Contents
Picture this:
Your property is filled with all of your favorite beautiful songbirds. Everywhere you look, you see mourning doves, painted buntings, juncos, white throated sparrows, towhees, and a plethora of other stunning birds.
Not long ago, you hardly had any of these amazing creatures gracing your property with their presence. And it was a sad and unhappy time in your life because of it.
What changed?
You decided to take action and began sharing Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed with your favorite fine feathered friends. It didn’t take long for them to begin flocking to your property in droves, which put a huge smile on your face.
More than likely, this simple story hasn’t happened to you yet. But that could all change as soon as you begin sharing the Best Millet with your favorite backyard bird friends.
How do I know Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed is the best? I spent the last six weeks testing three different products and analyzing the results.
My testing process was simple. I shared three Millet products for two weeks at a time and then I analyzed the outcomes using the criteria below:
- Messiness
- Ease of Consumption
- Freshness
- Taste & Enjoyment
- Nutrient Quality
- Energy
After performing tests and studying my results, it was easy to come to the conclusion that Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed is the Best Millet product readily available to feed to your fine feathered friends.
Cole’s White Millet
- Weight: 15 pounds
- Feeder Type: Tray, Hopper, Mesh
- Dimensions: 4” x 8” x 6”
- Attracts: Grosbeaks, Titmice, Finches
- Brand: Lyric
Overall Score:
86
The Bottom Line:
Overall, I like this product a great deal because the birds seem to enjoy it. It’s relatively easy to consume, and it also has an excellent nutrient profile. It’s a bit on the messy side so it does require some cleaning, but it makes up for it in freshness and the amount of energy that it provides our favorite winged friends.What’s Good
- No added synthetics
- Chemical free
- No artificial flavors
- Inexpensive
- Nutrient rich
What’s Bad
- Some birds ignore it
- Old and stale mix
- Dusty
Our Verdict: Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed
It’s hard to ignore such a high-quality product like Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed. And if you’re smart, you’ll have no trouble feeding these healthy seeds to your favorite backyard birds.
Specifically, what makes this product stand out?
First off, I’m incredibly impressed by the fact that they didn’t try to “pad the bill” by adding unwanted fillers to the mix to bulk up the package. The only thing you’ll ever receive in your package is small white millet seeds and nothing more.
Next, they also kept this product completely free of synthetics, chemicals, and artificial flavors as well. They are all-natural seeds that haven’t been altered in any way, shape, or form.
As a matter of fact, the seeds still contain the hulls. It’s easy to tell because the color of these seeds is somewhat tannish brown. When the hulls are removed, they actually appear yellow.
Even better, leaving the hulls intact means the birds get to consume healthy levels of fiber along with the ideal amounts of fat and protein.
And the best part?
Ground feeding songbirds love these seeds. You can scatter them on the ground in your backyard, front yard, or anywhere else on your property and the birds will show up in force to eat your tasty seeds!
Feeding the birds this way means you do not even need to buy a feeder. But if you do, using a platform feeder is the best way to effectively feed the birds with these seeds.
The most important thing of all is these seeds are nutritious, healthy, and customers rarely ever complain about this product. But on a couple of occasions, some customers said that the seeds were a bit dusty and stale. I cannot say that I shared the same experience.
In the end, beautiful songbirds including towhees, indigo buntings, song sparrows, and more love to gobble up these nutritious and delicious seeds.
Do you need other bird seed for different types of bird feeders? No worries… check out these 10 favorite of ours:
Our Analysis, Comparisons & Test Results
I never test single products in a vacuum. So, when I finally decided to feed my backyard birds with Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed, I also chose to consecutively share two other products as well.
As part of my total test, I also gave the birds:
- Shafer White Proso Millet
- Backyard Seeds White Millet Bird Seed
By testing three products at a time, I can fairly determine a few of the most important factors like:
- Which product do the birds like best?
- Which product is the least messy?
- Which product seems the easiest for the birds to consume?
As you can guess, it’s a lot easier to figure this stuff out by analyzing one product after another. Another method would be to share all three at the same time, but I prefer doing one at a time for no other reason than it’s my method!
Anyway, let’s dive right in.
Energy
From an Energy standpoint, I had no trouble rating this product with a respectable 90 out of 100. And it shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that this birdseed provides my favorite winged friends with ample amounts of energy.
Overall, the products from Backyard Seeds and Shafer also had no trouble providing the birds with extra energy as well since they possess nearly the same biological makeup.
Why did I lower the score by 10 points?
I knocked 10 points off of the total score because many bird foods contain a large percentage of healthy fats, which is often the ingredient that leads to greater levels of energy.
In this particular case, the white millet seeds only consist of roughly 3% fat and 7.5% protein. There’s a lot more fiber and moisture in this product than fat and protein.
Because of this, I had to really pay attention to the birds while feeding them. And I can say that even after eating these seeds, it didn’t seem like they were suffering from a lull in energy. The birds acted like their typical happy-go-lucky selves.
How the Cole’s White Millet stacks up in the energy ratings:
Freshness
In the category titled Freshness, I had no trouble giving this product a 90 out of 100 rating. Although this isn’t a perfect score, it’s a pretty good score nonetheless in my opinion.
Why did I remove 10 points from the total?
Unfortunately, I read a story from one reviewer that forced me to change my thinking and overall rating of this product.
You see…
I was going to give Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed a perfect score because I ordered it a few times and the bird seeds never showed up stale to my house. They were always fresh and looked and smelled good.
Then…
I read a story online that changed my opinion. This unhappy customer said they received old and stale seeds on more than one occasion.
I cannot confirm or deny this story, so to incorporate it in my thinking, I lowered my freshness quality score by 10 points and acknowledged the potential issue in this review.
How the Cole’s White Millet stacks up in the freshness ratings:
Messiness
The Messiness category is a different story altogether. In this instance, I had to give this product a rating of 70 out of 100. As you can see, this is a far cry from a 100 out of 100.
Although… It isn’t the worst ranking in the world either, so please keep that in mind. In fact, I only share my all-time favorite products with my readers and Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed is one of the best.
Why do I think this product is messier than others?
Well, it all came down to my test. The little birds loved to gobble up these seeds, but they’re very tiny seeds and they have a tendency to fall all over the floor if you’re feeding them in a platform feeder.
On the other hand:
Some people do not mind the mess and scatter them all over the ground for the birds to eat. Either way, the ground will look messy temporarily when the seeds are scattered about.
There’s a happy ending to this story though, so keep that in mind.
How so?
Not only do the birds love the seeds, but many ground dwelling animals like chipmunks, squirrels, and raccoons will also eat them.
So, even if you have a temporary mess, either the birds or the other small animals in your backyard will clean up for you as they enjoy a healthy treat.
How the Cole’s White Millet stacks up in the messiness ratings:
Nutrient Quality
As far as Nutrient Quality is concerned, I rated this product with a 90 out of 100. And I feel this is certainly a fair assessment.
The overall nutrient quality of this product is as follows:
- 3% Crude Fat
- 7.5% Crude Protein
- 12% Crude Fiber
- 12% Moisture
Do other bird seeds possess a better nutrient profile? Yes, they do, which is why I decided to lower the score by 1 point.
But at the same time…
This product does contain protein, fat, fiber, and moisture, which is most of what a healthy and strong bird needs to thrive. And these white millet seeds certainly contain lots of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients to boot.
Shafer White Proso Millet and Backyard Seeds White Millet Bird Seed have very similar nutrient profiles, but they appear to have the hulls removed based on their yellow color, which means their seeds will contain less fiber than Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed.
How the Cole’s White Millet stacks up in the nutrient quality ratings:
Taste & Enjoyment
It brings me great pleasure to tell you that in the category Taste & Enjoyment, I gave this product a healthy 90 out of 100 rating.
Why did I give it such a high rating?
For starters, so many different types of songbirds seem to love this food. I shared it in my platform feeders and sprinkled it on the ground and the birds would go nuts for it!
Plus, it was so nice seeing all the juncos, Scarlet tanagers, doves, sparrows, and other songbirds spending time in my backyard enjoying this tasty treat.
Unfortunately, neither Shafer White Proso Millet or Backyard Seeds White Millet Bird Seed seemed to have the same effect. For some reason, the birds seemed to like Cole’s White Millet seeds a lot more than these other products.
Could I definitively tell you why? Not really. My best guess is the seeds from Cole’s were fresher than the other options and they also contain their outer husk, which means they’re heartier and possess a lot more fiber which fills the birds up more.
How the Cole’s White Millet stacks up in the taste & enjoyment ratings:
Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed FAQs:
Is Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed Considered Spray Millet?
No, this product is not considered spray millet. As a matter of fact, the white millet seeds are completely loose and easy to feed to your favorite ground dwelling birds by platform feeder or scattering it on the ground.
Spray millet is something entirely different. The spray variety, also known as a millet spray, is a stem that is relatively long and it’s the color of honey. On the stem, you’ll see that about 30 millet seeds are found clustered on the shaft of the stem.
Two easy ways to tell the difference between spray millet and regular white millet is the missing stem and the fact that the millet seeds are loose inside of the package.
Are There Any Unwanted Additives Or Fillers Inside the Package along With The Plain White Millet Seeds?
No, I can say with 100% certainty that you will not find fillers or unwanted additives inside the package when you purchase Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed.
This is great because it means you get what you pay for. And you won’t have to worry about your favorite backyard birds ignoring unwanted fillers that they would never eat as it collects dust in your backyard.
This product is made up of plain white millet and nothing more. The seeds are of the highest quality and waste materials are never mixed in to add bulk to the package.
Do Cole’s White Millet Bird Seeds Still Have The Hulls On them?
Yes, it’s my pleasure to tell you that these seeds still contain the hulls on them. And this may not seem like a big deal, but it’s actually very important.
You see, when the hulls are still on the seeds, they still contain their outermost layer. This layer is where all of the fiber is retained in the plant, so you want your birds eating this healthy fiber because it’s great for their digestion and other processes.
It’s easy to tell when the hulls are removed.
How so? Instead of appearing light brown in nature, the tiny seeds will look like small yellow seeds and they will have dark dots on the side. These dark dots indicate where the stem was previously attached.
Our Final Verdict: Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed
It’s my absolute pleasure to know that you chose to spend part of your day reading the detailed test results and analysis that I shared with you. I truly believe this information will help you see why I chose Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed as the Best Millet out of the three products that I tested and reviewed.
Birdwatchers who love ground feeding songbirds need to add millet to their bird seed arsenal because painted buntings, mourning doves, sparrows, and other small birds will eat these seeds with a fiery passion because they can’t seem to get enough of them!
To recap, I picked this particular product over the others for the following reasons:
- These seeds still contain the hulls, which makes them whole-grain. As we know, whole-grain seeds contain healthy fiber which is important for easy digestion.
- Ground dwelling songbirds really enjoy eating these nutrient dense seeds. And they are a wonderful and healthy option as well.
- This product doesn’t contain any fillers at all. You spend your hard-earned money on whole-grain white millet seeds and nothing more. You aren’t shelling out your cash to buy waste products that will ultimately end up in the trash.
To attract a wide array of birds to your backyard, you need to start displaying many different types of bird feed and bird seeds. I’ve personally spent numerous weeks and months of my life testing and analyzing many types and styles of bird food. Learn about the fruits of my labor of love and discover my favorite recommendations here: Buying Guide To The Best Bird Seed
Here’s another approach…
Discover more about Cole’s White Millet Bird Seed by going straight to the source. You’ll read personal experiences from real customers and get current pricing by visiting the link above.
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