Seed Mix

[moni.k]

So, after countless hours of research, I haven't found a good seed mix for Nalani.

I had purchased a 5lb bag from a local bird store when I first got Nalani. Now that the bag is almost empty I have decided to search for a better mix. The previous mix had peanuts, a ton of safflower and sunflower seeds. I hated sitting there picking everything I didn't like out by hand and tossing it away. I knew that I wanted to change it up a bit, but everything I found had something or another that I wasn't too happy about.

As a result, I decided on tackling a little challenge and making her a batch of seeds on my own. Has anyone done this before? If so, how did it go? Tips and tricks will be really helpful.

I found this list from Land of Vos: Land of Vos - FAQ's

How can I give my Eclectus a fresh seed mix without all the chemical additives?
You can create your own custom dry food mix very easily. Here are some of the advantages of creating your own custom seed mix.

• It is less expensive than ordering online and paying shipping.
• You can use organically-grown ingredients rather than foods treated with pesticides and other chemicals.
• The mix can be tailored to the individual food preferences of your birds.
• You can vary the mix from batch to batch.
• Instead of buying a ready mix with sulphur treated dry fruit or veggies, you can add organically grown "Just Fruit" and/or "Just Veggies" with no sulphur, salt, or sweetener.

One Eclectus owner shared a list of her custom mix:
I make my own and order online from Vita Cost. The following is one order I
placed. The items marked with ******* are the ones my two did not like. I put a
quantity of each in small zip lock bags. I put them in the freezer and took
them out as needed.

Item(s) Ordered, Quantity ordered: Unit Price: Extended Price:

Arrowhead Mills Organic Oat Groats -- 1.75 lbs
Item No. 074333476399 1 $2.80 $2.80

Arrowhead Mills Organic Steel Cut Oats -- 24 oz
Item No. 074333385585 1 $3.43 $3.43

Arrowhead Mills Organic Quinoa -- 14 oz
Item No. 074333476672 1 $4.74 $4.74

Arrowhead Mills Organic Whole Millet -- 28 oz
Item No. 074333476368 1 $3.38 $3.38

Woodstock Farms Organic Pumpkin Seeds -- 12 oz
Item No. 042563008338 1 $5.46 $5.46

Arrowhead Mills Organic Golden Flax Seeds -- 14 oz
Item No. 074333476856 1 $2.70 $2.70

Best Of All Organic Shredded Coconut Medium -- 8 oz
Item No. 844197012466 1 $2.68 $2.68

*******Best Of All Unsulphured Ginger Slices -- 9.5 oz
Item No. 844197012183 1 $2.89 $2.89

*******Best Of All Unsulphured Mango Slices -- 8.5 oz
Item No. 844197012251 1 $4.02 $4.02

Frontier Sesame Seed Hulled Whole Certified Organic -- 2.32 oz
Item No. 089836184092 1 $3.59 $3.59

********Best Of All Organic Turkish Apricots -- 11.5 oz
Item No. 844197012220 1 $5.22 $5.22

Lundberg Gluten-Free Brown Rice Organic Rice Cakes Salt Free -- 8.5 oz
Item No. 073416000155 1 $3.22 $3.22

********Best Of All Unsulphured Cape Cod Cranberry Mix -- 12 oz
Item No. 844197012329 1 $4.03 $4.03

Best Of All Tamari Almonds -- 8 oz
Item No. 844197012299 1 $2.88 $2.88

Best Of All Organic Dry Roasted Unsalted Pistachios -- 8 oz
Item No. 844197012336 1 $4.19 $4.19

Best Of All Organic Unsalted Sunflower Seeds Hulled -- 16 oz
Item No. 844197012145 1 $4.50 $4.50
--------
Order Subtotal: $59.77
Sales Tax: $0.00
Shipping: $0.00

Order(Total) $59.77
Another Eclectus owner shared a detailed price breakdown of her first custom mix.
Charly said, "With seed list in hand I went off yesterday during my lunch hour to the health food store. This is what I got. All one pound bags except where indicated. With all that I got it worked out to 21 ½ pounds. And that works out to $2.57 per pound."
Seed

• Organic millet $1.29
• Organic Quinoa $2.59
• Organic spelt $1.49
• Unhulled sesame $1.99
• Organic Flax Seed $1.59
• Raw pumpkin seeds $3.99
• Raw Sunflower seeds $1.59
• Barley pearled $.69
• Whole oat groats $.99
• Buckwheat groats $2.69
• Short grain Brown Rice $1.29 (1 1/2lb.)
• Wheat Berries $1.29
• Poppy Seeds $1.79
• Unsweetened unsulphured coconut $1.99 (1 ½ pounds)

Total for seed/coconut $25.26
Nuts

• No-salt soynuts $1.99
• Filberts $4.99 on sale for $3.49
• Walnut pieces $3.99
• Raw Almonds $4.99
• Pecan halves $6.99 (15oz.)
• Unsulphured low sugar pineapple $3.29
• Unsulphured low sugar papaya $3.29

Total for nuts/fruits $28.03
Cereal

• Puffed wheat .99 only used ½ bag
• Puffed rice .99 only used ½ bag

Total for cereal $1.98
For a grand total of $55.27 which is $2.57 per pound.
By: Charly, "Shasta & Sinbad" Use the lists below to choose the ingredients of your custom mix.
~*~ MIX YOUR OWN DRY FOODS ~*~

SEEDS AND GRAINS
(from health food stores, Whole Foods Markets, & co-ops)

• Milk thistle seeds
• Shelled sunflower seed
• Unshelled sunflower seed
• Wheat berries
• Whole oats
• Barley
• Spelt
• Quinoa
• Dried pumpkin seeds RAW (expensive)
• Dried squash seeds
• Dried cantaloupe seeds
• Sesame seeds (unhulled if you can find them)
• Flax seeds
• Rice
• Milo
• Corn
• Buckwheat
• Poppy seed
• Sesame seed
• Millet (red, yellow, white)

SEEDS
(from bird supply stores)

• Hemp seed
• Cockatiel mix
• Canary mix
• Parakeet mix
• Millet sprays

NUTS
(unsalted from supermarkets, online catalogs, & buying clubs like Costco)

• Almonds
• Pine nuts
• Pecans
• Walnuts
• Cashews
• Hazelnuts (filberts)
• Macadamia nuts
• Pistachios
• Coconut shreds
• Soy "nuts"

DRIED FRUITS & VEGGIES
(from supermarkets and health food stores -- look for unsulphured)

• "Just Fruits"
• "Just Veggies"
• Banana chips
• Papaya chunks
• Pineapple slices
• Apple dices
• Apricots
• Cranberries (sugarless are hard to find)
• Cherries
• Raisins
• Currants
• Green peas
• Chili peppers

MISCELLANEOUS
(from supermarkets, buying clubs, health food stores, & elsewhere)

• Coconut shreds
• Nuts (on sale after Fall & Winter holidays)
• Sesame seeds
• Sunflower seeds (raw)
• Dried peppers
• Dried fruits (unsulphured)
• Cereals (non-fortified, sugar and salt free)

So here's my list of what I have in my cart:
My Shopping Cart - Vitacost


What do you guys think?

PS: the cart doesn't have dried fruits and freeze dried veggies that i find at my local health food store. I plan on adding those also, the list is mainly for the "seeds/nuts" that I will be using for the mix.

 

[weco]

We can't/couldn't see your cart because we can't log in as you, but making your own mix is probably the best way to go since you've not found a commercial mix you like.....

 

[sodakat]

Have you considered Volkman Avian Science Super Eclectus seed mix? It is NOT fortified. They guarantee that. They are located near Modesto so maybe they have distributors in your area and you can avoid shipping costs. I think it's a good product. It is organic so you have to freeze it to control seed moths.

 

[Parrotdise]

I have been frustrated with seed mix too, although i rarely feed seed anymore. It seems like it always has too much sunflower something dyed, or a sketchy looking peanut in the shell here and there. My birds never eat the dried corn either. Making a seed mix might be a good idea.

 

[moni.k]

We can't/couldn't see your cart because we can't log in as you, but making your own mix is probably the best way to go since you've not found a commercial mix you like.....

Oh man. Here's the list of what I have so far:

rolled oats
organic quinoa
organic whole millet
unsalted pre-shelled pumpkin seeds
organic golden flax seeds
organic whole sesame seed hulled
dry roasted unsalted pistachios
tamari almonds (won't be in the seed mix, but will be used as treats)
organic pearled barley
poppy seeds
walnut halves and pieces unsalted.

The total so far is $51.79

@sodakat. I saw the volkman eclectus seed mix and I wasn't fond of all the sunflower seeds. There's a local bird store that sells them, but I have bought volkman soak and serve mix which was great.

 

[Sheeji]

Stumbled upon this old post as ive just recently started making my own "breakfast mix" for Leo. My CAG.
It doesn't have as many things. Was wondering if adding a bit of muesli and some dried fruit. apricot. strawberry raisins etc OK?