Sprouting for Healthier Diets

Sprouts are an excellent way to add a more healthy and vital part of your bird's diet. Sprouts are a way to get some of the nutrients that birds need while also giving them a "live" diet.

Sprouting is easier than you think. You can make your own mix of "beans" or "seeds" to sprout or you can go the easy route and get an Organic All-In-One Seed Mix.

Seeds get a bad connotation in the bird world because many uneducated bird owners don't realize that feeding your bird an all seed diet is like giving a child a Big Mac for every meal. You can imagine the effects that a diet like that can have on a human, as it is with an all seed diet for birds. However, as a sprouted diet, there really isn't a healthier alternative than sprouted seeds and beans.

They are an easy to digest food and can help with many important aspects of your birds health, including, but not limited to: healing, healthy metabolism, improving immune system function, providing antioxidants, and their anti-cancer effects.

Organic is the way to go as you avoid the potential harmful pesticides that can be found on non-organic products. Also, sprouting your own guarantees you know how old the sprouts are and how clean they are. Knowing that the source of your sprouts is you, really makes them safer for your birds and helps your sanity.

The best way to care for sprouts is to clean them everyday after they have sprouted, let them dry, and refrigerate. Don't keep them longer than 5 days, and check to make sure there aren't any weird smells to them. Fresh and safe sprouts have an earthy smell and are good to eat by not only your birds, but you as well!

We mix in sprouts in their daily diet when we have sprouts available. Our birds love them and can't get enough of them. If we leave them out on the counter, they will get demolished when we aren't looking!

Reap the benefits for yourself and your flock. You won't regret it!

How to: © True Love Aviary 2009