You may have been told before to brush your hair outside, it saves you time on cleaning up the fallen strands and gives your local birds something to build their nests with. However, this is a misconception, leaving human hair out for birds is actually not safe and should be discouraged – we’ll explain why in this blog!
Don't miss out on our 'fang-tastic' Halloween savings!
Are you fed up of trying to prise ghoulish mouldy food from the bottom of your bird feeders?
Then worry no more! We have a range of BIG EASY™ seed feeders that are super-easy to clean.
And as a Halloween treat, you can save up to £7* depending on which size you order.
Big Easy™ seed feeders with two ports (left), four ports (centre) and six ports (right).
*Save £3 on the two-port feeder, £4 on the four-port feeder or £7 on the six-port feeder. Offer ends at midnight on 3rd November (or while stocks last).
We are offering a 20% discount on dried mealworms as a Halloween treat for your garden birds!
Ground-feeding birds like robins and blackbirds love mealworms, and if the live ones are just too creepy for you, these crunchy beasties without the wriggle are the next best thing.
Just enter the code CRUNCHY20 at checkout to save 20% on your dried mealworms.
Was £18.40 – NOW ONLY £10*
Now is a really good time to clean your bird feeders, tables and feeding stations. Making sure everything is pristine before you commence winter feeding will help to protect your garden birds' health.
This bird feeder cleaning bundle includes a 500ml bottle of Ark-Klens ready-to-use spray, a table scraper (which makes cleaning the corners of bird tables much easier!) and two feeder brushes.
Everything you need for an autumn clean, and for a limited time only, this bundle is available for just £10!
*Offer ends 3rd November OR while stocks last. Please note that the bird bath shown in the photo is NOT included in this bundle.
Bats become much more in our thoughts around Halloween.
Whilst outside during the darker evenings, maybe with the children during Halloween, why not take the opportunity to do some bat spotting and identifying?
We stock a selection of high-quality bat boxes – now with 10% OFF – that are designed to provide bats with a man-made home when nesting space isn't available. Bats love to nest in narrow, tight spaces with a slightly rough texture so there's plenty of grip. Our bat boxes mimic nesting spots that bats would favour in nature.
We also sell an illustrated 8-page guide to bat identification and a range of wildflower seeds which bats love.
If you're buying large quantities of bird seed, be sure to look for our SUPER SAVER prices on large sizes of seed mixes and straight seeds.
Remember: there is no VAT on 15kg sacks, so you can save money by swapping your 8kg for a 15kg. If you want to buy even larger quantities, do give us a call and we can quote you for bulk buys and 20kg sacks.
Don't forget to enter the code CRUNCHY20 at the checkout to save 20% on dried mealworms for your garden birds!
Enjoy your birds (and bats if you have them!).
It is a wonderful, changeable time of the year.
With very best wishes,
Lesley
Our 4kg Pick & Mix Bags are on special offer right now – some great savings to be had!
Pick & Mix allows you to order 4kg bags of any of our seed mixes, straight seeds, peanuts or suet pellets. The more bags you order, the more money you save...and this special offer means that, for a limited time, one of your bags is FREE if you order three or more 4kg bags!
So why not try something new for your garden birds today? Simply head over to our Pick & Mix page, click each item you wish to buy, and once you have made your selections, click the 'Add to Basket' button.
OCTOBER SEED OF THE MONTH
SAVE 15% (Offer Ends 31st October)
Our Native Finch Mix contains 12 different seeds, and this wide variety is guaranteed to attract not just finches but an assortment of small birds to your garden.
This mix is ideal for filling up seed feeders, but you can also pop it on your bird table or scatter it on the ground for all the ground-feeding birds to enjoy.
We are!
Did you know that we sell our own home-made Really Wild Squirrel Food?
This mix is deliciously fresh and loved by squirrels! It comes with FREE DELIVERY, plus you can order it as part of your Pick & Mix order.
Our squirrel food is packed with delicious home-grown ingredients and nutritious seeds, plus high-energy oilseeds and peanuts! What more could a squirrel want?
If you are having trouble with squirrels raiding your bird feeders and stealing your bird food, why not put up a squirrel feeder just for them? Place it in a different part of your garden and encourage them to help themselves to our bespoke squirrel food – a bistro just for them!
Really Wild Squirrel Food is now available in 15kg sacks. So many customers wanted MORE, so we are now offering larger sacks of food for your squirrels. Great value at only £2.19 per kg!
Enjoy your birds (and squirrels!)
Best wishes,
Lesley
P.S. There is a bountiful supply of acorns around this year, and some fairly amazing mushrooms and toadstools are enjoying the season. Just a word of warning: be diligent when walking dogs, since many of them may be poisonous.
Harvest 2025 is finally finished! It's a long old season – most farmers tucked their combines away in August having had one of the earliest harvests on record, but we had to sit it out and wait for the spring bird seed crops to ripen. The plain canary seed was cut 5 weeks early due to the very dry weather; unfortunately canary seed doesn't like dry weather, so whilst the quality was excellent (and it came in dry) we only had 60% of our normal yield.
As the days shorten, the number of available hours to combine crops reduces significantly. The heavy morning dews and the damp coming down in early evening means that there is usually only a 4–5 hour daily window to cut crops.
Our red millet was harvested on 22nd September and the white millet on 1st October. Those two crops were the stars for the year, with both the quality and the yields being excellent. It was nice to finish the year with two crops that have done really well. Good news for us and your garden birds!
And now there is a big dash to plant our winter wheat, while the weather is favourable. Agronomists like us to plant autumn crops as late in the year as possible as this helps with disease control and grass weed problems, which ultimately will help us to bring down the cost of production. However, with late planting, there is always the pressure of the weather bearing down. Will it stay fair for the next month or will it be wet and stop us getting on the land? That is always the big question and there is too much at stake to gamble on the former, so the dash is on to get the job done during this window of fine weather.
This year has been particularly bad for a pest called the 'turnip sawfly', the larvae of which feeds on newly-planted winter oil seed rape crops. Their numbers can build rapidly, and boy, do they they feed voraciously, sawing out young plants and leaving them as plant skeletons!
The turnip sawfly (left) and plant damage caused by its larvae (right).
We are very pleased with our new grain store (erected late last year) and it is helping hugely. We can now hold much more of our own grain on the farm instead of sending it to a central store, which works out extremely expensive. Grain prices are really poor at the moment, with wheat trading at around £165 per tonne. We are hoping that, by holding onto our own grain, we can wait for prices to improve before selling...but with the way things are globally (there is a global over-supply) that may be a pipe dream this year.
We have grown a lot of spring barley this year, all of which achieved excellent malting barley quality, which is great in itself. However, the malting barley market in the UK has collapsed. Much of the UK's malting barley would normally be exported to maltsters in Europe, but this year they have been undercut by the Chinese who have produced large tonnages of cheap (inferior) malted barley for European brewers. So we currently have no home for our barley.
It would be fair to say that, in all the years Richard has been farming, this is one of the toughest to date. But we have to stay positive – and stay farming – because that is what we do and what we are good at!
On a brighter note: your garden birds are still enjoying our produce!
OCTOBER SEED OF THE MONTH
From only £7.60 (SAVE 15%)
Our Native Finch Mix includes millet, oil seed rape, wheat, naked oats, plain canary seed and black sunflower seeds – and to make it even more tasty, we have added niger seed (which goldfinches particularly love), making this the perfect autumn bird food for finches and other small, hedge-loving birds.
There are some great deals to be had on our Special Offers page right now! Here are just a few of them (offer details correct as of October 2025):
Discover Our Birdie Basics Range Here
Well, that's all from me for now. Enjoy your birds and, as always, thank you for your custom!
Kind regards,
Lesley
Trichomoniasis is a contagious disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trichomas gallinae. The disease affects the gullet and throat, making it difficult for birds to swallow and breathe, often leading to death from starvation and dehydration. Birds that are commonly affected by trichomoniasis include pigeons, doves, house sparrows and finches – in fact, the breeding greenfinch population in the UK declined from 4.3 million to 2.8 million since the emergence of trichomoniasis in 2005.
So, how is trichomoniasis treated in wild birds and are there any ways to prevent it from spreading? This blog will unpack everything you need to know about trichomoniasis in wild birds.
You have probably seen your local pigeons pecking away at all sorts of human food on the streets, from chips to pizza to bread – but what do pigeons actually eat when they’re not scavenging in our urban environments? This blog will explore what pigeons like to eat and what we as humans can feed pigeons to give them a little healthy helping hand.
September is nearly upon us and there is definitely an autumnal chill in the air! You may have noticed just how laden the hedgerows are with fruit, berries and nuts this year – an incredible crop of nature's bounty. It's true that gardens become quiet as our feathered friends head off to make the most of these natural resources; however, we still recommend putting out some additional food to keep the birds in your area, and to ensure that their diet is 'topped up'.
Check out our Birdie Basics bird seed range, which includes a wheat-free seed mix. Just like our premium feeds, these more affordable mixes are packed with home-grown ingredients from our UK farm. And with prices starting from just 70p per kg (including free delivery!) they're a great choice to keep those feeders ticking over.
Order Your Birdie Basics Here!
August Seed of The Month
SAVE 15% (offer ends 31st August)
Homegrown is always best and this delicious, nutritious Original Farm Gold™ bird seed mix lets the harvest sunshine spill out of it.
September and October are often glorious 'golden' months as the mornings become just slightly colder. Original Farm Gold™ is a perfect autumn bird feed, and a fantastic premium choice for your garden birds at this time of year. Offer ends 31st August so don't miss out!
Order Before September & SAVE 15%
Enjoy your birds!
With best wishes,
Lesley
Our High Energy Fledgling Mix™ has done its work for the season...but garden birds are still hungry, so don't miss this opportunity to stock up one last time!
Be sure to order your High Energy Fledgling Mix™ before 25th August 2025. After that, this mix won't be available again until next year! Buy now >>
This family says 'thank you!'
Order Your Fledgling Mix™ Here >>
15% off this month!
Home grown and delicious, our Original Farm Gold™ bird seed mix is a great choice for autumn feeding!
But you don't have to take our word for it...
"We have more garden birds than ever since we started feeding with Original Farm Gold™.
"Blackbirds, robins, blue tits, etc.
"But the pheasants love it as well!"
– Karen, Holmfirth
Order This Month to Save 15% >>
This year looks like it's going to be a bumper one for nature's bounty. Our hedgerows and bushes are festooned with nuts and berries. We have been out and about picking blackberries for crumbles and pies...and perhaps a few bottles of blackberry tipple to see us through the winter months!
The hazelnut bushes in our garden are laden with nuts; the main problem we have is how to harvest them before the squirrels pinch them all. It's proving quite a challenge!
Many of our customers worry at this time of year that their garden birds will desert them. This is normal; they need time to moult, and then they will head off into the hedges to enjoy nature's food. But please don't worry – they will return. And while your feeders are quiet, it's a good opportunity for repair work and cleaning.
With very best wishes to all our customers,
Lesley
P.S. Don't forget to make the most of our special offers!
