Newsgroups: rec.birds
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!uupsi!intercon!news
From: ooblick@intercon.com (Mikki Barry)
Subject: RE: A question on bulk seed...
Reply-To: ooblick@intercon.com (Mikki Barry)
Organization: InterCon Systems Corporation, Herndon, VA
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 91 21:10:32 GMT
Message-ID: <28037F48.3DA@intercon.com>
References: <9APR91.21192001@uc780.umd.edu>
Sender: usenet@intercon.com (USENET The Magnificent)

In article <9APR91.21192001@uc780.umd.edu>, greg@uc780.umd.edu writes:
> Ok, so you are saying that Kellog seed mixtures are ok?  But you are saying
> that freezing does degrade the seed nutrition?  How do you handle feeding
> moderate size bird collections less expensively then?

Freezing is only necessary when the seed is old in the first place.  Bugs, 
larvae, etc., are a result of seed that is not put through a cleaning process, 
and/or is too old.  Freezing also serves to reduce the few nutrients in the 
seed that may still exist.

I have 65 birds.  I buy 50 lb. bags of dated Kelloggs seed, mix it with Zeigler 
pellets, sprinkle some Vionate and Nekton S on the top, and add E for the 
breeders.  A 50 lb. bag of seed, retail, is about $35.00.  Zeigler pellets run 
about $1.25 per pound in bulk.

Note:  I am not saying that other products are bad.  I have experience only 
with Kelloggs, Scarlett (bletch), Rowdybush (birds hated it), Pretty Bird 
(caused discoloration of feathers in baby macaws), Kelloggs pellets (my birds 
wouldn't touch it), and various forms of mixed seed sold by various pet shops.  
I'm only relating my own experiences and what I've learned about bird nutrition.

I should also say here that bird seed bought out of bins in a shop should 
always be closely scrutinized.  Oftentimes, employees pour big bags of bulk 
seed into the bins and scoop it out as customers request.  This means that the 
buckets are opened and closed all day long, exposing it to insects, etc., and 
the stuff at the bottom of the barrel could have been there for months.  

Mikki Barry