High cost of bird peanuts (1 Viewer)

[kizibu]

In my local Asda (Walmart) they sell peanuts for birds ("..not for human consumption") along with various wild bird mixes.

But the plain unroasted peanuts elsewhere in the store that are for human consumption are much cheaper.

So I'm afraid my garden birds will have to put up with those.

 

[turkish van]

Yeah, they're nutters aren't they...

Alternatively, find a local wholefoods/healthfood shop and buy human quality peanuts in big bags. We can get 25 kg for about £20 here, same goes for sunflower hearts etc - £30ish for the same weight. RSPB sell sunflower hearts at about £40 for half the weight!

 

[Jos Stratford]

In my local Asda (Walmart) they sell peanuts for birds ("..not for human consumption") along with various wild bird mixes.

But the plain unroasted peanuts elsewhere in the store that are for human consumption are much cheaper.

So I'm afraid my garden birds will have to put up with those.

Carbonites are to blame

 

[turkish van]

Carbonites are to blame

Doesn't that go without saying?

 

[Jos Stratford]

Doesn't that go without saying?

Biofuels

 

[KnockerNorton]

I'd give up on peanuts. Not only are they a liability due to aflatoxin and going mouldy, but birds much prefer sunflower seeds which have a higher fat content.

 

[Clive Watson]

I agree for the small birds, but don't some species, Jays for example, prefer them to seed mixes?

 

[Marmot]

A friend of mine who owns a pet food shop told me a few weeks ago that they were having trouble getting peanuts due to large amounts being bought up for bio fuel.

 

[KnockerNorton]

I agree for the small birds, but don't some species, Jays for example, prefer them to seed mixes?

jays will just bury as much as they can and retrieve very few, as when they're faced with a glut they cannot help themselves. Not really a common garden bird in any case. For tits/finches, sunflower seeds are by far the best option (just buy the hearts if you don't want the husk mess)

 

[Pluvius]

I find Jollyes Petfood stores the best on price for sunflower seed and peanuts. You might get sunflower seed cheaper at a bakers suppliers.

 

[citrinella]

In my local Asda (Walmart) they sell peanuts for birds ("..not for human consumption") along with various wild bird mixes.

I have been told these are treated with chemicals to prevent moulding.

But the plain unroasted peanuts elsewhere in the store that are for human consumption are much cheaper.

Again, I have been told that aflatoxin tolerance levels on these are _not_ as strict as for bird nuts (because birds are small, cannot tolerate as large quantities as us).

The plain unroasted peanuts in my Asda are only in silly little packets that cost a bomb - something like 40p for 250g. What size / price can you get ?

Mike.

 

[turkish van]

Again, I have been told that aflatoxin tolerance levels on these are _not_ as strict as for bird nuts (because birds are small, cannot tolerate as large quantities as us).

Mike.

That's interesting, I always just assumed...

 

[do re meep meep]

Does anyone have the numbers? How much energy per gram does a sunflower heart have? How much energy per gram does a peanut have?

How much energy per sunflower heart? How much energy per peanut kernel?

 

[kizibu]

Nuts or sunflowers?

Does anyone have the numbers? How much energy per gram does a sunflower heart have? How much energy per gram does a peanut have?

How much energy per sunflower heart? How much energy per peanut kernel?

I doubt there is a British Standard Peanut (or Canadian one ). The values provided courtesy Mr Google for several different brands of raw peanut and hulled sunflower seeds suggest a certain amount of variation in samples - but usually a slightly higher energy value for sunflowers per gram but slightly lower total protein than peanuts. The figures are wobbly but enough to convince me I shouldn't eat either.

Raw peanuts

Calories (kcal) 567.0
Carbohydrate (g) 16.1
Sugars (g) 4.0
Protein (g) 25.8
Fat (g) 49.2
Saturates (g) 6.8
Fibre (g) 8.5

Calories (kcal) 589.0
Carbohydrate (g) 13.0
Sugars (g) 7.0
Protein (g) 24.0
Fat (g) 49.0
Saturates (g) 7.0
Fibre (g) 6.0

Calories (kcal) 591.7
Carbohydrate (g) 11.0
Sugars (g) 5.5
Protein (g) 24.7
Fat (g) 50.0
Saturates (g) 8.9
Fibre (g) 6.3


Sunflower

Calories (kcal) 630.0
Carbohydrate (g) 6.0
Sugars (g) 2.4
Protein (g) 21.0
Fat (g) 58.0
Saturates (g) 7.0
Fibre (g) 7.0

Calories (kcal) 581.0
Carbohydrate (g) 18.6
Sugars (g) 1.7
Protein (g) 19.8
Fat (g) 47.5
Saturates (g) 4.5

Calories (kcal) 588.0
Carbohydrate (g) 19.0
Sugars (g) 1.7
Protein (g) 20.0
Fat (g) 48.0
Saturates (g) 4.5

 

[do re meep meep]

aflatoxin pics

I did a quick Google image search and found only 1 pic of peanuts and 2 pics of corn affected by aflatoxin. Neither us nor our birds should enjoy it, but that's how it looks like. Sunflower seed is not completely immune, the USDA publish maximum aflatoxin levels in sunflower products, I could not find any pictures.
-----------------------
Edit: I sometimes see small white spots on peanut kernels. Anyone knows what they are?

 

[llendorin]

I choose peanuts over sunflower seeds for one simple reason - they last longer.

I actually fill the feeders up on my local nature reserve, so i have to work out a fair amount of cash on the stuff. 3 16" feeders of peanuts last about 5 days
2 26" seed feeders last 3 days - and the woodpeckers and squirrels don't go near those!

 

[KnockerNorton]

I choose peanuts over sunflower seeds for one simple reason - they last longer.

I actually fill the feeders up on my local nature reserve, so i have to work out a fair amount of cash on the stuff. 3 16" feeders of peanuts last about 5 days
2 26" seed feeders last 3 days - and the woodpeckers and squirrels don't go near those!

they last longer because they're not being eaten, or they're too dificult to eat. Either of which kind of defeats the object of feeding birds.

Aflatoxin mould is usually invisible, by the way, because in most cases it's growing as a thin film and is not visible to the naked eye. Still toxic to birds though.