No Sprout Bird Seed

No Sprout Bird Seed

Show of hands.  How many of you have weed sprouts under your bird feeders right now?  I used to! Until I learned this no sprout bird seed secret.

One summer we took a ride up to my husband’s grandparents home in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.  My husband’s grandfather, was a naturalist and wrote a wildlife column for a newspapers for many years.

It wasn’t uncommon for us to see him filling birdfeeders, hummingbird feeders or laying on the ground trying to catch the perfect shot of one of his feathered friends at the feeder.

Purple Finch at the Feeder
Purple Finch at the Feeder

This particular Saturday morning my husband’s grandfather was doing something I found odd.  He was returning seed to his bird seed bags.  He had large baking sheets on his garage floor filled with seed. 

As we filled the bag I just had to ask what had happened.  His answer shocked me.  He baked the seed for his feeders.

Who knew that if you baked the darn seed in the oven it would prevent sprouting under your feeders?

Special Note:

He did tell me that baking bird seed does change the nutritional value of some of the seeds. You shouldn’t do it for all your feeders.  This practice is a you do you, I do me posting.  It will not hurt the birds but you may not be giving them all the nutrients that you purchased. – So, with that thought, I leave it up to you on what you wish to do.

I DO:
I do bake one bag to refill a feeder in my flower garden section.

Until my husband’s grandfather taught me this little trick for no sprout bird seed, I had been doing picking weeds under my feeders.


The Process

When I returned home I baked my first batch of bird seed.

1.) Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2.) Spread a thin layer of birdseed on two baking sheets.

3.) Place the two baking sheets in oven for 20 minutes.

4.) Let it cool and fill feeder.

Problem solved!  No more sprouting seeds from messy eaters under at least one of my feeders.

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