Fresh greens for your canaries and other birds!

[lilchick]

This is my first post on the canary section so this may have been discussed before.
I take bird seed and place between wet paper towels. Keep it damp and in just a few days the seed will sprout. My canaries love them. I also have thrown seed in my potted plants and harvested the greens there also.

edited to say this would work for several types of birds.....

 

[Whispering Winds]

Great!! I have finches and have been soaking their seeds to up the protein, which is essential for good breeding and its working!!!! I will do this tomorrow. Always looking for something new to try to tempt and give them something else to eat. How do you "serve" it to them?

I have over 15 Finches, all different kinds and am going to try to talk DH into building me an aviary this winter when we are cooped up inside. They would be so happy!!!

 

[lilchick]

I just place the sprouts in their feed bowl. they love em! I think it makes my male sing more too.. He seems to encourage the female to come off the nest and share his find...

 

[Sushi]

I've been sprouting greens for my chickens & quail all this year. Black oil sunflower seed sprouts are like candy to them. They fight over the sprouts. I also sprout bird seed and I had sunflowers, millet & oats growing in my garden this year due to the chicken manure I fertilized the garden with. I harvested them this week and they went crazy for it. I have been dreaming about having an aviary too. I'd love to get a few gouldian finches. They're so beautiful.

 

[Thinkingaboutit]

Wow!

Thanks for all these great ideas!

I'll have to try this with the chickens we are getting! And hopefully soon some finches and parakeets too!

I love this forum so far!!!

Lisa

 

[kokopelli_7]

This is great info! My parakeet is very picky apparently. Any more ideas on how to get her to eat veggies and fruit? When I first got her I was told to feed her brown rice, mixed veggies, and fruit because thats what she had been eating with the previous owner. I offered it daily for about 4 months and she never ate any so I gave up.
Well I have 2 more littles birdies now so maybe she will eat with them.
Make today be a great one!

 

[Yazzo]

I always grow some wheat grass for my budgies. If they don't have any greens, they end up chewing up all the house plants!

They're picky about eating veggies though too....I don't even try anymore, but it would be nice to figure out a way to get them eating that too.

 

[onthespot]

I have red headed parrot finches and I cheat. I give them a leaf of swiss chard and I dice up a hard boiled egg by running it through an egg slicer three different ways, and I feed them finch seed mixed with lady gouldian seeds, 2:1, and fresh water for their bath a couple times a day. They must love it, becuase I have five babies in one nest, already banded, will probably fledge in a week or so, and several other nests with the mamas setting on clutches of four to five eggs each! WOOT!!! I have not candled the eggs they are sitting on, so I don't know how many babies are on their way. This is by FAR the most hens I have had setting at one time E-V-E-R !!!!!

 

[Renie'sPeeps]

I have raised a lot of birds in my day.... I have done the sprouts but honestly.. I liked feeding my birds bags of fresh kale, spinanch, broccoli... fresh fruits: watermelon, apples, green grapes, bananas, mangos, pears... to boost protien.. add mashed boiled eggs, wholewheat toast with peanutbutter on it, dried dog food... They always got a Netherland Vita food and protien 25. OH and one thing they really liked.. was I kept fresh cut branches from oak trees in the flight. The branches gave the birds a vareity fo sizes for their feet to perch on and while they ate the leaves off lol.. The bushy branches also offered some refuge for smaller birds like the waxwings to feel safer