Backyard Bird Feeders

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

birds in nests in surrounding trees:

and even birds 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.