Needing some more sunflower hearts, I trawled the
internet and was amazed at the variation in price. For
a 25Kg sack, the costs were from around £30 to £66.

How do they get away with it!

I know that some may say - "you get what you pay for",
but those prices are ridiculous, and I doubt if the
birds will notice the difference!


--
Roger T

700 ft up in Mid-Wales

On Tue, 5 Mar 2013 20:18:42 -0000, Roger Tonkin
wrote:

Needing some more sunflower hearts, I trawled the
internet and was amazed at the variation in price. For
a 25Kg sack, the costs were from around £30 to £66.

How do they get away with it!

I know that some may say - "you get what you pay for",
but those prices are ridiculous, and I doubt if the
birds will notice the difference!

Although I'm happy to be proved wrong, £30 for 25Kg of sunflower
hearts sounds very suspicious to me. £50-55 delivered would be
reasonable in today's market, unless you're lucky enough to have some
bulk supplier in the neighbourhood. £66 is probably the RSPB who
always keep their prices down to encourage us to feed the birds (I
jest!).

What I can't get over is the increase in the price of peanuts over the
last year. They'll be going off the menu here once existing stocks
are consumed.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the sensible end of Swansea Bay where the ground is
drying out nicely and the pond is back where it ought to be.

On 05/03/2013 20:18, Roger Tonkin wrote:
Needing some more sunflower hearts, I trawled the
internet and was amazed at the variation in price. For
a 25Kg sack, the costs were from around £30 to £66.

How do they get away with it!

I know that some may say - "you get what you pay for",
but those prices are ridiculous, and I doubt if the
birds will notice the difference!


"you get what you pay for",
Not always.
Bought a new Canon all in one printer from Staples, just under £60, the
same from Tesco is just short of £103.
You have to shop around

"The Original Jake" wrote ...

Roger Tonkin wrote:

Needing some more sunflower hearts, I trawled the
internet and was amazed at the variation in price. For
a 25Kg sack, the costs were from around £30 to £66.

How do they get away with it!

I know that some may say - "you get what you pay for",
but those prices are ridiculous, and I doubt if the
birds will notice the difference!

Although I'm happy to be proved wrong, £30 for 25Kg of sunflower
hearts sounds very suspicious to me. £50-55 delivered would be
reasonable in today's market, unless you're lucky enough to have some
bulk supplier in the neighbourhood. £66 is probably the RSPB who
always keep their prices down to encourage us to feed the birds (I
jest!).

What I can't get over is the increase in the price of peanuts over the
last year. They'll be going off the menu here once existing stocks
are consumed.


Your birds actually eat peanuts? We have given up putting them out as they
were never eaten and always ended up being thrown away because they went
mouldy. Since we started putting out sunflower seed hearts the goldfinches
have abandoned the nijer seed so that too will be off the menu soon. The
only bird that seems not to prefer the sunflower seed is the Dunnock who
still persists with the normal mixed seed.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

In article , david@abacus-
nurseries.co.uk says...

On 05/03/2013 20:18, Roger Tonkin wrote:
Needing some more sunflower hearts, I trawled the
internet and was amazed at the variation in price. For
a 25Kg sack, the costs were from around £30 to £66.

How do they get away with it!

I know that some may say - "you get what you pay for",
but those prices are ridiculous, and I doubt if the
birds will notice the difference!


"you get what you pay for",
Not always.
Bought a new Canon all in one printer from Staples, just under £60, the
same from Tesco is just short of £103.
You have to shop around

Yes, but did the birds eat it?

Janet

On Tue, 5 Mar 2013 22:52:33 -0000, "Bob Hobden"
wrote:



Your birds actually eat peanuts?

Tits, nuthatches, woodpeckers and, would you believe, robins go for
peanuts here. But they all go for sunflower hearts as well. Even the
woodpeckers now visit the bird table, though somewhat clumsily. They
always start by hanging from it upside down and pecking at the
underside before moving to the top.

I have two problems - the cost of two sacks each of sunflower and
peanuts is over £100 a month and I simply cannot afford to continue.
Plus the sacks take up space. So I'm cutting the peanuts out (and not
increasing the volume of sunflowers). The greedy blighters will just
have to make do with that.

Any bird wanting mixed seed can find it elsewhere. I got fed up with
the weeding and the waste.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the sensible end of Swansea Bay where the ground is
drying out nicely and the pond is back where it ought to be.

On 06/03/2013 00:44, Janet wrote:
In article , david@abacus-
nurseries.co.uk says...

On 05/03/2013 20:18, Roger Tonkin wrote:
Needing some more sunflower hearts, I trawled the
internet and was amazed at the variation in price. For
a 25Kg sack, the costs were from around £30 to £66.

How do they get away with it!

I know that some may say - "you get what you pay for",
but those prices are ridiculous, and I doubt if the
birds will notice the difference!


"you get what you pay for",
Not always.
Bought a new Canon all in one printer from Staples, just under £60, the
same from Tesco is just short of £103.
You have to shop around

Yes, but did the birds eat it?

Janet

No .
They just copied each other

It's funny, for years our birds hardly touched peanuts, yet I knew a woman just around the corner whose peanuts disappeared quickly and routinely attracted Gt Sp woodpeckers. But the last couple of years the birds have decided they like our peanuts. Maybe they approve of the new feeder we bought.

Our local goldfinches were never attracted by niger seeds, but turned up in numbers once we put out sunflower cores. When I mixed niger in with other seeds, most birds would pick them out and throw them on the ground uneaten, as they also do to any barley in the mix - on the ground woodpigeons eat it. We haven't put out sf cores this year, and haven't seen many goldfinches.

Recently we have had many jackdaws and a pheasant on the seed feeders and peanuts. Not seen those before. Though the red-legged partridges that used to turn up haven't been seen for a few years. One year I attracted a lot of siskins and bramblings, but they haven't been back.

On Wednesday, March 6, 2013 8:26:54 AM UTC, Dave Hill wrote:
On 06/03/2013 00:44, Janet wrote: In article , david@abacus- nurseries.co.uk says... On 05/03/2013 20:18, Roger Tonkin wrote: Needing some more sunflower hearts, I trawled the internet and was amazed at the variation in price. For a 25Kg sack, the costs were from around £30 to £66. How do they get away with it! I know that some may say - "you get what you pay for", but those prices are ridiculous, and I doubt if the birds will notice the difference! "you get what you pay for", Not always. Bought a new Canon all in one printer from Staples, just under £60, the same from Tesco is just short of £103. You have to shop around Yes, but did the birds eat it? Janet No . They just copied each other

I find that locally owned (independent) pet food shops are the cheapest. The big chains are just a rip off with all products.

In article ,
lid says...

On Tue, 5 Mar 2013 22:52:33 -0000, "Bob Hobden"
wrote:



Your birds actually eat peanuts?

Tits, nuthatches, woodpeckers and, would you believe, robins go for
peanuts here. But they all go for sunflower hearts as well. Even the
woodpeckers now visit the bird table, though somewhat clumsily. They
always start by hanging from it upside down and pecking at the
underside before moving to the top.

I have two problems - the cost of two sacks each of sunflower and
peanuts is over £100 a month and I simply cannot afford to continue.
Plus the sacks take up space. So I'm cutting the peanuts out (and not
increasing the volume of sunflowers). The greedy blighters will just
have to make do with that.

We have always provided wheat, as a minority of the food we buy, as
ground feed for the pheasants. But so many other birds are taking it now
(collardoves, hedge and house sparrows, chaffinches, blackbirds, robins)
so we're serving significantly more of it. It's the cheapest seed you
can buy.

Janet.
and

"Janet" wrote in message
T...
We have always provided wheat, as a minority of the food we buy, as
ground feed for the pheasants. But so many other birds are taking it now
(collardoves, hedge and house sparrows, chaffinches, blackbirds, robins)
so we're serving significantly more of it. It's the cheapest seed you
can buy.

Our local farm shop sells wheat for £6.54 for 20kg. I use this to dilute the
seed I buy online - British finch and millet etc..

"zaax" wrote in message
...


I find that locally owned (independent) pet food shops are the cheapest.
The big chains are just a rip off with all products.

True - and the range tends to be better too.
Part of the reason must be that they can buy in bulk and sell on
in non- expensive packing - bring your own carrier in some cases.
We have however discovered that Bonios are an exception. Cheaper in
Sainsburys
fancy packing than loose in the local inde pet shop.
And before some clever commenter asks, do we feed them to the birdies - the
answer is no - lol

Pete

On 06/03/2013 15:42, Pete wrote:


"zaax" wrote in message
...


I find that locally owned (independent) pet food shops are the
cheapest. The big chains are just a rip off with all products.

True - and the range tends to be better too.
Part of the reason must be that they can buy in bulk and sell on
in non- expensive packing - bring your own carrier in some cases.
We have however discovered that Bonios are an exception. Cheaper in
Sainsburys
fancy packing than loose in the local inde pet shop.
And before some clever commenter asks, do we feed them to the birdies -
the answer is no - lol

Pete


Just a bird dog?

On 05/03/2013 22:52, Bob Hobden wrote:
"The Original Jake" wrote ...

Your birds actually eat peanuts? We have given up putting them out as
they were never eaten and always ended up being thrown away because they
went mouldy. Since we started putting out sunflower seed hearts the
goldfinches have abandoned the nijer seed so that too will be off the
menu soon.

I originally put nijer seeds out for the Goldfinches and they did used
to eat them, but then I decided to try some sunflower hearts at the same
time and the nijer was abandoned.

Pretty much everything likes the SFH, even the robins use the feeder now!

Every now and then I try a different type of mixed seed but it doesn't
get eaten in feeders, so I end up dumping it on the bird table where it
eventually gets guzzled by the less fussy larger birds.

The only other thing I put out are coconut halves, which is always
popular with tits, robins and woodpeckers.