Sprouts & Chop - Tips & Starting Point

[jujube1209]

I am hoping to start making chop on a regular basis for my birds. I've got three young kids, and a household of other animals, and I work full time, and am the primary animal caretaker in the house. I'm totally open to doing this, but I need some practical tips on how to get started. I tried chop for my two conures once (huge batch!!) and they refused to touch it. I think I made it too small for them - I put it in a food processor and it came out really fine.

Also, I'm interested in trying sprouts for them as well. I've seen the jars & lids, but is there a good mix to go with that is just a variety of things that they can eat? I've read some of the other posts on things to sprout, things to not sprout, how to get it started, but I need someone to just tell me "buy this" and I'll do it. LOL

Any help/tips/suggestion for this busy mama would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

 

[rocky'smom]

my tip would be try adding whole grains to the mix such as Kamut, Farro, millet, steel cut oats, rolled oats, wheat, etc, etc. what I do is soak those grains (minus the oats both steel cut and rolled) over night in hot water. they should pliable. mix this in with chop.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

I buy my sprout mix from Sprout People, and they always are fresh and sprout really well. They have mixes specifically for birds, and their easy sprouter is just that, very easy!

 

[CrazyKozmo]

Love the Sprout People! Their sprouter is so easy to use. My beebies get a tablespoon of sprouted seeds every morning....they often act like I can't get the bowl of sprouts into their house quickly enough!

 

[Monica]

I purchase from China Prairie.

China Prairie Company is Second Nature for parrot food


What you might want to try doing is to sprout some seeds and once they are ready to feed, mix it 50% with vegetables. It should be about 50/50 sprouts and vegetables with maybe some fruit thrown in. This may be more appealing than just veggies alone!

 

[Grace]

I make a simple chop of broccoli, carrots, kale, bell peppers and radishes which I run through the food processor and then wrap in paper towels in the fridge overnight to drain. I then mix in something dry to help adsorb moisture - Goldenfeast Australian blend is great for this. I freeze this in snack size baggies. I also cook some grains - usually quionoa - and freeze that in snack size baggies too. I buy bags of salad greens - the dark green mixed organic spring green - each week along with whatever fruit I will eat for the week. Every night, I pull out a portion of the frozen veggies and frozen grains and put in the fridge to thaw. The next day, I tear up some of the fresh greens and put in the birdies food cup for a base. Then I spoon in some of the chopped veggies and cooked grains and garnish with some small pieces of whatever fruit I have had for a snack that day. I also bake sweet potatoes, cut them into slices and freeze. Once thawed I serve those in place of the chopped veggies a couple times a week. The birdies also have unlimited pellets and seed available in separate dishes at all times. I put the pellet dish up high and the seed dish down low - this encourages them to eat more pellets. They eat about half pellets and half seeds plus the fresh stuff and an occassional nutiberry.

 

[feathergirl]

I buy sprout mixes from

the sprout house Organic Microgreen Seeds & Sprouting Seed Mix | The Sprout House
Todd's Todd's Seeds
the handy pantry Sprouting: Organic Sprouting Seeds & Sprout Supplies
Now brand has a spicy blend we like Zesty Sprouting Mix | NOW Foods

I also sprout right off the grocery shelf: garbanza beans, popcorn, mung beans and whatever else I can find

Now has a nice sprouting jar but any jar will work.