Cheap food at Argos (3 Viewers)

[Jonathan Hare]

Wilkinsons have a new offer on, two 2kilo bags of wild bird seed for £3, they also have peanuts in the same offer, not sure what size bags those were though. 12 kilo for £9 seems pretty good to me and the birds seem to like it - less mess left on the ground than with the Haithes/Bill Oddie bird seed.

These are the 2kg bags of bird seed on the offer. Also on offer are the suet, I think 99p or 2 for £1.50 or somit like that.

 

[bitterntwisted]

All sunflower *hearts* come from abroad. You can't assume that because it is sold by a UK farm that it is not "a product of intensive farming abroad which deprives native wildlife of habitat, and which is then air-freighted to the UK".

I asked Street End Feeds (Really Wild Bird Company) myself and they confirmed this. Their sunflower hearts come from abroad, they didn't say where.

Even the seed mixes are likely to contain seeds that come from abroad. It is worth asking any "farm" where the components of their products come from. I don't think the farm distributors do enough to make this clear (for good economic reasons).

So again in this case we can rely on the RSPB to bring them in in the most environmentally friendly way, because of their buying power compared to a smaller distributor. And the RSPB source as much as possible from the UK of course, and of course 100% of the profits...

I mailed both Street End Feeds and Vine House Farm to check on this myself and was very disappointed with the response I received, which confirms what you say.

I will be reverting to the black sunflower seeds which Vine House Farm grow on their farm. Where I have the feeders the mess is not really an issue and I move the feeders regularly.

Dear Sir,

Sunflower Hearts are not produced on the farm.

Our Premium Hearts are a produce of USA.
Standard Heats are from more than one country outside of the UK.

You are quite right, Sunflower Hearts are never produced in the UK, the reason being, that there is no machinery in the UK that can strip the outer shells from the sunflower seeds.

I will also mail both companies and ask that they do a little more to avoid misleading customers the way I was misled.

Graham

 

[Fozzybear]

These are the 2kg bags of bird seed on the offer. Also on offer are the suet, I think 99p or 2 for £1.50 or somit like that.

Yes the blocks are 2 for £1.50 - the bags of suet pellets are also reduced now, to £1.69. :t:

 

[mike from ebbw]

Home Bargains is where I get the food for my feeding station.Peanuts are £1 a KG bag.Mixed seed £1 for a 2KG bag.Suet Blocks are 3 for £1.60 and fat balls are 49p for 6.
I find it attracts all the Woodland Birds and as I live in Wales any that they miss on the floor gets hoovered up by the Sheep!

 

[bitterntwisted]

I mailed both Street End Feeds and Vine House Farm to check on this myself and was very disappointed with the response I received, which confirms what you say.

I will be reverting to the black sunflower seeds which Vine House Farm grow on their farm. Where I have the feeders the mess is not really an issue and I move the feeders regularly.

I will also mail both companies and ask that they do a little more to avoid misleading customers the way I was misled.

Graham

I received a further reply from Lesley Smith at Street End Farm (The Really Wild Bird Food Co) which gave a fuller explanation. They confirm that no sunflower hearts are produced in the UK (any which claim to be are de-hulled here having been grown abroad and wastefully shipped with their hulls intact)

Apparently growing conditions in the UK are much less than ideal and sunflower seeds grown here are not suitable for air-blown de-hulling which would produce a soft, brown, mushy heart.

I was reassured by the reply and by Street End Farm's commitment to environmentally friendly farming and will continue to buy their UK-grown black sunflower seeds... http://www.streetendfeeds.co.uk/product.asp?catid=13

Graham

 

[Fozzybear]

The 10kg tubs of seed in Argos are reduced in their end of catalogue sale... now £4.99! Have reserved one to pick up tomorrow (I think I'll have to get the bus back, I don't fancy walking home with it!) from my local store. May not be in all stores and not sure how long it'll be this price but worth having a look. :t:


The code is 042/7023

 

[dantheman]

The 10kg tubs of seed in Argos are reduced in their end of catalogue sale... now£4.99! Have reserved one to pick up tomorrow (I think I'll have to get the bus back, I don't fancy walking home with it!) from my local store. May not be in all stores and not sure how long it'll be this price but worth having a look.

In other words, it's going to cost something more like £11 + ...

??

 

[NoSpringChicken]

I have been using RSPB No Mess Sunflower Mix for about a year. It attracts Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Chaffinches, none of which came for the cheaper mixes. It is much cleaner to use than the husked mixes. Unfortunately is is quite expensive (£28.49 for 12.75kg or £53.99 for 25.5kg) and the birds have been getting through loads of it recently.

A couple of weeks ago I ordered some of the 'High Energy - No Mess' mix from here:
http://www.food4wildbirds.co.uk/wild-bird-food/high-energy-no-mess-c-566_36.html

It is £32.50 for 25kg, including free next day delivery and the birds seem to like it just as much as the RSPB stuff. I don't know about the ethical side of it though.

Ron

 

[Fozzybear]

In other words, it's going to cost something more like £11 + ...

??

Nah, it's only £1.60 on the bus and I need to go into town tomorrow anyway. Still makes it cheaper than buying seed from Wilkinson in town and I won't have to buy any seed for quite some time so will save a few trips.

If I wanted to buy ethically I'd make a trip to Hanningfield Reservoir and buy some of the seed sold at the visitor centre by the Essex Wildlife Trust - they grow the seed mix on their farm here in Essex.

 

[TheBirdGarden]

I get a 12.75 kg of bird seed (natures feast i think) for around about £6 from Costco

 

[billy]

reserved mine just now, still available at motherwell store