Wings of Love Bird Haven:: Non-profit Bird Rescue :: Articles/Nutrition/How to Sprout ::

Wings of Love is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization in Red Oak, TX

visit our blog	visit us on facebook	newsletter sign up	login area

NUTRITION

BACK TO THE MAIN ARTICLE

	HAVEN MASH		HOW TO SPROUT		DAIRY & BIRDS
	NUTS & SEEDS		BIRD NUTRITION

HOW TO SPROUT
- By DeAnn Waggoner, Executive Director, Wings of Love Bird Haven

Sprouting for birds is one of the best ways to get live nutrition to the birds. Many
birds love seeds, but the dry seeds that you buy in the pet store offer no nutritional
value. Even a bird that is hooked on dry seed will not have any trouble getting
accustomed to eating sprouts. Below are a few companies that sell sprout mixes for
birds. There are others on the web as well.

www.sproutpeople.com

www.chinaprairie.com

www.aviannaturals.com

How to Sprout

Depending on the size and number of birds you have you will have to decide how
much you need to sprout at any one time. I typically use about 1/2 cup of dry
sprouts for one serving for all the birds here at the Haven. However, you can do that
many and just keep them refrigerated if you don't use them all the first serving.
Don't try to store sprouts for more than 2 days at a time. They loose their nutritional
value fairly quickly.
First, cover sprouts with fresh water, preferable distilled or at least filtered. Add a
drop or two of either apple cider vinegar or grapeseed extract. (make sure the cider
vinegar is the type that is labeled on the bottle that it has the "MOTHER" still in the
cider. This can usually only be obtained at health food stores. Soak seeds overnight.
Drain the next morning and rinse well. Prop the jar (using a kerr jar with a plastic
straining lid is the easiest for me--see picture at www.chinaprairie.com). Tilt jar so
that air can get into the jar so yet more water can drain throughout the day. I usually
tilt it onto a kitchen towel in the corner of my window seal. Rinse seeds twice a day
for 3 days.

At the point where the sprout shows only a 1/8" or so is when they are at the peek
of nutrition. This is when you should feed them to your birds. Once they are ready
refrigerate any left over for the next day's use.

If you found article useful, please considering making a $2 donation to benefit
the birds at Wings of Love Bird Haven by clicking the button below.