Custom Seed Mix - Suggestions?

[Mizzely]

So I am very much interested in making my own seed mix for my birds; looking at pricing it is economical, especially when shopping through nuts.com, plus it will let me pick and choose what I want. I am completely done with most pre-bagged, save for the totally organics mix.

Anyways, I wanted to get some input on what are the best of the best in seed land! For those of you who make your own, what do you include, and if possible, why? I am very interested in hearing about seeds that span a lot of good qualities.

Also milk thistle - any experience with this? I hear it can be used as a liver disease aid/preventative, and as quakers tend to be prone to those, it peaked my interest.

 

[kastelling]

I would include hemp, safflower, chia and flax!

As to the milk thistle, you can go to the facebook group called Nutrition for Pets, and do a search for milk thistle (you don't have to be a member of the group to search, I don't believe). Dr Echols just recently addressed milk thistle and gave lots of info!

 

[Mizzely]

I just joined that group yesterday, hadn't had a chance to really look it over yet! Thanks for the tip! I believe safflower is higher in fat correct? I know its good for them, but I think a smaller ratio of that would be good, right? Or am I crazy lol

 

[kastelling]

also chamomile blossoms, dried veggie mix, dried broccoli, sliced or slivered almonds (good sizes for your guys) any of the dried berries and dried pomegranite if they are preservative free, dried mulberries, roasted unsalted chickpeas, pumpkin seeds, dried chilis, hibiscus, squash seeds, unsalted veggie chips, black oil sunflower seeds as a treat. You could add quite a bit of the whole grains as well- rye berries, wheat berries, oats, kamut, etc. Maybe the raw sprouted granola, depending on the ingredients.

What a fun website! I found all kinds of neato stuff!

 

[kastelling]

I just joined that group yesterday, hadn't had a chance to really look it over yet! Thanks for the tip! I believe safflower is higher in fat correct? I know its good for them, but I think a smaller ratio of that would be good, right? Or am I crazy lol

I am not as knowledgeable, but yes, I think you are right. Safflower is high in fat, but it is pretty good fat. But mixed into a mix with lots of other yummy stuff so it is just a small portion, should be fine.

 

[Mizzely]

I know!! It's got some crazy awesome stuff! That's how I got inspired

 

[Mizzely]

Well, since I decided that I want to be able to sprout my seed mix as well, I've decided not to include the flowers, veggies, etc (ie anything that doesn't sprout). So, I think I've settled on:


wheat berries
rye berries
sesame seeds
amaranth
spelt
flax
chia
millet
hemp
pumpkin
safflower



Then, I'm also going to get the following for additional sprouting goodness: (will not be mixed with the other seeds to toxicity of the beans when dry)

adzuki beans
mung beans
quinoa
broccoli seed
kale seed
radish seed
red clover seed


Anything I am missing or should add? Or is this too much variety?

 

[Danita]

I buy the Organic Safflower from Harrison's Bird Foods and mix it with all of Avian Organics dry mixes.
I was using the premade mixes to add to it, but the smells just seemed to phony. So I am just sticking with AO now.

 

[Mizzely]

I'm able to get most of the seeds for the dry mix from nutsonline (now nuts.com); the organics are even still less than $4/lb for most of them. The safflower was the only one I couldn't get, so I will check for Harrison's!

The vegetable seeds for sprouting I am still looking for the best price, though one place had them for about $4 a pound, depending. My birds don't get a LOT of seed, and most of what they do is sprouts, but I would like a little more control of what they get, and add in some that I know are beneficial, such as hemp, chia, and flax



~*~ Sent from my phone, so please excuse any typos! ~*~

 

[TikiLola]

You can't get hemp seed to sprout, not legally anyway.
I looove nuts online!

 

[Mizzely]

You can't get hemp seed to sprout, not legally anyway.
I looove nuts online!

Lol omg I didn't even think about that!! Is there any added nutritional value by soaking them like other seeds? Or should I just leave them separate and add them as needed?

~*~ Sent from my phone, so please excuse any typos! ~*~

 

[TikiLola]

Soaking couldn't hurt!

 

[Birdiemarie]

Lucy's foods are awesomely healthy. Check out her ingredients. It will give you some good ideas as well.

Phoenix Foraging Rolls, LLC

 

[webchirp]

Shawna, can you post your quantities as well. I would love to do this for the fids!

 

[Mizzely]

Lucy's foods are awesomely healthy. Check out her ingredients. It will give you some good ideas as well.

Phoenix Foraging Rolls, LLC

Thank you so much, I had not thought about that!

Shawna, can you post your quantities as well. I would love to do this for the fids!

As soon as I know what on earth in doing, definitely . I've also posted to the nutrition for pets group on Facebook so I'm hoping to get some feedback there too

~*~ Sent from my phone, so please excuse any typos! ~*~

 

[Mizzely]

Oh gosh I am putting more thought into this than I thought I needed/wanted to....and maybe no one else is interested in this information

But just in case you are....I just spent the last hour comparing the ingredients in the Unpellet Green Chunks, Harrison's Adult Lifetime Fine, Harrison's Lifetime Mash, Harrison's High Potency Fine, Zupreem Natural, MSBS Small Hookbill Supreme, Totally Organics Pellets, Totally Organics All in One Seed Mix, Totally Organics Napoleon, and the suggested seeds by Dr. Scott Echols from the Nutrition for Pets facebook group. I compared these to see what are the most often used seeds in them:

Seed	Used By:
Millet	9
Barley	6
Buckwheat	6
Flax	5
Sesame	5
Oat Groats	4
Soy	4
Chia	3
Hemp	3
Sunflower Seeds/Kernels	3
Corn	3
Spelt	2
Oats	2
Quinoa	2
Peanut	2
Wheatberry	1
Wheat	1
Milk thistle	1
Rye	1
Kamut	1
Pumpkin	1
Canary Grass Seed	1
Cantelope	1
Raspberry Seeds	1
Wildflower Seeds	1
Canola Seeds	1
Caraway Seeds	1
Anise Seed	1
Fennel Seed	1
Niger Seed	1

So.....I believe what I will be doing now is (in order of higher percentage to lower):

1 lb - millet
1 lb - barley
1 lb - buckwheat
1/2 lb - flax
1/2 lb - sesame
1/2 lb - oat groats
1/2 lb - chia seeds
1/4 lb - hemp seeds
1/4 lb - milk thistle
1/4 lb - pumpkin seeds

While I will be soaking the seed mix, I will also be doing the following sprouts:

mung beans
broccoli
red clover
radish
kale

WHEW. This shouldn't have been such a lengthy decision! Of course this is going to make a small portion of their diets, but I just want it to be right

Any other input?

 

[Mizzely]

And here's my finished seed mix



1 lb - millet
1 lb - barley
1 lb - buckwheat
1/2 lb - flax
1/2 lb - sesame
1/2 lb - oat groats
1/2 lb - chia seeds
1/4 lb - hemp seeds
1/4 lb - milk thistle
1/4 lb - pumpkin seeds

As for the sprouts, I actually found this on Amazon: Broccoli and Friends Mix, One Pound: Amazon.com: Grocery & Gourmet Food

It's a 1 pound mix of organic Broccoli, Alfalfa, Radish and Clover. I also found organic mung beans at my local co-op, so that will be my main sprouting now

 

[Danita]

BEautiful!
Where did you get it all?

 

[Mizzely]

BEautiful!
Where did you get it all?

I got about half of it at my local co-op, and the rest from nuts.com. I was extremely happy with the service there, and the prices were very comparable to what I paid locally.

 

[kaylayuh]

Milk Thistle was prescribed to Piper (male budgie) for his liver issues. It did wonders for him and his liver functions normally now.