PELLLETS

[parrotpotential]

Gosh I can't believe I haven't followed this up! I'm terribly sorry for being so darn slack, but here goes...


Healthy Bird
PO BOX 225
WILLASTON SA 5118
[e-mail]
ph 04 1984 9192
www.healthy-bird.com

I haven't bought from there for a while but they were always good and helpful.

Good luck

parrotpotential said:

We've used Passwells pellets because they are cheaper and made in Australia and can be bought from several sources but at the moment I'm trying out some pellets that are on petlink and they seem to be getting eaten just the same.
It is also cheaper for us to get 5kg of passwells posted to us from South Australia to Melbourne, I could dig out the info if anyone wants it.

Cheers
Kim and Steve

[stillsqwarkin]

reading this debate with interest
definately a matter of choice we dont feed peelets as yet we havent been convinced
John, whodo you sproutyour hulled oats
jenn

[AussieBirds]

To sprout seed Jenn i do them following,
Place the seed in and ordinary kitchen colander and rinse it thoroughly under running water preferably, warm water in winter, until the water runs clear.

Put the rinsed seed into a container, I use a large ice cream container, and then fill the container with WARM not hot water to the point of just covering the seed at this time I add a cap full or two of apple cider vinegar to prevent the seed going off, you can also use Avicleans in place of the apple cider vinegar, let the seed soak in the container for no longer than 12 hours I usually stop this process at 10 hours.

Put the seed back in the colander or a fine sieve and rinse again until the water runs clear again. Then place the seed in a warm well lit place and continue to rinse it every 6 hours, leave it in the sieve,

In a couple of days the seed will sprout when the sprouts are about 5mm long it is ready to feed the birds give them a cup full every day and store the rest in an air tight container in the crisper of your fridge it will last quite a long time in the fridge.

I suggest when you feed your birds the sprouts you sprinkle them with a good vitamin supplement such as avicleans or Ornithon.

I hope this helps and is clear enough for you my birds love them and i feed it to all my birds , let me know if i can be of any more assistance.

John

[stillsqwarkin]

thanks for that john
just to clarify you can do that with hulled oats is that correct
regards jenn

[AussieBirds]

Yes Jenn they will sprout very well but i would mix some wheat with it for good measure

John

[stillsqwarkin]

thanks john i will give it a try allready do sprouted seed so will give the hulled oats a go
my birds the bigger ones really like the hulled oats
regards jenn

[parrotpotential]

For what it is worth, my piece of advice when sprouting:

Always smell the sprout mix at all stages, you then get to know what the normal smell of it is,sort of nutty or earthy smell, and if a batch is souring then you'll know that it isn't normal, makes your nose scrunch up, lol.

So, smell, smell, smell, lol

Kim

[AussieBirds]

Good tip Kim there is no mistaking that fresh smell of sprouted seed it is a wonderfully smell and a good indication that things are going well.

John

[hillcresttiels]

Some have described it as Nutmeggy type smell. i also would like to add Jenn that sprouted Mung Bean is worth a great value to my birds if you can get them to eat it as it's full of protein and i have never had a bird that eats sprouted Mung Bean feather pluck! food for thought cheers

Frank

[AussieBirds]

I cant praise sprouted seed enough, to me it is a wonderful addition to my birds diet. I feed it to all my birds and when thy see it coming they hang off the door waiting for me to bring it in to the aviary. I am constantly putting seed down to keep the supply up but it's absolutely no trouble and the benefits are fantastic. I have to admit i had a couple of failures the first couple of times but I have it down pat now, I really cant finish this post without thanking Frank for introducing me to this wonderful food just one of many things i have Learned from this very knowledgeable friend.

John

[hillcresttiels]

Thanks John the pleasure is mine, we never stop learning

Frank

[echucabirdies]

I am back on the pellet topic again Pellet has been proven to be the best diet by many I notice a change in how they act they less a 500g feeder last 4 canaries 12 days where seed lasts 4 or five if i am lucky many avain bird vets say this is better as it contians cabbage vitaims calucim and nutarl grains Many recommend a full pellet diet I do not I start to see the birds get really unhappy if they get all pellets if i runout of seed ( i use avigrain ) I dont use a full pellet deit but i do recommend it !

[hillcresttiels]

I would be very careful leaving a pellet mix out in a outdoor aviary situation for more than a couple of days as they can spoil very quickly in humid conditions
Frank

[echucabirdies]

I do not have a outdoor avairy i have indoor cages

[budgiedcockatiels]

i would be very carefull about feeding pellets to my birds read "please read very important' in the budgie and small parrot section

[AussieBirds]

Thats interesting that you say you give them to your birds when you are trying to wean them Jeremy whats the theory behind that aren't the pellets to hard to give to such young birds.

John

[kim1]

Actually John pellets are commonly used as a starter when weaning, they're crumbly and easy for weaning chicks to start to nibble, I used to use them myself and found weaning much quicker with them, now I prefer to use cerial such as rice bubbles to start with as well as lots of soft foods such as boiled bertolli beans, chick peas, pasta and brown rice and the commonly used fruit, veg and wholegrain bread, I guess I decided I wouldn't feed some of the ingredients in pellets to my kids, so they can't be too healthy, if we would worry about the long term effects on ourselves of these ingredients then we should be carefull about feeding them to our birds as they have no choice in the matter.

[AussieBirds]

Well you never stop learning do you I have used rice bubbles but never thought about crushed pellets.

John

[Smiley]

another resong why they take there procduse off the market..Is that it is kill birds..trhey will not tell you this..Look at the producet you buy...If it contations soya in any form....You are kill yout birds,!!!!!!!!!

[jeremy]

I think feeding young birds pellets helps the weaning process and they like it. You really have to give them as much variety of food as you can because once they go to their new homes, they could be fed anything and if they have never seen that particular food, they won't be willing to try them.
Usually, once they are fully weaned i stop feeding them pellets as they are fine with fruit, veg and seed.