Recently, here at Ward Laboratories, Inc., birds have been the topic of conversation.  We have had birds in nest over our doorways:

babydove
Eurasian Collared Dove

birds in nests in surrounding trees:
babyrobin
Robin

and even birds in the ceiling!
bird in ceiling
Starling in the Ceiling

Additionally, being located in Kearney, NE, we see our fair share of avid bird watchers who are drawn to the area to view over half a million Sandhill Cranes that stop here in the Platte River Valley to refuel along their spring migration.  So, with all this talk about birds, of course I thought I should share our testing of bird food.
If you supply bird food to your backyard feathered friends, you have probably noticed there is a guaranteed analysis provided on each bag.  Commercial bird feed formulations are required to set minimum crude protein, minimum crude fat and maximum crude fiber levels.  Here at Ward Laboratories, INC., we test bird feed so the manufacturer can  ensure they are meeting set standards for each seed type or mixed feed.
birdseed
Bird Seeds

About the author

Rebecca earned her M.S. in Animal Nutrition from the University of Wyoming with a collaborative project with the US Meat Animal Research Center. She is an active member of the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists. With a passion for producer education she is a regular contributor to Progressive Forage Magazine. Currently, she serves as the Immediate Past President of the NIRS Forage and Feed Testing Consortium (NIRSC).

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