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Post by birdguhl on Nov 3, 2013 0:00:24 GMT
I give them germinated seeds everyday - about 1/2 teaspoon per bird, in two meals per day. I soak the seeds overnight in a plastic sieve (not metal due to rust danger) suspended in bowl of water. Then in the morning I rinse them and then put them in fresh water with a squirt of apple cider vinegar for a few minutes. Then rinse again and leave them for 24 hours, with another couple of rinses in that time. Then they are ready to feed. The first lot is given in the morning, the second that evening. So it is a total of 36 hours of germinating. But I think it says on the package feed within 48 hours of starting germination (excluding soaking time). I have let some sprout for much longer but watch for mould growing. I feed them in a shallow 'egg drawer' type dish as other feeders are not appropriate for germinated seeds. These are the only seeds my birds get apart from a little bit of millet 1-2 times per week. The rest of their diet is Harrisons super fine pellets, and fresh fruit, veg and herbs. They seem happy eating the pellets but they do love their seeds! I have intended to reduce the amount further but they seem very well on this combination. I enjoy germinating the seeds as well - it feels nice to have that organic process as part of the daily routine. As pic shows I used to chop up extra things to put in with the seeds but that was just to get them used to veg etc. Now they are happy to eat that kind of stuff separately. It is a lot less fiddly not having to grate things and chop herbs, especially in the morning! Hope that helps - do come back to me if anything is not clear.
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Post by stace on Nov 3, 2013 0:58:41 GMT
I give them germinated seeds everyday - about 1/2 teaspoon per bird, in two meals per day. I soak the seeds overnight in a plastic sieve (not metal due to rust danger) suspended in bowl of water. Then in the morning I rinse them and then put them in fresh water with a squirt of apple cider vinegar for a few minutes. Then rinse again and leave them for 24 hours, with another couple of rinses in that time. Then they are ready to feed. The first lot is given in the morning, the second that evening. So it is a total of 36 hours of germinating. But I think it says on the package feed within 48 hours of starting germination (excluding soaking time). I have let some sprout for much longer but watch for mould growing. I feed them in a shallow 'egg drawer' type dish as other feeders are not appropriate for germinated seeds. These are the only seeds my birds get apart from a little bit of millet 1-2 times per week. The rest of their diet is Harrisons super fine pellets, and fresh fruit, veg and herbs. They seem happy eating the pellets but they do love their seeds! I have intended to reduce the amount further but they seem very well on this combination. I enjoy germinating the seeds as well - it feels nice to have that organic process as part of the daily routine. As pic shows I used to chop up extra things to put in with the seeds but that was just to get them used to veg etc. Now they are happy to eat that kind of stuff separately. It is a lot less fiddly not having to grate things and chop herbs, especially in the morning! Hope that helps - do come back to me if anything is not clear. Gorgeous pic, birdguhl. If it were me, I'd still keep a little bit of seed in their diet. What you're feeding them looks brilliant, but a bit of varied seed just keeps a bit of variety in there and should work as a good complement to everything else.
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Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Nov 3, 2013 19:41:36 GMT
I give them germinated seeds everyday - about 1/2 teaspoon per bird, in two meals per day. I soak the seeds overnight in a plastic sieve (not metal due to rust danger) suspended in bowl of water. Then in the morning I rinse them and then put them in fresh water with a squirt of apple cider vinegar for a few minutes. Then rinse again and leave them for 24 hours, with another couple of rinses in that time. Then they are ready to feed. The first lot is given in the morning, the second that evening. So it is a total of 36 hours of germinating. But I think it says on the package feed within 48 hours of starting germination (excluding soaking time). I have let some sprout for much longer but watch for mould growing. I feed them in a shallow 'egg drawer' type dish as other feeders are not appropriate for germinated seeds. These are the only seeds my birds get apart from a little bit of millet 1-2 times per week. The rest of their diet is Harrisons super fine pellets, and fresh fruit, veg and herbs. They seem happy eating the pellets but they do love their seeds! I have intended to reduce the amount further but they seem very well on this combination. I enjoy germinating the seeds as well - it feels nice to have that organic process as part of the daily routine. As pic shows I used to chop up extra things to put in with the seeds but that was just to get them used to veg etc. Now they are happy to eat that kind of stuff separately. It is a lot less fiddly not having to grate things and chop herbs, especially in the morning! Hope that helps - do come back to me if anything is not clear. Thank you so much, this is a great explanation. Sorry to ask a dumb question, but why do you use apple cider vinegar? Is it for cleaning purposes? Also may I ask where you got the shallow dish? It looks perfect! And have to agree with Stace, such a beautiful picture! where do u buy your Harrison's from? I've seen so many different places selling it but want to use a good supplier!
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Post by birdguhl on Nov 3, 2013 21:16:16 GMT
I got my dishes from a local petshop but found them online too: www.clipsleypetshop.co.uk/bird-feeder-premium-bird-breeding-egg-drawer-round-4777 I get my Harrisons from either Northern Parrots or Scarletts. (Taking postage costs into account, they are about the same price.) And yes, ACV is for cleaning - antibacterial and fungicidal. I use organic 'with the mother' stuff. It lasts for ages. I think feeding germinated seeds made it easier for me to get my buds onto pellets. I ground them up at first and sprinkled a small amount onto the damp seeds. That way they couldn't avoid the taste. Gradually I ground them up less and added more. You can see some in the photo above. Then I started drying the seeds on a piece of kitchen towel so the pellets stayed drier. Within 4 weeks they were all eating dry pellets on their own, but it took another few weeks after that for them to eat them routinely. Although not everyone on here is a fan of pellets, these ones are made of organic food - not chemicals - and my birds are happy and well on them. I started on vet's recommendation when Woody, one of my young birds, was very ill with fatty liver disease. This pic doesn't showcase very good table manners though. Keep me posted on how you get on with all of this.
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Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Nov 6, 2013 22:30:43 GMT
Thanks birdguhl. We're still waiting delivery for a few bits but starting the germinating now. Where do you get your ACV from?
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Post by birdguhl on Nov 6, 2013 23:24:19 GMT
I get this from a local health food shop:
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Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Nov 7, 2013 21:18:12 GMT
Thanks birdguhl! Sorry another dumb question, after the initial soak of 8 hours do you leave dry in the bowl for the next 24 hours? I'm not meant to put them back in water am I?
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Post by birdguhl on Nov 7, 2013 22:02:23 GMT
After the soak, I drain them and then leave in a plastic sieve over the bowl (I use a ramekin) so I can rinse them easily.
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Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Nov 7, 2013 22:14:08 GMT
Phew thank you! That's what I've done. Thank you again and sorry for so many questions
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Post by birdguhl on Nov 7, 2013 22:39:11 GMT
No probs! Glad you've got going with the miracle of germination - so very good for our beloved buds!
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Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Nov 8, 2013 19:52:33 GMT
Thanks birdguhl, it didn't really sprout mind you .... Not sure if I didn't drain it properly as it was sitting in a little bit of water ..? I'm really worried about her tonight, she seems to have gone backwards the last few days. The wheezing is there accompanied by lots of sneezing, fluffing up and tail bobbing. She really didn't look great this morning. The Harrison pellets finally arrived today, won't be using vets uk again, they were very slow and didn't have things in stock but told me two days after I ordered. I really feel like a bad budgie owner , we have the pellets now and the f10, the lamp for the uv bulb is due Monday, but I feel like I should be taking her back to see vet. Not sure If he can do much or to give it another week with the right food and conditions on place .....
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Post by birdguhl on Nov 8, 2013 19:58:21 GMT
I certainly don't think you should be feeling like a bad budgie owner! But the symptoms you describe do sound a bit concerning. Can you get her to a vet soon? Respiratory problems need quick attention. In the meantime keep her as warm as possible - covering 3 sides of her cage is good. Can you have a lamp angled so that it is providing some warmth? Probably seed ordinary seed and water is best as she may not be receptive to different food when not feeling well. What do her droppings look like?
BTW the seeds just swell up a bit after 24 hours of germinating. If you left them a further 24 or so, you'd see a little shoot.
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Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Nov 8, 2013 20:23:34 GMT
Thanks birdguhl, there's a bit of resistance from my partner to take her to the vet again, as we've had two different lots of medicine now and she's not really getting better but we have't really implemented all he said, but are slowly now ... Slowly due to deliveries from rubbish companies. We just let them out and she's flying a bit with Lenny and not all fluffed up right now. I just wonder with a few days of proper tlc and the right things to see if that will improve. Last time I took her, vet did say you need to get her healthy with the right food, vitamins, etc. he thought it was fungal and she's had the main meds now. I think maybe some guardian angel is a good way to. I'll take her to vets at drop of a hat but fear he'll tell me we just need a bit patience. Plus the naughty little bud looks much less sick when I take her to him!
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Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Nov 9, 2013 9:57:32 GMT
I wondered when you started your conversion to Harrison's, did you remove seed from cage and only give them pellets as an option, giving seed once a day for 60 mins a day?
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Post by birdguhl on Nov 9, 2013 10:39:09 GMT
Now you're asking... if I remember rightly I think I had dry seed available to begin with, but then once they had started to get used to having germinated seeds, first with the ground up pellets and then with drier whole pellets (twice a day) I withdrew it, and they had dry pellets there instead. At that point they preferred germinated seed to dry seed so they always went for the germinated seed first. I know the advice is to remove all seed for distinct periods every day so that they have to go for pellets, but in my experience unless they already had familiarity with pellets they would NOT eat anything strange, no matter how hungry they got.
How is she today? When I wrote above I had forgotten details of the lead up to this. I hope she seems a bit better. And yes - Guardian Angel is good.
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