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Sprouting Easy or Complicated?

Bananerz

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Thanks!
 

Yoyo'sMom

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Best thread ever! Thanks so much for all the helpful info. I'm gonna give it a try because I have a serious seed junkie that I haven't been able to convert. My RB2 doesn't recognize anything as food except seeds :(
 

clawnz

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I have some questions about sprouting :) First, my tiel is refusing to eat any seed/pellet mix now that I have her hooked on fresh foods (veggies, fruit, wheats, etc) so would a sprout and fresh food diet be enough to keep her healthy? (My guess is yes but I thought Id ask to be sure.)
And how much water do I use? Just enough to cover the seeds? (The picsarent showing up on my phone so I have no reference :/)
And aside from mungs, what are some of the healthiest/easiest things to sprout? I currently have lentils; Ive heard they can be toxic raw, also heard they arent; are they worth the bother?
Oh, one more! Can you use bags of seed/whatever from a regular grocery store? Ones without additives. Or are tjey too dried out or something? I ask because we dont have a whole foods or organic store here and the pet shops and feed store want nearly $10 for a small bag. But if I cant use ones from grocery stores Ill splurge for her, or just wait for an online order..

I fill my jars when soaking. Remember they will soak up a good amount of water in that first soak. As far as I know Lentils are fine. I am not sure I can give you an answer to what other seeds grains peas beans to go with. As for where to buy, it does depend on how they have been treated and how old they are. Where abouts are you. When thinking cost always consider that when sprouted they will make at least three times the quantity. Can you find a supply online for soak & sprout mix. Here I paid $7nz for 1kg soak & sprout. But that is New Zealand.
Healthy! Yes! You are already doing well with Fruit, Veg, and Wheat. Try the Wheat, it may be alright to sprout. Well they should have some seed. But if you get her on to just soak seed that will be good enough. I take it the pellets are mixed in with the seed you have? I am not up with what is available outside of NZ. But can you get Volkmans I think they do a seed mix that will sprout, though it is their seed mix.
 

CStone

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I bought this kit Bird Sprouting Kit

My birds absolutely LOVE the mid-bird mix from this company. I am not affiliated with them so this isn't an advert, I'm just a customer who's crazy about them. It's 32 all organic ingredients. They have videos on how to sprout their mixes step-by-step. It's wonderful. My birds, my cat, and my family now all consume the seeds and grains I sprout for us. My daughter gets caught with her hand in the sprout jar instead of the cookie jar. They also carry small and large mixes, although all mixes are safe for all sized birds. Good stuff, folks.
 

Tyrion

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Where do I find s list of beans I can use when sprouting ...I know some shouldnt be used :cool:
 

MyAussieFriends

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I recently bought a giant sprouting jar - maybe I should start some this weekend. Sprouted green lentils are favorite salad topping of mine and I have a huge bag of them in my pantry!
 

clawnz

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Where do I find s list of beans I can use when sprouting ...I know some shouldnt be used :cool:
I do not know for sure the answer to your question.
Adzuka & Mung beans are the only ones I can think of, and I use. I did have Soy, but there was some conflict where they were safe sprouted or not so dropped them.
Mung Beans are one of the best sprouts you can get.
 

Newbie GCC

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Tyrion

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So I tried my first sprouting and it worked very well ...I spouted Quinoa and within the 2nd day I had sprouts ..its so cool ..now only if the birds will eat them :wacky:
 

clawnz

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Go Tyrion.
Can you sneak them into their other foods to start with! As well as offer a few separate. Once they pick up the taste things may change.
 

Tyrion

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Go Tyrion.
Can you sneak them into their other foods to start with! As well as offer a few separate. Once they pick up the taste things may change.
Yes that is what I did this morning ..I mixed them with their morning meal and then put some separate so well see what they have eaten once I get home ...I cant wait to get my order from Danita cause I ordered a seed mixture for both dry feeding and sprouting ... anything to make their meals more rounded which is important ..Tryion is so picky about his veggies I hoping this will help with that along with his bird bread ..he has never been fond of fresh foods ..but we keep trying ;)
 

Bird_lover6

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I fill my jars when soaking. Remember they will soak up a good amount of water in that first soak. As far as I know Lentils are fine. I am not sure I can give you an answer to what other seeds grains peas beans to go with. As for where to buy, it does depend on how they have been treated and how old they are. Where abouts are you. When thinking cost always consider that when sprouted they will make at least three times the quantity. Can you find a supply online for soak & sprout mix. Here I paid $7nz for 1kg soak & sprout. But that is New Zealand.
Healthy! Yes! You are already doing well with Fruit, Veg, and Wheat. Try the Wheat, it may be alright to sprout. Well they should have some seed. But if you get her on to just soak seed that will be good enough. I take it the pellets are mixed in with the seed you have? I am not up with what is available outside of NZ. But can you get Volkmans I think they do a seed mix that will sprout, though it is their seed mix.
Just thought I'd add that I've been told that it's better to sprout hard wheat vs. soft. I'm not sure why, though. :)
 

Fuzzy

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Great thread, Clive! :dance4: Thanks for the info.

I sprout too and use the tier method like Mercedez.



The grains, legumes and seeds are split up into different layers and sieves according to sprouting times. I don't have a problem with mould - temps here are usually in the high 20s and low 30s in the summer (80 - 90F).

Favourites in this household are chickpeas (garbanzos), sunflower and pumpkin, although I also sprout mung, wheat, kamut, buckwheat, spelt, lentils, popping corn and sometimes rice. Since I decided to add sprouted/soaked hemp and safflower to the mix it got Ollie and Chico really interested. It was a few sprouted sunflowers served on top of the other sprouts that got Kobe started when he was a baby - and boy was he fussy! Bobbie has been the most difficult to convert but she gets sprouts twice a day just like the others... one day she will try them!



Kobe's favourite now are sprouted popping corn which I use as a reinforcer for targeting.

 

Vera

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I see that you use a sprouting tower.... i recently started using this but i think i do something wrong.
before using the tower i sprouted in a colander or nylon stocking, i soak the seeds overnight and rinse them, then put them in the colander and rinse them 3x daily.
now in the sprouting tower i soak them overnight, rinse them, and put them in the tower with water in the upper part.
the manuel says to give new water once a day in the upper part, this should be enough for the sprouts.
since using this method i find that my sprouts smell or sometimes have some mould on them. how do you use this tower?
i think lack of air circulation and rinsing is the problem here......
 

Aubrey

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@Fuzzy great post :) will you answer @Vera tower question? I'm interested to. It's awesome that you use sprouts to reinforce behavior :dance4:
 

Fuzzy

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I see that you use a sprouting tower.... i recently started using this but i think i do something wrong.
before using the tower i sprouted in a colander or nylon stocking, i soak the seeds overnight and rinse them, then put them in the colander and rinse them 3x daily.
now in the sprouting tower i soak them overnight, rinse them, and put them in the tower with water in the upper part.
the manuel says to give new water once a day in the upper part, this should be enough for the sprouts.
since using this method i find that my sprouts smell or sometimes have some mould on them. how do you use this tower?
i think lack of air circulation and rinsing is the problem here......
Vera, I totally agree with you. I think the instructions they suggest don't provide enough rinsing and therefore creates an excellent environment for bacteria. Plus I think each tier doesn't drain properly - there's always a lot of water left which the sprouts just sit in.

I use the tiers as convenient holding vessels. Each tier gets multiple rinses in a separate large sieve or I use a pasta drainer. The small sieves are easy to stick under running water too. The last rinse is with filtered water. Then the sprouts are replaced in each tier. They all get rinsed twice daily. I like the tiers as the convenient stacking takes up little counter space and I like that they are spread thinly on each tier for maximum air.
 

Aubrey

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Fascinating. You really do need to pamper those sprouts :heart:
 

Fuzzy

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Fascinating. You really do need to pamper those sprouts :heart:
LOL - Pamper those sprouts! Love it! :laugh: I think once you find the ideal environment for the sprouts they are easy.

Oh by the way I soak the corn for at least 12 hours (as opposed to 6 - 8 hours for the others) - I find it sprouts better. It also sprouts way better in the heat of summer. The only bean I've never had much success with is adzuki beans... probably due to the supplier (although I've tried many). Maybe non organic would be more successful but I prefer to use organic. This thread reminded me I must find some snow peas... Kobe used to LOVE them!

These guys don't seem to be interested in the smaller sprouts like alfalfa, broccoli, radish etc but I used to sprout them for Boo my budgie when he was alive. Boo used to adore soaked oat groats... I could never get them to sprout so just soaked them overnight. He also liked sprouted Puy lentils (the small ones).
 

clawnz

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I am so pleased that there has been so much GREAT help with good advice for sprouting.
Interesting thing with the Sprouting unit above. So thank you Fuzzy for helping out.
I agree it does sound like lack of air circulation. How weird is that! But at least you got yours sorted and tamed it.
Also love the comment about
"You really do need to pamper those sprouts :heart:"

Upping my game I am now sprouting about a kilo at a time.
And have got it down to 3x jars to sprout in.
This batch I have dropped a few things. And found others to add.
Totally forgot to add the Pumpkin seeds? Silly bugger.
First day. Maize and grass seed. This gets 24hr start on the rest.
Mung Beans
Adzuki
Maple peas
Blue peas
Quinoa
Wheat
Barley
Oats
Sunflower
Safflower
Rape seed
Buckwheat
Lentils



I now have the Galah eating them, she is in boarding and was a ---- to try and get to eat anything other than her seed mix. Her one weakness is nuts.
So good to see her enjoying the sprout mix.
Sophie still comes every morning to watch me sort the sprouts. And normally one or two of the others raid the box before I get to put it away.

I did think about mixing the seeds up, before hand, so I do not have to go through each bag every time. Then I had this thought. If any has pantry moths it wold wreck the whole lot. So I am keeping them all in separate bags in the sealed bin. As I get my seeds from so many different places I cannot be sure they do not have pantry moth eggs in them.

Lets keep the thread going. Hearing your stories helps others. Which can only be good for our feathered Friends.
 
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