Black oil sunflower seed, most birds love it !

Yes, I have some of that now but I'm wondering what to do with the bag of cheap seed besides throw it away.

Cheap seed is worth what you paid for it. Not much. Plus it may draw undesirables to your yard: squirrels, raccoons, and rodents.

Compost it?

I thought abt that but I don't think my compost gets hot enough to kill seed. Because I have a bad back and can't turn a compost pile, I got one of those tumblers. I don't think it holds enough to get really hot or maybe I'm doing something wrong. I need to get a compost thermometer to know for sure.

As much as I hate to do it, I may just throw the seed over my back fence into the woods.

I would just add black oil sunflower seed to it.

I picked out the sunflower seeds to save and then threw the rest over the fence into the woods. Hopefully, some tiny woodland creatures or even insects are enjoying it.

Just curious........when you say the birds won't eat it, do they come up to it and then fly away? Were you saying that because you put it out and they didn't come to it? Did the seed have any additives? If you just put it out and no birds came, it may be because this time of year, most birds have their food places figured out and it might take awhile for them to find the new place.

They would come and eat the sunflower seeds out of it and leave the rest. I read that is a common problem with cheap grocery store bird seed.

It's the milo. Birds don't care as much for milo as they do other types of seeds. They will eat it if there are no other food sources available, but it is not their first choice, or second, third, or fourth choice as far as that goes. I also have economy bird seed and the majority of it is milo. The birds have picked out all of the millet, sunflower seeds, and corn and have left the milo. In fact they actually push the milo out of the feeder and onto the ground in order to get to the types of seed they enjoy. I think the reason for this may be that milo isn't as high in protein and other nutritional qualities that birds need, especially in the winter. Milo is like survival food. They mostly eat it to survive. It is also cheaper to grow than other types of seeds, which is why many bird seed companies use it as a bulk filler in their bird seed. I have learned that the best way to go is straight black oil sunflower seeds. Then if you want you can add a bag of millet in it and throw in a few raw, unshelled peanuts for the jays. I guess we live and learn.

That's what I had read abt the filler (after I had already bought the bag, unfortunately). I got a songbird mix a couple of days later that has exactly the ingredients you list and the birds love it.

Thanks for that explanation samnsarah!