Sprouted Seeds

[Bea]

Sprouted seeds are a great source of nutrition for budgies. There are lots of different seeds you can buy to sprout, my favourite is wheatgrass seeds. These are inexpensive, nutritious and easy to sprout. You can try to sprout your budgies regular seed mix but in my experience it doesn't work very well especially if there is grit or added pellets in it.

How To Sprout Seeds

This is easy. Put the desired amount of seeds into a plastic container and cover them with water, about a centimetre above the seeds is good. Then you leave the seeds to soak for approximately 12 hours. After 12 hours is up drain the water from the container and rinse the seeds. Then put them back in the container. For the next few days you need to rinse the seeds several times a day, this stops them going mouldy. After about one or two days the seeds will start to sprout, this is the ideal time to feed them to your budgies. Continue to rinse the seeds several times daily until all the seeds have been fed to your budgies. They last about 5 days if you do this. Unfortunately i don't have a photo of what sprouted seeds look like but i am sprouting some at the moment so will have a photo in one or two days.

Ok, here are the photos.

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m217/belinda_p89/October162006-sprouts001Custom.jpg
These seeds have been sprouting for a few days now and are at a good point to be fed to your budgies.

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m217/belinda_p89/October162006-sprouts003Custom.jpg
Here's Ozzie enjoying the sprouts.

[Dave]

Nice article, thanks for sharing. :)

[budgiesmum1953]

Thanks for this article Bea and it sounds so easy. Look forward to the piccy, I'm sure I saw one a while back showing Blinkie bathing among what looked like seed sproutings :)
Jan. X.

[Bea]

That would've been snow pea sprouts which you just buy like that. :) I'll get a photo tomorrow, the seeds are starting to sprout.

[Joey]

Yes bea can you mix beans like in with the sprouts?What kind of bean? Canned or...?

[Bea]

I've added the photos to the original post. Joey - i'm not sure about beans as i've never tried it.

[BirdieBabi]

I've got to try it. My birds are picky as to what they eat and I'd think they'd enjoy this!

[budgielove]

alright! thanks bea!

i am going to try this one ASAP! i can't wait to see if my budgies will like them.

;)

erin

[Donna]

Bea,

A lot of us have Budgies that won't eat anything but seed. (Even though we've tried to offer them fresh veggies and fruits.)

I would love to try and grow some sprouts but do you think that they would just turn away from those too?

Thanks for sharing. It's always nice to try new things and have new ideas.

Donna

[Bea]

I doubt it, sprouted wheatgrass seeds convieniantly look very similar to the oats that are in most seed mixes (and which are often the first seeds eaten from the seed dish) so if you feed them in the first couple of days budgies will probably think they've hit the jackpot with a food dish of oats!! :P And remember - if at first you don't suceed, try and try again! That is just so important with budgies because most will try something new if given time.

[vivalis]

I would love to try this! What kind of store did you buy the seeds from? A pet store? A gardening store?

Thanks!

[Bea]

Health food store - is was 1kg for $3au.

[Amy]

Interesting! I'll have to try that!

[JPKP]

Should you feed your budgies sprouts for like a daily basis? Or just a treat once and a while?

[Bea]

I feed a couple of times a week. :)

[kisses]

Thanks for posting this! My budgies love it!!

[redgirl]

I am going to try this too Bea, thanks for posting xx

[siesta]

wow! thats so easy to do! is it ok if ill sprout just one type of seed? a mung seed? i think we dont have sunflower seeds here in philippines.. they say that budgies or some other type of birds love sunflower seeds that sprouted. :)

[Bea]

Well the pics i put are just wheatgrass seeds so it's fine to just sprout one type. :)

[lethalfire]

Please forgive me, if my questions seem stupid, I am new to all of this. What other types of seeds can you use, and is there more nutrional value in them when they are sprouted compared to just a seed? So far the only thing I have seen my budgie even nibble on other than seed is Fresh Parsley. So I am very interested in trying this. Thankyou for any extra input

[pal0m1n0]

I just did a batch of sprouted mung beans, it was easy, but I am wondering why if the sprouts are rinsed several times a day they can't last longer than five days?

[hozie07]

Has anyone tried to grow millet to give to budgies?

[alicia]

that stuff looks wierd
like ants or something in a way lol

[Bea]

I just did a batch of sprouted mung beans, it was easy, but I am wondering why if the sprouts are rinsed several times a day they can't last longer than five days?
They can but i find that they start to smell strange even with rinsing. They also lose nutritional value over time.

[pal0m1n0]

Do you keep your sprouts covered or just left out in the light? I didn't at first but I noticed that the colour was changing and leaves were starting to grow. I was using mung beans and I know they usually get long .(for those who don't know, mung beans are used to make the bean sprouts used in Chinese food)

[siesta]

this is the way i sprout mung beans.. ;)

before i go to bed tonight, i place the mung beans in a colander and rinse it, then i put it in a pan with wet newspapers and leave it there overnight(i place it in a dark, well-ventilated area). by morning, the small tails is already appeared! harvest, rinse, drain until dry.

i think this is the fastest way to sprout mung beans because it takes only 1 day. BUT I DONT KNOW IF THIS IS SAFE(because of the newspapers).

what do you think guys? :)

[pal0m1n0]

I would think paper towel is safer than newspaper.