Post by barrieshutt on Nov 9, 2011 9:13:49 GMT
WASHED SEED = HEALTHY SEED by Pierre & Maja Swart
Have you ever found your birds to be having diarrhoea or vomiting or having respiratory problems? When you buy a bag of seed, have you ever worked your hands through it and saw that your hands are full of dust and even course sand? It is most disgusting and might be the cause of your sick birds. This same dust is taken in by your birds when they de-husk their seed. Nothing can convince me that this could by healthy - not for you breathing that dust and not for the birds eating this contaminated seed.
No one knows where the seed has been laying or what fell onto it. It could be mice / rat urine, bird droppings, even where seed is stored in large quantities in hangers, the owners of these hangers sometimes spray or fumigate these hangers to get rid of insects and rats. This fumigation spray attach itself to some of the seed which in actual fact poison the seed.
Sometimes mould on the seed can be observed which lowers the quality of the seed and change the nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates and they can also change the character of the grain by making it unpalatable.
Both of these scenarios introduce the production of mycotoxins on the seed which have a detrimental effect on the birds that consume the seed.
This can increase mortality, reduce feed efficiency and reduce fertility. Also kidney, diarrhoea, vomiting, crop and feathering problems as well as respiratory problems can all be linked to these mycotoxins.
For the past two years we have been washing our seed on a weekly basis. Twenty kilograms of seed is washed at a time. We have made a wooden frame covered with 80% shade cloth and the seed is thrown onto it and rinsed with clean tap water for several minutes. There after the seed is checked for impurities and re-washed.
The seed is left to sundry for several hours. Regular checks and turning of seed ensures that it dries evenly. We are very fortunate in the Karoo the days especially in summer time when it only takes at most two hours to dry the seed. Lots of vitamin D is absorbed into the seed, as the birds do not get direct sunlight onto them. The clean seed is then stored in our seed bins.
The birds love the clean seed and it is quiet nice to work with clean seed.
Thanks Pierre and Maja
Have you ever found your birds to be having diarrhoea or vomiting or having respiratory problems? When you buy a bag of seed, have you ever worked your hands through it and saw that your hands are full of dust and even course sand? It is most disgusting and might be the cause of your sick birds. This same dust is taken in by your birds when they de-husk their seed. Nothing can convince me that this could by healthy - not for you breathing that dust and not for the birds eating this contaminated seed.
No one knows where the seed has been laying or what fell onto it. It could be mice / rat urine, bird droppings, even where seed is stored in large quantities in hangers, the owners of these hangers sometimes spray or fumigate these hangers to get rid of insects and rats. This fumigation spray attach itself to some of the seed which in actual fact poison the seed.
Sometimes mould on the seed can be observed which lowers the quality of the seed and change the nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates and they can also change the character of the grain by making it unpalatable.
Both of these scenarios introduce the production of mycotoxins on the seed which have a detrimental effect on the birds that consume the seed.
This can increase mortality, reduce feed efficiency and reduce fertility. Also kidney, diarrhoea, vomiting, crop and feathering problems as well as respiratory problems can all be linked to these mycotoxins.
For the past two years we have been washing our seed on a weekly basis. Twenty kilograms of seed is washed at a time. We have made a wooden frame covered with 80% shade cloth and the seed is thrown onto it and rinsed with clean tap water for several minutes. There after the seed is checked for impurities and re-washed.
The seed is left to sundry for several hours. Regular checks and turning of seed ensures that it dries evenly. We are very fortunate in the Karoo the days especially in summer time when it only takes at most two hours to dry the seed. Lots of vitamin D is absorbed into the seed, as the birds do not get direct sunlight onto them. The clean seed is then stored in our seed bins.
The birds love the clean seed and it is quiet nice to work with clean seed.
Thanks Pierre and Maja
