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Sprouting for your budgie

Kassiani

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@Mybluebird not sure if you're asking me or @mogeton, but my boys don't eat everything, no. What they do eat, they eat the sprouted seeds and the tails, too. It's funny to watch them start with a sprouted seed and work there way up the tail. It's a bit like watching someone eat spaghetti, lol!

The dry seed mix I feed them is millet, quinoa, oat groats, hemp seed (hemp hearts), whole brown flax, chia seed, canola seed, and rolled oats. I don't sprout this mix, just what I get specifically to sprout. I can get almost all of this mix at the Whole Foods Market except the canola seed (also known as rapeseed). Even with this seed mix, my fussy boys are not fond of much but the millet, oat groats, and rolled oats. Still, I hope they can't help but getting a bit of the others in their search for their favorites.
 

mogeton

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My house is a bit "cooler" now - around 69F at night and 73-75F during the day. Sorry to ask so many questions but I'm the type that needs all the information. Do your budgies eat all the sprout seed types or are there some they don't touch, like the sunflower seeds? Do you feed your budgies any seeds and/or pellets or just fresh foods and sprouts? (I hope you don't mind me asking)
First off: I love that you're asking! That's what this forum is all about, right?! Also, I am exactly the same way - ALL THE INFO PLZ!! But I am a total newbie (only got the budgies in July and Oct, so I've only had one for 4 months and the other for about a month!), and am still trying to figure things out as I go along! So I'm not sure that what I do is necessarily the best! I'm watching this thread to learn as well :) But I'd seen that some people had quicker sprouts at warmer temps in the other spouting thread I read (somewhere over in the Feathered Food Court), so I thought I'd pass that along!

That being said, I give them chop with some sprouts mixed in at breakfast, and another dish of white clover and sometimes dandelion leaves, also with sprouts. Then I've just started giving them Harrison's adult lifetime mash (in place of pellets) mixed with sprouts for lunch this week, and they love it! then supper is another scoop of just sprouts. Then they get millet sprays as we finger and hand train them. However, from @Kassiani it looks like maybe I should sub in dry unsprouted seed somewhere. Maybe in with the mash!
My female likes various millets and canary seeds, but almost always ignores oat groats, nyger, and these little round black seeds that i cant remeber what they are. The male only eats the various millets in the mix I have, and here are 4 different millets. Drives me nuts - haha!
My next step is to try adding peas & adzuki beans to the sprouts!
 

Mybluebird

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Thanks @Kassiani and @mogeton! I've had my two guys for 14 months and 8 months. I'm still trying to figure out what the healthiest diet is for them. I'm thrilled that they like sprouts and at least some greens. I find that I enjoy growing those for them. Now trying to figure out what other "foods" to give them.
 

Hbapple92

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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.

I've only recently adopted 2 budgies from my nan who couldn't take care of them anymore and as a novice this was incredibly helpful.
I'm going to have to see where I can buy these items near me.
 

PoukieBear

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I've only recently adopted 2 budgies from my nan who couldn't take care of them anymore and as a novice this was incredibly helpful.
I'm going to have to see where I can buy these items near me.
My advice is to start small. You definitely don't need to rush out and buy 30 different kinds of seeds to sprout, and your wallet will take a pretty big hit. You can even start by just sprouting the Hagen (or equivalent) seed blend. Then you can add in one or two more sprout types at a time and build your "collection" over time.
 

Pat H

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I've only recently adopted 2 budgies from my nan who couldn't take care of them anymore and as a novice this was incredibly helpful.
I'm going to have to see where I can buy these items near me.
WELCOME to the AA-- Yes, isn't this a great thread! :bounce3:
 

mogeton

Meeting neighbors
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Ontario
Where do I find the seeds for sprouting? Online?
I'm just starting, and I've had great success sprouting the pet bird seeds from my local pet store. Just make sure there aren't pellets mixed into the seed mix and you're all set.
 

Farfah

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Thanks to this 3 year mega thread, I've started sprouting for the first time! I'm starting with a jar of quinoa and another jar of the Hagen mix. The quinoa started growing tails within hours!! Hopefully my birds will eat them. One of them is a bit of a seed addict altho she does enjoy dried herbs. I'd like to try alfalfa eventually so I can eat it myself.

When sprouts go off, will I know for sure from smell? What's the max amount of time you can keep sprouts for? I'm a little paranoid bc of all the food poisoning cases in the news.
 

Attachments

Mybluebird

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I can tell you what I do @Farfah, not that I'd say I'm an expert. I sprout my seed mix for for three days and they are mature enough to feed to my guys. I'm rinsing them during that time every 12 hours. I keep them in the refrig and that amount lasts three days. I find that if they smell "green" they are good. If they smell yeasty, not good. I also feel them and if they feel wet, they are good. If they feel slimy, not good. I also rinse them with apple cider vinegar (1cup vinegar to 3 cups water) followed with water rinse before putting them in the refrig. My Buddy loves them and I keep hoping Tweetie Pie will start to enjoy them. So far he's only tasted them a bit.

Buddy eats sprouts Jan27.jpg
Buddy loves his sprouts!
 

Farfah

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I can tell you what I do @Farfah, not that I'd say I'm an expert. I sprout my seed mix for for three days and they are mature enough to feed to my guys. I'm rinsing them during that time every 12 hours. I keep them in the refrig and that amount lasts three days. I find that if they smell "green" they are good. If they smell yeasty, not good. I also feel them and if they feel wet, they are good. If they feel slimy, not good. I also rinse them with apple cider vinegar (1cup vinegar to 3 cups water) followed with water rinse before putting them in the refrig. My Buddy loves them and I keep hoping Tweetie Pie will start to enjoy them. So far he's only tasted them a bit.

View attachment 371322
Buddy loves his sprouts!
That's awesome! I'm going to follow the same timeline. I just put my sprouts in the fridge but I'll do an ACV rinse tonight. Buddy is SO cute with a beak full for sprouts lol
 

TrueBlue

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11/12/20
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I just tried a lazy first attempt at sprouting. I bought a finch mix that was on sale. Started Sunday night and it already started sprouting around Tuesday morning.

I followed this Youtuber's instructions:

Sprout pics below are Wed. afternoon. My lovies only picked at it. I'm still working on getting them to eat fresh fruits and veggies.
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20210127_163222.jpg
20210127_080042.jpg
 

ParrotNuts

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India
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Looks good, they'll start eating it eventually, my budgies gobble it up now and they didn't even touch the sprouts the first two days!!! :wideyed: Good Luck!!! :goodluck:
 

Mybluebird

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@TrueBlue Keep it up! My Tweetie is a very picky eater. He now eats grass and herbs. Tweetie wouldn't touch the sprouts for the longest time, he'd put his beak down in the dish and then hop away. This morning he ate the sprouts! He ate a couple, hopped away and then came back later to chow down! I'm going to have to put two dishes in so Buddy and Tweetie won't have to share. Just keep offering the sprouts, your birdies will eat them.
1611858604702.png
 

Farfah

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I really lucked out because both my budgies seem to love sprouts! I gave them the sprouted Hagen mix and quinoa for the first time and they gobbled it up super fast, even my picky seed monster, Hedwig. I ended up giving them a bit more. This is great because they’ve both started molting and I hear sprouts are great during a molt.

It’s been four days and I barely see tails on my Hagen mix though. Not sure if that’s normal. I’ve moved it to the fridge.
 

Mybluebird

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I use a sprouting seed mixture for hookbills. I have noticed that the smallest seeds don't seem to get the same tail as the larger seeds. So, my experience is similar to yours.
 

MarilynC

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How much sprouted seeds should I feed my budgies at a time. I don’t want to have fat budgies.
 
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