Bird food in winter feeders: what you can and cannot give

The hardest months for birds are the winter months. It is at this time, when the ground is covered with snow, that human attention is especially important for birds. It is very difficult for them to survive the short daylight hours - in 6-7 hours they must not only find food, but also assimilate it in order to survive the long winter night.

Birds in winter are afraid not of cold, but of hunger. Most often they die in severe frosts. To maintain sufficient body temperature, birds spend a lot of energy, which they get from food. It’s good if winter lasts from December to February, but it’s much more difficult when it’s long. After all, the reserves that were made in the fall are simply not enough. Saving birds from starvation is simple: hang feeders outside and don’t forget to replenish them with suitable food.

Many adults and children do not know what to feed birds in the city in winter. The following reminder will help with this:

• Sunflower seeds, peanuts and nuts are one of the favorite delicacies of bullfinches and tits. It is better to crush the seeds with a bottle or rolling pin first. Important: they should not be fried or salted. Salt is not excreted from the body of birds, and they can die from dehydration. The nuts should also be split into at least two halves. If you took several nuts for the squirrels to the park, crush one nut for the birds with your foot and leave it in the feeder. They can also be given seeds of grapes, watermelon, pomegranate, cranberries and citrus fruits (although the citrus fruits themselves are not advisable).
• Feed briquettes or balls contain fat and in severe frosts they will become a very appropriate high-calorie snack.
• Oats – Living up to its name, it is eaten by Common Buntings, Crested Larks and Tree Sparrows.
• Millet and millet are excellent food for buntings and larks, as well as partridges, tits and sparrows. If you don’t know what grains you can feed your birds, give preference to them.
• Raw pumpkin seeds and melon seeds
• Crumbs of dry white bread are the optimal food, but black bread, on the contrary, is harmful. However, the answer to the question of whether it is possible to feed birds bread in winter is rather positive.
• Rowan, elderberry and viburnum , collected in clusters and hung on trees, are ideal food for bullfinches and jays.
• Weed seeds (quinoa, nettle, burdock, horse sorrel) are one of the most accessible and healthy foods for granivorous species.
• Pieces of fat, margarine, lard . Birds will readily peck at them in the city and in the wild. However, they must be unsalted and unsmoked. Tits love lard hanging on a branch most of all.
• Boiled egg . If many different birds regularly fly to the feeder, some of them will certainly like nutritious protein food. Grate the boiled egg along with the shell - this is a rich source of calcium. It is especially loved by insectivorous species - thrushes, robins and waxwings, which winter in cities.

Is it possible to feed rice to birds in bird feeders?

One of the budget products that is found in almost every home is cereal. Most often, this is what birds are fed with. But is every grain good for them? After all, when doing good, it is important to follow a number of rules and take into account the peculiarities of the life activities of the wards.

Is it possible to give raw/cooked rice?

Many ornithologists notice that rice is most often found in street feeders. Raw or heat-treated. Do birds eat it? Yes, but you absolutely cannot do this! Rice tends to swell from moisture. Once in a bird's tiny stomach, the grains can cause her suffering.

Is it possible to put other cereals in the feeder?

Other common cereals, such as buckwheat and pearl barley, are also dangerous for birds . They have similar properties to rice and expand in a humid environment. Oatmeal and millet (unrefined millet) are considered harmless. They are sold in all pet stores.

Note! Millet is part of a special cereal mixture for birds.

Who to feed in winter

First of all, small representatives of the passerine family need feeding. City residents traditionally love doves - biblical symbols of peace and purity. In urban conditions they cope well without outside help.

Let your attention be focused on insectivorous species that switch to plant food with the first snow. It is more difficult for them to survive in cities, but they bring many benefits to the environment. When spring comes, these small birds will begin to eat dangerous insects that destroy parks and squares.

Save the tit in winter, and it will save the tree in summer. Great and blue tits, brown-headed tits and marsh tits, nuthatches, and common pikas are not a complete list of those that trees need most. Bullfinches, larks, partridges, sparrows and other helpless birds that are hampered by a thick layer of snow in their search for food also need feeding.

What is the best way to feed birds in bird feeders?

Experts recommend buying food rich in vegetable fat, such as rapeseed and flax . More budget-friendly options include raw, clean sunflower seeds (seeds). The birds will eat them without leaving a trace and will be satisfied.

Sample “healthy eating menu” for street birds:

1. Lard (visceral fat). It must be raw, and in no case smoked, salted or peppered. Raw lard helps birds stay full for a long time due to its caloric and nutritional content. It is not necessary to chop it, just hang a piece by a wire. Then it will be convenient for the birds to sit on it and peck in small portions.
2. Coconut and unsalted butter are very good food for insectivorous birds (great tits, nuthatches, blue tits, blackbirds, etc.). You can add a mixture of various grains and seeds to butter, freeze it, make a hole in the prepared form and thread it through a rope.
3. Dried berries of red and black rowan, serviceberry, elderberry, hawthorn, blueberry, etc.
4. Dried fruits (apples, pears). They are popular with starlings, waxwings and thrushes.
5. Unroasted melon, watermelon, and pumpkin seeds.
6. Woodpeckers and nuthatches prefer chopped nuts (walnuts, peanuts).
7. Lightly salted cheese, cut into small cubes.
8. Dry crumbs of white bread are a real treat for sparrows.
9. Ready-made mixtures for birds from the pet store.

What to feed birds

What should not be given as food

Birds are prohibited from feeding spoiled food supplies that have fermented and are covered with mold. But there are also a number of restrictions that apply to products familiar to humans. They can cause irreparable damage to the health of birds and even threaten their lives :

1. Salted seeds , pistachios, cookies, crackers. Birds do not have sweat glands. The entire burden of removing excess salt from the body falls on the kidneys, so they may refuse heavily salted food. The musculoskeletal system also suffers, because some salts tend to be deposited in the joints. Then any movement of the bird will cause severe pain.
2. Roasted nuts . This is where fats can cause harm to the body. When oversaturated with them, the organs of the digestive system (pancreas, liver) suffer.
3. Rye bread . Due to the accelerated fermentation process, a situation often arises when the bird is blocked from breathing due to gases. This happens because the goiter begins to compress the trachea.
4. Fresh wheat bread . It is dangerous because in a humid environment it turns into a sticky substance. It has difficulty moving through the digestive tract and causes indigestion.
5. Cherry , peach, apricot kernels, as well as almonds. They are easy to poison because they are rich in hydrocyanic acid.
6. Old, rancid millet . Harmful fats accumulate on its surface.
7. Potato . The alkaloid solanine, which is found in raw tubers, causes poisoning in birds. The high concentration of starch in boiled potatoes creates an unwanted burden on the stomach.
8. Mushrooms . When consuming mushrooms, there is a high probability that spores of clostridia, the causative agent of botulism, will enter the bird’s body.
9. Canned food . When preserving foods, sugar, salt, and vinegar are used that are harmful to poultry health.

Interesting things on the site:

Beneficial properties of oats for the stomach

Calorie content and beneficial properties of brown rice

Is it possible to give millet to pigeons?

This cereal quickly satisfies hunger and saturates the body of birds with important elements. Birds that eat millet gain weight better, their plumage improves, and the functioning of many organs is normalized.

The real benefits come from millet, the raw material of millet. Therefore, it is better to give this cereal to birds. Its colored shell contains many useful minerals that birds (especially wintering ones) need.

After peeling the millet shells, millet is obtained. After such processing, the composition of the cereal becomes poorer, and the fatty acids in the grains are oxidized. This occurs after the nuclei come into contact with air and light. For this reason, cereals become bitter if they are not soaked in water before cooking. Regular use of such a product leads to clogging of the body, difficulty in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, heart, nervous system, and a gradual deterioration of the general condition.

However, you can feed millet to pigeons if it is subjected to heat treatment. The cereal can be boiled in water or steamed in boiling water. The second option is more preferable, since after eating boiled cereal, the beaks of young animals often stick together.

It is easy to prepare millet for pigeons. You just need to pour boiling liquid over the cereal and leave until it cools completely. Birds eat the finished product with pleasure. If desired, the porridge can be mixed with chopped herbs and sprinkled with chalk.

General rules for complementary feeding

Once you start feeding birds, make it a habit. Regularly delight them with healthy treats. Birds quickly remember the place of feeding and get used to it . Don't forget: we are responsible for those we have tamed!

Important! The more varied you organize your menu, the more species of birds will be interested in your feeder.

From time to time, empty the feeder of leftover food. Rot and mold are fertile ground for the development of harmful microorganisms .

Other interesting questions and answers

What to feed birds in the feeder in winter?

Birds can be fed with oats, millet, pearl barley and oatmeal. Bread crumbs are acceptable, but only in dried form. Birds should not be given fresh bread. Sunflower seeds are also harmful to birds. You can give melon seeds. It is better to mix bread crumbs with cereal. Apples and pears can be left either fresh or in the form of dried fruits. Crushed eggshells added to other products can serve as a source of microelements for birds.

Is it possible to feed rice to poultry?

Most inexperienced farmers are interested in whether it is possible to add rice to bird feed. It seems that it is the same grain as barley, wheat and others. A limited amount of rice, rich in carbohydrates, minerals and B vitamins, will not harm the bird and will have time to be absorbed. However, overuse of this cereal can cause paralysis and even death in chickens .

It is recommended to feed rice to birds during the daytime .
Mix it, for example, with vegetables, grass or other feed. Occasionally feed the birds with boiled rice diluted with milk .
Chickens especially love this delicacy. They quickly get full and become energetic. It is useful to feed birds rice flour and chaff :

1. Mix rice (preferably unpolished) and other food in a ratio of 1:3.
2. Dilute a little with water or milk.

Feeding rice alone or its frequent use is unacceptable . The productivity and well-being of a bird depends on the diversity of its diet.

Feeding animals with buckwheat

Russian veterinarians claim that buckwheat is one of the main products available and healthy for nutrition. Both brown and green cereals are equally suitable for animals and birds. They differ not only in the method of preparation, but also in their preparation: the kernel gets its brown color after frying. This process increases shelf life but reduces nutrient concentration. Green buckwheat has a different taste from buckwheat, but is richer in chemical composition.

Large farms also purchase buckwheat bran and flour dust, which are a by-product of cereal processing. In addition to whole grains, you can use:

• crushed cereals or prodel;
• flakes;
• Smolensk groats.

The benefit of buckwheat lies in its nutritional value. Cereals contain:

• a lot of protein;
• minerals (large amounts of sodium, calcium, copper, sulfur, iodine, etc.);
• vitamins of group B, PP and E.

Buckwheat straw is also used in feed: it is a low-calorie and nutritious feed, rich in fiber.

Despite the fact that buckwheat is a versatile and healthy forage crop, an allergic reaction is sometimes possible. Animals may have individual intolerance to the product, genetic diseases that cause allergies to minerals or dietary fiber, as well as acute gastrointestinal diseases.

Why do we give rice to fighting birds?

A special diet is being developed especially for fighting cock breeds , since their body needs an increased rate of protein and vitamins. It is based on mixed feed. There are all kinds of additions to it: dairy products, herbs and even meat. Rice cereal is also added.

Due to the high content of vegetable protein, rice stimulates muscle growth and saturates the body with energy. Another of his merits is strengthening the skeletal system.

How to give buckwheat correctly

Despite its rich mineral composition, buckwheat cannot be used raw to feed chickens. When it enters the stomach, cereal that has not undergone heat treatment quickly swells and causes intestinal dysfunction. If you systematically eat raw grains, the bird may die.

Feeding standards

You can only diversify your chickens' diet with boiled buckwheat. It is included in the diet of both adult birds and young birds, since there are no age restrictions.

Expert opinion

Novoselova Sofya Ivanovna

Farmer. 20 years of experience.

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It is advisable to choose lunch time for feeding porridge. For adult chickens, one serving of buckwheat is mixed with three servings of the main feed.

For chickens, the porridge is diluted with milk until it becomes semi-liquid. It perfectly saturates the body and enriches it with vitamins and nutrients.

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