- Joined
- Jan 27, 2008
- Messages
- 293
Please feel free to copy & paste this to print off:
Seed junkie conversion:
Each week, I set aside a couple of hours to make this layered fresh food mix, which is placed in tightly sealed plastic storage containers (size and number depends upon the number of birds you have). Foods are layered in the following manner, from bottom to top:
1. Greens, chopped (Swiss chard, mustard greens, fresh herbs, French sorrel, cilantro, parsley, kale, collard greens, carrot tops, endive, escarole….)
2. Vegetables, chopped (celery, bell pepper, zucchini, crookneck squash, cucumber, sprouts, cauliflower, kohlrabi, cabbage, shredded carrot, beets, green beans, etc.)
3. Broccoli, either fresh or cooked lightly in microwave (5 minutes) and chopped.
4. Vitamin A vegetables lightly cooked and chopped (banana squash, yams, carrots, etc).
5. Raw, uncooked whole grain pasta
6. Cooked beans (soaked overnight, then cooked for 20 min). The 17 bean mixes are great for this, or you can use your own mixture. Soybeans, including the popular Soak 'n Cook mixes, must be cooked separately for not less than one hour. (Another way to protect against possible spoilage of the mix is to freeze cooked beans in individual packets, adding these to the mix after defrosting on the morning of serving, rather than including them in the layered mix when it is originally prepared.)
7. Corn on the cob (sliced, then quartered), when in season
8. Apples, chopped.
9. Citrus fruits, chopped (peel included)
10. Grapes, whole (seeds are fine)
11. Frozen mixed vegetables
Layered in this manner (with the citrus near the top and the frozen vegetables as the final layer) the mix stays fresh for up to 4 or more days until needed.
When I am ready to use each container, I empty this into a large bowl to mix the ingredients together thoroughly. At that point, I also usually add one or two other items, such as some of the softer fruits (plums, peaches, melons) and cooked grains. I then place eight scoops of this fresh mix into a second bowl, adding one scoop of a high quality seed mix and one scoop of pellets. I mix this together thoroughly, and serve. Each bird gets between two-thirds and one heaping cup of this mix both in the morning and the late afternoon, which reflects their instinctive desire to forage at those times. Mixed in this manner, this diet consists of 80% fresh vegetables, fruits, pasta and beans, 10% seed and 10% pellets.
Remember, a seed diet is just enough to sustain life for any exotic bird. Although seed does provide fat, thats all it provides, no other nutrients. All species from finches up to Macaws require more than seed, this is just one of the easiest ways to provide that diet. Kim
Seed junkie conversion:
Each week, I set aside a couple of hours to make this layered fresh food mix, which is placed in tightly sealed plastic storage containers (size and number depends upon the number of birds you have). Foods are layered in the following manner, from bottom to top:
1. Greens, chopped (Swiss chard, mustard greens, fresh herbs, French sorrel, cilantro, parsley, kale, collard greens, carrot tops, endive, escarole….)
2. Vegetables, chopped (celery, bell pepper, zucchini, crookneck squash, cucumber, sprouts, cauliflower, kohlrabi, cabbage, shredded carrot, beets, green beans, etc.)
3. Broccoli, either fresh or cooked lightly in microwave (5 minutes) and chopped.
4. Vitamin A vegetables lightly cooked and chopped (banana squash, yams, carrots, etc).
5. Raw, uncooked whole grain pasta
6. Cooked beans (soaked overnight, then cooked for 20 min). The 17 bean mixes are great for this, or you can use your own mixture. Soybeans, including the popular Soak 'n Cook mixes, must be cooked separately for not less than one hour. (Another way to protect against possible spoilage of the mix is to freeze cooked beans in individual packets, adding these to the mix after defrosting on the morning of serving, rather than including them in the layered mix when it is originally prepared.)
7. Corn on the cob (sliced, then quartered), when in season
8. Apples, chopped.
9. Citrus fruits, chopped (peel included)
10. Grapes, whole (seeds are fine)
11. Frozen mixed vegetables
Layered in this manner (with the citrus near the top and the frozen vegetables as the final layer) the mix stays fresh for up to 4 or more days until needed.
When I am ready to use each container, I empty this into a large bowl to mix the ingredients together thoroughly. At that point, I also usually add one or two other items, such as some of the softer fruits (plums, peaches, melons) and cooked grains. I then place eight scoops of this fresh mix into a second bowl, adding one scoop of a high quality seed mix and one scoop of pellets. I mix this together thoroughly, and serve. Each bird gets between two-thirds and one heaping cup of this mix both in the morning and the late afternoon, which reflects their instinctive desire to forage at those times. Mixed in this manner, this diet consists of 80% fresh vegetables, fruits, pasta and beans, 10% seed and 10% pellets.
Remember, a seed diet is just enough to sustain life for any exotic bird. Although seed does provide fat, thats all it provides, no other nutrients. All species from finches up to Macaws require more than seed, this is just one of the easiest ways to provide that diet. Kim
