably also cook up some brown rice and try to think of things they could get out in the forest like wild mushrooms, pine seeds and the like. I do know they love peanut butter so they'll probably get some of that this year, too. It's pretty cheap when it's on sale.

Big Lots didn't have it today, no telling when they will or even what price it will be. I go through 50# or more per month so unless I get a good price or a cheap alternative they'll have to forage for their own food this year. I know I have some stale Chex style cereal in the cupboard, I can crush that and feed them for a few days.

Those are all good ideas, thanks! I have had birds sit outside on the window sill when the feeder is empty--they are not tame by any means but they know where the food comes from!

I had done it because I thought it would be a neat way for the kids to bird watch and learn about the birds around us. The squirrels, they steal enough from me. They've eaten my kids pumpkins and they were out less than a week.

I don't go to movies, don't subscribe to premium TV channels and don't eat out at restaurants--the birds are my entertainment when I work all day so I've decided to bit the bullet and buy the damned seed. They haven't touched the cereal I put out in the feeder but that might be because the tree hasn't lost its leaves yet and they don't know the feeder is there. My stepmother about had a fit over the price of birdseed, it's one of the few enjoyable activities left for my dad so she won't give up the seed, either. We're stuck being price-gouged! I love my sassy squirrels, I put corn out for them. I know what you mean about the starlings, my dad calls them trash birds. If not for them the seed would last longer and they always look unkempt and messy.

Another vote for chicken feed! I hope it's cheap, I'm going to price it this week. Really, when the price of something increases by twice what it was that's ridiculous. I hate my poor birds to suffer, they give me such pleasure, and it's just awful that people can't afford to feed them this year.

Thanks for suggesting the mesh, I had been thinking of ways to protect my future crop but for some reason didn't think of that. As usual, I can depend on you for great ideas! I have a pretty big yard so growing space is no problem. I'll price some chicken feed and see what I can come up with. I hate to not give them those high-fat seeds they need--I don't see how they keep warm with those hollow bones but I know they need a lot of energy. I'll try meat and other food scraps with the cereals and old fruit. I can get the fruit cheap at Walmart on its marked down produce rack. Now as to how to present it. I have a bird feeder that you put seed in and it feeds through the bottom. Maybe not the best dispenser for scraps! The dogs will eat anything close to the ground. I'm trying to think of how to suspend a shallow wooden bowl or other such thing or tie it onto a branch. I hope they'd be grateful if they only knew how much thought I'm giving them!

I hear ya, if I even look at food I gain weight! I have an alternative that keeps the food away from the dogs--throw it over the fence into the alley. Selfish of me that I didn't think much of it, because I can't see them then from where I sit and work. I'll do that if seed doesn't come down in price. You have given me some ideas, though, and I do have some chicken wire in the garage--I kept everything the last owner left and I have a weird variety of stuff, most of which has turned out to be useful at one time or another in the past 4 years I've lived here.

It might take a bit of work but I've seen feeders made out of chicken wire but even the smallest holes are like an inch wide so unless what you put in it is big, everything would fall out. I've seen a wire mesh where the holes are 1/2 inch square. That would be perfect to form a roll with, then attach a shallow bowl (plastic or metal so you can punch holes in it to attach to the bottom of the wire mesh tube so when you fill the tube with bird food, some spills out into the bowl but not much. Just attach the top of this to a tree branch with wire or string and voila, a ready-made bird feeder. The birds can then eat from sitting on the edge of the bowl or grab onto the mesh and eat the food through the holes. This would work great with slices of apple, orange, whatever. I have wire mesh that has 1/4" holes but I think that might be too small. I'll have to get some and see if it will work. If it would, I could send you some if you'd like. I do have to make a trip to the hardware store soon so I'll price that 1/2" mesh while I'm there (if they still have any, might all be put away for the season). But, even with 1/4" mesh, if you mix the seed with a little honey, they will stick together and pretty much stay inside the mesh and the holes are large enough for most birds to get their beaks through to grab the seeds. Geez, now that you have me thinking, maybe any tube-like thing will hold seeds, as long as it's connected loosely to a bowl underneath (with wire or string) so some of the seeds fall through the tube into the bowl and more fall through as the birds eat what's in the bowl. Is any of this making any sense? I can see it in my head but I'm not sure it's coming through my fingers correctly. As for those birds being grateful, I think they might care a bit more than they show. I saved a bird once. It was a baby, probably kicked out of the nest to fly but it was either sick or just too young and got sick from being out of the nest too long and I took it in, kept it warm, fed it and even named it, 'Fred'. He was so cute once he began to feel better, he'd do tricks in the cage and squawk until I fed him, then go about playing again. I let him go once he was completely well and he would come back every day and grab onto the screen at the window of the room where I had kept him. I like to think he was just saying hi but he most likely was coming back for food. Greedy little so and so's! It really is amazing how they can keep their little bodies so warm. They actually eat several times their weight every day to produce enough body heat. My cockatiels' body temp was around 106. I remember when they would walk on me, their little feet were so HOT! If I ate like that, all I'd do is get fat.

That's a really helpful link! I found all kinds of things that I have around the house that I can feed them, at least until and if the price of seed comes down. I put out some cereal a few days ago in the feeder but no takers so far. Of course, the leaves are still on the tree so maybe they don't know it's there. Thanks!