Millet for Your
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Through out history and present times, It is widely used as a cereal crop and other food items for people in much of Africa and Asia.
In more recent times, We grow and use it as fodder for live stock and in bird seed for caged and wild birds.
Millets are in the Panicum family of grasses, related to our tall Prairie grass.
This is an ideal drought tolerant crop and can grow just about any where there is a 60 to 90 day growing season.
It is a major cultivated crop in the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado with a few minor patches elsewhere.
It is also grown in some parts of southern Canada. It is also considered a noxious weed in parts of Canada
Feel free to grow a small patch for your wild birds.
Millet makes an inexpensive and versatile bird food.
Ground feeders love this easy to open seed.
You will find sparrows, doves, juncos, thrasher, cardinals and other ground feeding birds gorging on these little red and golden colored seeds.
It is often used in blends to help attract a variety of birds. It also helps drive the price down.
Look for blends that have less millets and more sunflowers and peanuts.
Millets have a protein ratio of around 11 percent and a fat content of 4 percent.
It is also loaded with vitamins, iron and other trace minerals.
It is an easy seed for birds to crack open.
With these vitamins and minerals packed into the tiny seed, birds and small rodents can get the proper nourishment they need by eating several seeds.
I like to purchase millet separately and toss it on the ground under shrubs and trees with my cracked corn.
This gives the birds a more natural setting and some protection as well.
Besides that, I enjoy watching them hop around and scratching.
It's all part of what makes feeding and watching birds so enjoyable. Don't you think so too?
You may want to microwave your seeds about one minute per pound.
Let it cool off before you offer it to your feathered friends.
By doing this, you are steam cooking the seed in the shell and killing off the germination process
You won't have a green patch later on and your birds still get the nourishment they need.
As you can see, the more versatile the feeds we offer, the more variety of birds you are apt to see in your yard.
Choose from a variety of bird seed and feed.
Millet is a good choice for ground feeding birds.
Millet is but one of many choices.
Tips on Choosing a Good Feeder.
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