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Sprouting for your budgie

PoukieBear

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I've seen a few posts recently asking about or talking about sprouts.... and since I'm the self proclaimed Queen of the Sprouts, I figured I'd put together this post to help answer the basic question of "How do I sprout seeds for my bird?"

Lets start with my collection of sproutables. You can start small, adding in one or two items at a time, until your bird is used to the new goodies.

LEGUMES



1) Yellow Peas
2) Green Peas
3) Chick Peas
4) Red Lentils
5) Green Lentils
6) Mung Beans


SEEDS & SMALL GRAINS



7) Sesame Seeds
8) Fenugreek
9) Buckwheat
10) Sunflower seeds
11) Brown Flax & Golden Flax seeds
12) Broccoli, Alfalfa, Radish, Mustard, Clover, Radish, Arugula
13) Kaniwa
14) Amaranth
15) Red, Black, White Quinoa
16) White Millet, Red Millet, Nyger seed, Canary seed, Canola seed


LARGE GRAINS



17) Triticale
18) Brown Rice (short)
19) Wheatberries
20) Kamut
21) Wild Rice


BUDGIE SEED

Hagen's Budgie seed mix is the best (that I've found) seed mix for sprouting. It's clean, no added colours or pellets, and always sprouts perfectly.





THE PREP

In a large bowl, I mix equal parts of all my goodies. (Except the Hagen seed mix) I use 1/4 cup of everything so that I have lots of dry mix ready for the next couple of weeks.

Once it is all mixed together, I store it in a mason jar (Because clearly I have a healthy obsession with them!)









THE SOAK

Use Equal parts of the sprouting blend and the Hagen budgie seed. Depending on how many birds you are feeding, you can adjust the amount that you soak. For the purpose of this thread, I've used 1 tablespoon of each (Since the majority of people are only feeding one or two budgies)

1Tbls of Sprout blend





1Tbls of Hagen Budgie seed




Give the sprout mix a good rinse, to get rid of any dirt or dust.




Fill the sprouting container with clean water, and allow to soak for 8 - 12 hours.




Once the soak is done, drain the container and give the sprouts another good rinse. You can store these on your counter, away from sunlight (They don't need light to sprout).

When the soak is done, the sprouts are ready to feed to your bird. You do not need to wait for a sprout tail to appear, since the beneficial changes in the seed is already happening on the inside.

The seeds have now woken up from their dormant stage, are lower in fat and carbohydrates, higher in protein and vitamins.




Don't forget to rinse your spouts a couple of times a day. This keeps them fresh and moist, and will continue the sprouting process.




You can feed the sprouts on their own, or you can mix them up with a vegetable chop if your birds are used to eating veggies.

 
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MommyBird

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your guide is very well-done. Everyone should appreciate the time you put into this. Thank-you!
I've been sprouting for 7 years pretty much like that.
The oats always get picked out first here.
I am quite impressed with your mason jar stash!
 

Bonkers

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Thanks PoukieBear! :)

I am going to go show this to the Resident Chef. The Nutri-Berries I bought seem a waste, birdies don't like... Maybe they will be eating this mix in the new big cage! :D
 

Fergus Mom

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Very informative, thank you so much! I am going to give this a go at some point.
 

SquawksNibbles

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Wonderful guide you’ve got there! Very kind of you to get this together for us. Thank you!

I feel ashamed now, though. :shy: I never got the hand of sprouting, and you have such a big mix of sprouts, but this is definitely motivation for me! :D Thanks again!
 

Bonkers

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Wonderful guide you’ve got there! Very kind of you to get this together for us. Thank you!

I feel ashamed now, though. :shy: I never got the hand of sprouting, and you have such a big mix of sprouts, but this is definitely motivation for me! :D Thanks again!
It almost looks easy! If we leave it in the fridge overnight....

I may really start doing this for my birdies! I have some other things to do, first.. ;)
 

CeciliaZ

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My tiels and budgies love wheatberry sprouts. I also have the Lil' Bird Mix from sprout people. They still seem to pick out the wheatberries.

@PoukieBear , I love that mix...I do - looks so healthy... if you could pick only 5 from your mix - what would you choose? It often seems that the more I sprout or the more fresh veggies I offer, the less my birds are interested. But if I limit their choices - they are more likely to try them.
 

PoukieBear

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It almost looks easy! If we leave it in the fridge overnight....

I may really start doing this for my birdies! I have some other things to do, first.. ;)


There’s no need to leave it in the fridge overnight, especially while soaking it.

If you feel like putting it in the fridge after the soak, that’s fine, but make sure to let it come back to room temperature before feeding it to your birds. Cold (or hot) food can cause crop issues.

Refrigerating it will also slow down the sprouting process, which is fine too! So don’t expect to see lots of sprouts tails after two or three days in the fridge.

This has got to be a sticky! Excellent information. One ? Is there a need to add something to the soak water to prevent fungi growth?

You can add ACV (Apple Cider Vinigar) to the soak if you want. Just a teaspoon will be fine.


@PoukieBear , I love that mix...I do - looks so healthy... if you could pick only 5 from your mix - what would you choose? It often seems that the more I sprout or the more fresh veggies I offer, the less my birds are interested. But if I limit their choices - they are more likely to try them.



Hhhmmmm, my top 5? I’m going to cheat a little, and say that my first pic is jar # 12 (the one with broccoli, clover, radish ext.)
Then, millet, fenugreek, wheatberries, quinoa and the oats.
 

CrazyBirdChick

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@PoukieBear , do the sprouts not have to be dry when fed? I always lay mine out on a few paper towels and put a couple of paper towels on top and try to dry them as much as possible before storing in fridge and serving. I hope I don't have to do that any more?
 

Peachfaced

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@PoukieBear , do the sprouts not have to be dry when fed? I always lay mine out on a few paper towels and put a couple of paper towels on top and try to dry them as much as possible before storing in fridge and serving. I hope I don't have to do that any more?
My flock won't eat them if they're really wet, so I usually sling off as much water as possible, and stick a paper towel in the storage container before pouring in the sprouts, as well as put a paper towel on top of the sprouts to help soak up anything I missed. They're still slightly moist when I serve.
 

PoukieBear

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@PoukieBear , do the sprouts not have to be dry when fed? I always lay mine out on a few paper towels and put a couple of paper towels on top and try to dry them as much as possible before storing in fridge and serving. I hope I don't have to do that any more?

I’ve never dried them off before serving. I do let them drain off really well, but I’ve never actually dried them with paper towel.

I guess my birds are just used to them being served that way, so I don’t need to have any extra steps.
 

CrazyBirdChick

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I’ve never dried them off before serving. I do let them drain off really well, but I’ve never actually dried them with paper towel.

I guess my birds are just used to them being served that way, so I don’t need to have any extra steps.
I'm glad to know that cause I've never tried serving them moist to him! I was always afraid of bacteria growing during the day. I give sprouts in the morning before I leave for work so I can't take the dish away for atleast 8 hours. This will make sprouting so much easier and less wasteful! (paper towel waste) Thanks again! :)
 

Gribouille

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Hi again, I've tried your recipe on Sunday and boy does it sprout!! :D But since yesterday I see that the whole thing is getting mold on top :eek:, even though I rince the seeds every day. Do you have any advice against that?
 

PoukieBear

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Hi again, I've tried your recipe on Sunday and boy does it sprout!! :D But since yesterday I see that the whole thing is getting mold on top :eek:, even though I rince the seeds every day. Do you have any advice against that?

It might not actually be mold. Have a closer look, and see if you notice if it's actually the roots of the sprouts that look "hairy". Here's a close up of what I mean.



 
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