# Sprouting Seeds?



## Terri Peters (Dec 24, 2008)

I'm going to try sprouted seeds with Holly. She'll eat at her carrot slices and she does like eggs, peas get nibbled on but she sees them more as toys. She does like iceberg lettuce, but that is mostly water without a whole lot of nutritional benefits. As a whole I don’t feel she is getting the balanced diet I feel she needs. She thinks her seed diet is more than enough…:wacko: I’ve reduced her seed intake by simply not giving her as much or any until she has at least eaten something healthier but I’m not comfortable with what she is consuming. She turns her nose up at spinach, bok choy, spinach, green beans, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower. Many of these items are offered to her each day but she isn’t eating nearly enough of any of it to be doing her any good. My chickens however are enjoying the best diet they have ever had seeing that they are getting everything I end up throwing out.

Most of the items I listed she will eat at if I mix some millet seed with it but I really think she is digging through the good stuff to get to the millet.

Soooo.. I’m going to try sprouting seeds in hopes of a little added nutrition. For those of you that sprout seeds, how do you do it and what seeds do you use?


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## LoveBilly (Dec 4, 2008)

Hmmmm....I don't do it myself, but I am interested, since I thought Billy was the pickiest eater on here... look forward to some responses.


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## Terri Peters (Dec 24, 2008)

I know when I had my Macaw I sprouted seeds between wet paper towels for 24 hours for him. That was just something I came up with and didn't have the help of other owners through forums and such. So it will be interesting to see what ideas everyone can come up with and how to actually do this correctly.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I'm a big fan of sprouting. I use a Mason jar with a piece of plastic canvas mesh in the lid. Like this, although I'm actually using the smaller jelly jars now:










Plastic canvas can be found in the needlework department of craft stores like Michaels. The standard size seems to be #7 (the size indicates the number of holes per inch), which is fine for bigger seeds. But for small seeds like millet it’s best to use a finer mesh (#10).

At night, put the seeds/grains in the jar and put the lid on. Rinse them a few times by pouring water in, swirling it around a little, and draining. Don't drain the water the last time; let the grains soak overnight. I add a little apple cider vinegar to discourage mold and bacteria.

In the morning, rinse and drain. It's recommended that you leave the jar tilted downward so it can continue draining, but I live in the desert and simply laying the jar on its side works well for me. Rinse and drain again in the middle of the day (optional) and once again at night (not optional). In the morning rinse it one last time and give it to the birds. Right before feeding you can add red palm oil, chopped veggies, or other supplemental items if you want. Total prep time: about 36 hours. Total time actually spent working on it: about three minutes.

I start a new batch every night. So I have two jars going every night: the one that was just started, and the one that was started the previous night and will be served in the morning.

I use human-quality grains from the bulk food bins at the local whole-foods grocery. Stuff like wheat, kamut, spelt, barley, rye, etc - anything that looks like a seed. Quinoa is a great addition. So is your regular birdseed. Lentils, mung beans, and adzuki beans are good, but other beans are best avoided unless you're willing to cook them after they've sprouted.


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## colorado4bjh (Dec 2, 2008)

I keep hearing how sprouting is EXTREMELY beneficial for our fids! I encourage all to do research on this!

I started sprouting and I have been using a sprouter I got from the Gabriel Foundation and it works great especially for draining, rinsing. See the attached link. http://www.thebirdbrain.com/store/product/6098/Easy-Sprout-Sprouter

I find that if I try to stick to seeds of roughly the same size I get even sprouting and don't have to worry about bigger seeds that didn't or smaller seeds sprouting too much causing bacteria or fungal growth. The apple cider vinegar is a great suggestion!


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## skthurley (Jan 7, 2009)

I sprout red and white millet, oat groats and mung, green lentils and adzuki beans. I haven't had a whole lot of luck with adzuki, but everything else sprouts really well.

I use a plastic container with a flat bottom and a metal strainer. I rinse the seeds or beans using the strainer and running water over them. Then I put the seeds in the container, cover with water for a minimum of 8 hours.... storing them in a dark place. The next day I drain the water and rinse. Then I return the rinsed seeds to the container and place the container in a dark place. Every 4 or 6 hours I rinse the seeds. Between3 and 5 days I have sprouts that are edible for my birds, depending on what I'm sprouting. My guys love them!


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## Aly (Jul 30, 2007)

We sprout wheat seeds and these other ones (forgot name). It's really quite easy and great for them. We put ours on a plate with a bit of water. Change the water out a few times, in the am rinse again and that's it. We only let them open up a bit, not grow all the way out. 
If she's a picky eater you can try fresh parsley. Our birds get it every other day for years and it's got lots of great nutriets. They also think it's fun for their cage to look like a jungle..lol. You can try brown rice with corn, green sweet pepper with seeds, (just cut in half) then move to things like mixed veggies (peas, beans, corn, carrots)...do some birdie bread, try red apples and berries. Mine love any type of berry. Also if you are bonded, try eating in front of her. She's most likely to want what you're eating then to try it by herself at first.


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## Terri Peters (Dec 24, 2008)

Thank you everyone for the great advice. This is something I'm going to start on this week sometimes. I'll let everyone know how it goes.


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

What tielfan posted is how I heard you should sprout seeds. I want to get a sprouter or jar that can be used for sprouting. I think Spike would enjoy them


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> I want to get a sprouter or jar that can be used for sprouting. I think Spike would enjoy them


If you'd like to use the Mason jar approach, you can find them at most big grocery stores. They come in multi-packs though so you'll get something like 8 of them whether you want that many or not!


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