Canary seed (annual canary grass) is mostly grown for the bird food market. The farms growing canary seed at present are not organic farms. Most are in Canada, Hungary and Argentina. The organic farm we used to deal with in Canada is no longer in production.

From what I have found out, “Annual Canarygrass seed is similar to oat in mineral composition. The caryopsis is higher in ash, oil, and phosphorus but lower in fiber than concentrations common in corn, pea, or fieldbean. Canarygrass caryopses have higher concentrations of all eight essential amino acids than does wheat or corn, and are higher in sulfur-containing amino acids than pea or fieldbean.” This info is about 10 years old, but gives me something to shoot for in using quantities of replacements in our mixes.

The downside to the information I found is that it doesn’t address why organic canary seed isn’t currently available. In my opinion, it must not be lucrative for farms to grow organic canary seed for several reasons.
1. It’s not a human-consumed product, so there’s not a huge market for the product.
2. Not many farms growing it, so not much competition to keep the price worth it for the farmers.
3. Harvesting needed special equipment as canary seed grows with itchy little hairs on it that must be removed. These hairs are dangerous to be inhaled and can be cancer-causing.
4. Canary seed plants get overrun by weeds easily.
5. Canary seed is sensitive to higher temperatures and drought. Global warming can’t be helping.

In my understanding, it seems canary seed is sensitive to herbicides because it is a grass. And it isn’t very attractive to bugs and diseases. Perhaps, conventional canary seed may, as a result, have few pesticide and herbicide residues.

But, I will not use canary seed in our mixes unless I can find a certified organic source.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/cangrass.html

Question:
I received an Easy Sprout kit. Hardly any of the seeds germinated (about 1%). There’s different time frames for different seeds according to the directions that came with the Easy Sprouter. Can someone clue me in on making small batches of sprouts (1/8 cup). Can under soaking can cause stomach problems for birds? They each tried the softened seeds & I am mixing them with brown rice. Do you always have to use sprouting seeds or can one use regular organic seeds as well?

Big Long Answer (As I’m good at giving TOO MUCH information!!):
There are different time frames for different seeds. The Parrots on the Porch Good Stuff Sprout Mixes contain a blend of grains and seeds chosen for their sprout timing and what parrots seem to like. We make a separate mix of legumes because they require longer soaking and sprouting times. It is okay to feed the grains and seeds after an overnight soak. This gets the seeds germinating. Millet and quinoa seem to be the quickest to sprout. Sometimes the coarser grains just barely start showing a white tip, and that’s okay. It is just starting to sprout and this is how my personal birds seem to enjoy them most. When the tails get too long, my birds don’t like them. There is a varying time for full sprouting, but the grains and seeds we chose seem to work pretty well together.

Let me go over what I do:
1. Rinse the seeds well, then place in a jar with the seeds covered with lukewarm water overnight. Set in a dark area.
2. In the morning, I rinse the seeds well and feed them. What I don’t feed that morning, I keep on the counter for the day to continue sprouting.
3. In the afternoon, I can see some of the seeds growing tails. I rinse them again. (Twice a day rinsing is fine, and maybe 3 times a day in the Southwest or in summer’s hot, humid weather) After I feed my evening meal, I refrigerate them to slow down the sprouting process.
4. I can feed these for 3 days, then toss (but I usually use up all of what I make).

I have not used an Easy Sprouter, since I have good luck with jars and strainers. But I know many people with Easy Sprouters love them.

Some reasons for not sprouting can be due to environment. Your room may be too chilly. I found someone who had put theirs on a windowsill and it just couldn’t get warm enough to sprout. Sprouts shouldn’t have direct light either. They like to “think” they are underground until their roots get long. You may have problems if you store your sprout mix in a freezer. Freezing can affect some sensitive grains and seeds if the temp goes too low (a deep freeze freezer that goes to zero or below can damage seeds, regular refrigerator-freezers don’t go that cold).

Older grains don’t sprout as well. Grains are just harvested once a year, so make sure you get your batch from the latest harvest. We get many of our grains straight from farms that grow them, so we know they are fresh. It’s great to create your own blend, and I will always encourage people to take the most active role in your bird’s diet and do it yourself! Just make sure to check on your store’s rate of turnover of grain supplies. I have success buying directly from grain farms. For example, I frequent a Farmers Market that has a farmer’s booth that carries sprouting and bread-making grains.

Soaking for too long (over 12 hours) can drown some smaller seeds, although I have forgotten once in a while and they have been fine. I suggest trying to sprout in lukewarm water. This mimics a good warming spring rain and that can help them along quicker.

Here’s a hint about how I teach beginners: Try sprouting raw, hulled sunflower seeds. They are the easiest seeds to sprout. You can practice on them in different temps of water and putting your Sprouter or jar in different locations. When you have luck with those, you know that the conditions are right for anything to sprout. I don’t know many birds that refuse the sprouted suns either! (And they are good on salads for people, too!)

I haven’t heard of under-soaked grains and seeds causing stomach problems in birds. They eat dry grains and seed just fine and don’t have digestive problems. Under-soaking just may not get the grains and seeds germinating. Over-soaking can “drown” them, but if rinsed well, they shouldn’t be a digestive problem, either. There just isn’t as much nutrition in dead, stale seed. I understand under-sprouting being a digestive problem with legumes (beans and lentils) — these must have a tail at least as long as the bean before feeding. But grains and seeds are okay with an overnight soak.

All my birds love sprouts and it is a staple of my quaker’s (Sparki and Kuiper) diets. They like courser grains than my tiels and lovies. They have had great checkups. Once you get the hang of sprouting, your birds will do great. Sprouts are lower in fat and carbs than regular dry grain and seed and have many of the qualities of fresh vegetables. Many seed junkies are transformed by sprouts.

Hope this helps!

There are so many parrots with liver problems. My Cosmo is one of them. 

What is the liver and what does it do?

The liver is a dark red organ that’s function is to aid digestion by processing carbohydrates (like starches and sugars) to maintain proper blood sugar levels. It also breaks down proteins and filters toxins.

The liver is near the heart and lungs in a bird.

Fatty Liver Disease

More technically called Hepatic Lipidosis (hepatic = liver, lipidosis = a fat accumulating disorder), Fatty Liver Disease (FLD) happens when fat clogs the liver, impeding it’s function. The liver can swell with fat to an abnormally large size, squeezing the heart and lungs. When the function of the liver is compromised by excess fat, it doesn’t work to rid the body of excess sugar, protein or toxins. Those build up in a bird’s body and can cause many symptoms, including obesity, nasty feather quality, plucking, dry skin, diarrhea and/or bright green droppings, beak and nail overgrowth and/or dark discoloration, difficulty breathing and clotting problems. Some can develop central nervous system issues such as balance problems and seizures. Many birds may not show symptoms, but eventually hit a toxic overload or pressure on their heart and suddenly die.

Causes of FLD are an imbalanced, nutritionally deficient or high fat diet, overfeeding, thyroid disease or diabetes (rare), toxin exposure or heredity.

LIver Cirrhosis

Cirrhosis is permanent scarring of the liver, leaving it small and unable to work properly. Cirrhosis is the end condition of something that previously happened to the liver to damage it (maybe infection, or toxin) that leaves it scarred. To absolutely diagnose cirrhosis, your vet may do a biopsy. 

Diagnosing and Treatment

Your vet can run a CBC (complete blood count) with special tests for liver functions. It will be a measure of how the bird’s body is processing sugars and proteins, and detecting markers that indicate damage. Radiographs (x-rays) to take a picture of the liver can be very helpful before and during treatment, to measure the size of the liver.

Your vet can prescribe medications that will help your bird’s body get rid of sugars, proteins and toxins. The medications can be sweet and yummy, making it easy to give to a bird. Milk thistle is often talked about as a detoxifier, but I stress not to use it unless your vet tells you to. It should not be used as a “preventative” because it can become a crutch to a healthy liver and actually do damage in the long term.

The diet for a bird that has a compromised liver needs to be watched carefully. Your vet can be the best judge of what your bird should be eating, based on blood tests. I feel that an organic diet is important, as the liver doesn’t need to deal with pesticides that could be found on conventional vegetables and fruits. Of course, no salt or processed foods. It is good to restrict starches and sugar (stingy on the fruit, too). Some vegetables are high in natural sugar, such as carrots and peas, so I limit these. Choose brown rice over white rice and blueberries over apples and grapes. You may have to cut down on protein, and restrict nuts to just an occasional walnut and almond. A conversion from seed to sprouts and pellets may be necessary. Sprouted grains and seeds are lower in fat, carbohydrates and calories. Foods to choose are ones that are high in anti-oxidants, beta carotene, choline, biotin, Vitamin C, E and the B vitamins, and sulfur. These include cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, dark leafies, red pepper, lentils, brown rice and occasional pieces of salmon and egg.

Exercise is very important to a “liver” bird. Ramp up slowly to a routine that helps a bird to gain muscle and lose weight. Flying, wing flapping, climbing, laddering, and stair climbing are great. Encourage a bird to forage for food rather than just placing it in front of him.

The liver is a very special organ in that it can regrow healthy cells if not too much tissue has been scarred. With medication, correct diet and exercise, you can help your bird live a longer, healthier life.

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My Cosmo is a bird with liver problems. He has liver cirrhosis. We didn’t know until he was very sick years ago. He may have eaten something that was bad, perhaps something with aflatoxin that scarred his liver. There is no specific event I can remember or identify. Perhaps he’s got a genetic problem. We have been dealing with his liver problems for years. We are very clean with our birds and watch what they eat. Cosmo loves pellets and eats mainly Harrison’s High Potency, along with Good Stuff sprout mix, and chopped vegetables (which he is picky about). He only gets one almond a day. He is on daily medication, regular testing and a restricted diet. His liver grew quite a bit (as seen on radiographs), but he never seems to be out of the woods. Cosmo also has recurring giardia and gram neg infections that seem to ramp up quickly. It could be the stress of liver problems leaves his immune system stressed. He’s been fully feathered, fully plucked and fully feathered again. He’s had problems since he was a youngster and his file at the vet’s office is thick. I am very in tune to his subtle changes in mood and pack him off to visit the doc at any change. Cosmo recently had four grumpy days in a row that had me drive across town to visit his doctor. When asked what symptoms he had, I said, “Grumpy and a little edgy.” That’s all. On exam, Cosmo looked good, but after tests came back, he had more medicine to take. I guess grumpy and edgy can really be symptoms.

Many people are concerned with their parrot’s diets and also with the cost of food. And all-organic, human-grade mix can be expensive. In 3 years we have not raised our prices, even though the cost of bringing these mixes to you have increased on our side. We continually try to find better prices, better nutrition and shipping options to keep the cost down. We experiment with packaging, consolidate labels, and don’t have high marketing costs. We grow mostly by word of mouth, and by how much parrots enjoy the addition of our food to their diets.

Our cook mixes are currently very popular. You can really get a good amount of organic, human-grade food for the price. We have 5 flavors: Eat Your Veggies (with vegetables and wholesome grains), Wild West (vegetables with peppers, grains and brown rice), Lentil Stew (great-smelling cumin with lentils, mung beans, grains and brown rice), Fall Medley (with grains and oatmeal, apples, raisins and blueberries), and Sweet and Tasty (bananas, mango, grains and brown rice). The complete list of ingredients is on our store site. The mixes cook up to have great, appealing texture, not mushy like some other cook mixes. It’s easy to make the whole batch or 1/2 batch and put in ice cube trays and freeze for later.

I have a picky African grey (Cosmo, the Intimidator, and called so for a good reason) that doesn’t like to eat his fresh veggies. I chop up a variety of fresh vegetables in the food processor and add it fresh to a warmed cube of cooked mix. I add sprouts to this also. When food is warm, Cosmo is more likely to eat it. My other birds like it this way, too (as they do whatever Cosmo does, because he’s the king bird). I only let them have this food in their cage for a maximum of 2 hours. When I feed it this way, my birds get the added nutritional boost of fresh veggies and sprouts. I watch how much I give them, because they would eat all the brown rice out of it if there was enough to fill up on. My flock of 8 splits 3 cubes of cooked mix. I don’t have macaws or toos, or I think I would be going through cubes of food much faster! When I birdsit my friend’s piggy macaw, she gets a whole cube to herself.

Our cook mixes come in two sizes. We created the large size first and my friend that has little tiels told me that was way too much, so we introduced the “half-size”. They are easy to make with the simple package instructions. If you ever have any questions, you can always post here and I will answer!