Spelt

[Kalidasa]

Has anyone sprouted spelt berries for their birds? I know it's a form of wheat, and I've given it to my birds before and they love them. I've also heard conflicting rumors of too much wheat, but if sprouted aren't they much healthier? I also give the rest of the batch to the sparrows (and others) which devour them.

 

[cassiepengo]

i know nothing at all. is this what you want??
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rc...UwAfleYIf76PBzXJuw1Krmw&bvm=bv.57799294,d.dGI

 

[GaryBV]

Hi Kalidasa - I had never heard of 'spelt' berries before, but when I did a search on it the ones I do use did come up - and thats Bob's Red Mill Organic Hard Red Spring Wheat Berries. I sprout those all the time for my birds, and my lovebirds especially love them. They are even great just soaked overnight - they plump up and the birds go nuts. I don't hear much about soaking and sprouting seeds on this forum, but it's something I do a lot of. Just this week I sort of made a mistake, - I bought some organic raw flax seed, and I put that in with some other seeds and tried to soak them and it made the water very thick and slimey ! So no sprouting flax seeds for me - but the birds seem to like them raw anyways. I do buy Higgins Soak and Sprout (I just caught it on sale - $1.99 for the 12 oz size, so I bought 20 lol. Will last a while but has a nice blend that both the parrotlets and the lovebirds like. I also bought a seed sprouter off Amazon that works amazingly well - far better than I thought it would, and it came with some organic brocolli seeds (yum). Yes, I do believe the seeds are much healther if soaked, and/or sprouted - it changes the chemistry of them and starts the growing process (sort of like gaba rice).

 

[Kalidasa]

Hi Kalidasa - I had never heard of 'spelt' berries before, but when I did a search on it the ones I do use did come up - and thats Bob's Red Mill Organic Hard Red Spring Wheat Berries. I sprout those all the time for my birds, and my lovebirds especially love them. They are even great just soaked overnight - they plump up and the birds go nuts. I don't hear much about soaking and sprouting seeds on this forum, but it's something I do a lot of. Just this week I sort of made a mistake, - I bought some organic raw flax seed, and I put that in with some other seeds and tried to soak them and it made the water very thick and slimey ! So no sprouting flax seeds for me - but the birds seem to like them raw anyways. I do buy Higgins Soak and Sprout (I just caught it on sale - $1.99 for the 12 oz size, so I bought 20 lol. Will last a while but has a nice blend that both the parrotlets and the lovebirds like. I also bought a seed sprouter off Amazon that works amazingly well - far better than I thought it would, and it came with some organic brocolli seeds (yum). Yes, I do believe the seeds are much healther if soaked, and/or sprouted - it changes the chemistry of them and starts the growing process (sort of like gaba rice).

I sprout all the time as well, usually the "big four" which consists of broccoli, alfalfa, red clover, and radish. I tried that once with flax and got the same result lol. Chia seeds do the same thing, produce that thick slime (which they spread on chia pets ) you could spread the slimy flax on a chia pet or a terra cotta dish soaked in water for them to sprout, like chia seeds.
The spelt berries are the same as winter wheat, so I see I'm not the only one to sprout them. I've never seen them actually sprout, just grow the root-tails and swell up. I have a bag of that Higgins mix as well, but they don't seem to like that one as much as the stuff I get from the health food store (the little seeds, and the spelt). I was just worried too much sprouted wheat could cause a hormonal surge (I've heard this before). Sprout on!

 

[Mike17]

We sprout seeds too, the plumhead likes them (plus he/she invariably puts seed in its water, but only fishes back out one in ten ). The mixes we get have wheat, safflower, mung and what I believe is called "pigeon pea". There are other seeds like sunflower, and some I can't remember. We also sprout parrot seed mix, the sorghum (milo) goes especially well and almost none of our birds eat it as seed.

 

[GaryBV]

Well the parrotlets definitely prefer the Higgin's Soak & Sprout whereas the lovebirds definitely go for the wheat berrries. I spend about 20 minutes in the supermarket trying to pick out the organic seeds to use of the Red Mill brand - omg do you see how much quinoia costs???? It really sure does all add up when I figure in the Harrisions, the Roudybush, the Higgins mixed seeds and pellets, the nutri-berries, the avi-cakes, then there are whatever I've picked up in fruits and vegies for them (just yesterday I picked up some little hot peppers for them because I've never had them before - $3.99 a pound but the two little peppers only cost me 12 cents lol), ahhh - the organic millet sprays, and whatever Red Mill seeds and beans I pick up. I don't even want to add it up lol and that's not counting any toys, kabobs or pinecone treats.

This is the seed sprouter I got:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Victorio-VKP1014-4-Tray-Kitchen-Sprouter/dp/B005FVPP04/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386659711&sr=8-1&keywords=seed+sprouter]Amazon.com: Victorio VKP1014 4-Tray Kitchen Seed Sprouter: Kitchen & Dining[/ame]

It worked amazingly well! I had way more sprouts than the birds, or I, could eat.

Mike you say you also sprout parrot seed mix, but nearly every seed mix I see contains some fruit and/or vegetable matter, and pieces of corn, rather than whole kernels, so I'm afraid if I try to sprout anything like that I will end up with mold - how do you get around that?

 

[GaryBV]

I just want to bump this topic up to see if there is any more interest in it - it is a major interest of mine - speficially the health benefits to our fids of soaked and sprouted seeds.

 

[Mike17]

We don't use a sprouter, just and old fine kitchen sieve sitting in a bowl. The seeds are rinsed twice daily until they're ready, and another lot put in. The main problem with this is that with finer seed like millet, the holes in the sieve can get blocked, which is why we bought a sprouting mix (from a bulk bin) last time we went to the bird shop. The nearest pet shop is 500km away, hence the need to improvise with mixes sometimes.

I know what you mean about quinoa, it's not cheap, that grain and others are available in our local supermarket in the "health food section". I saw a segment on TV a few weeks ago about agriculture in the north of my state of Oz- apparently the Kimberly/Ord River area (and in the future, the adjacent Northern Territory) are gearing up for expansion in quinoa plantings, and already supply 80% of world demand. It's not an easy crop to grow, it seems, and it takes a few crops for farmers to get used to its peculiarities. Not sure about spelt (or the related emmer) production in Oz, but assume there is some grown because they pop up in specialty breads, but I've not seen seed suitable for sprouting.

 

[Kalidasa]

That's weird because quinoa is super cheap where I live, I can get a big bag of organic seeds for just a few bucks. The downside is my conure doesn't like it...I have to disguise it in couscous pasta.

 

[GaryBV]

SUPER CHEAP!!!! If you know those little bags that Bob's Red Mill products come in, at the supermarket on Sunday (shopping day!) a small bag of quinoa was almost $15. The same exact size bag of the wheat berries was $3.99. To rich for my blood.

Mike thanks for all that information, it was very interesting. In Pennsylvania where I live our biggest crop is corn, and it's everywhere in season. When I was a kid growing up my grandfather had a field of buckwheat behind the house, and I will never forget how much it smelled lol.

 

[Mike17]

That's weird because quinoa is super cheap where I live, I can get a big bag of organic seeds for just a few bucks. The downside is my conure doesn't like it...I have to disguise it in couscous pasta.

It's around AUD5 for a 500g bag in the health/organic food section at our local supermarket. Given the quinoa is quite likely grown here in Oz, that's rather expensive, but it's organic so that might explain the price gouging.

 

[Freespin]

I have used soak seed previously but have never heard about sprouting them? Can someone please explain to me how this is do e? I would love to try it!

 

[Mike17]

I have used soak seed previously but have never heard about sprouting them? Can someone please explain to me how this is do e? I would love to try it!

It's same as soaking I guess except you just wet the seeds at least twice a day and allow them to germinate. Thing is you only dampen the seeds which is why we sprout them in a small kitchen sieve. They're only just germinated, with the warmer weather my wife's making a new batch every day.

 

[GaryBV]

Hey Freespin - just go to this link which is to the sprouter I bought and you will be able to see how it's done (it's very simple) rather than trying to explain it, plus you can see all the reviews on it.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Victorio-VKP1014-4-Tray-Kitchen-Sprouter/dp/B005FVPP04/]Amazon.com: Victorio VKP1014 4-Tray Kitchen Seed Sprouter: Kitchen & Dining[/ame]

Plus here is a video on youtube:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K93AEder93Q]How to sprout bird seed - for healthy happy parrots! - YouTube[/ame]

I prefer my sprouter.

And here is a good article on the benefits of sprouts for our birds:

Sprouting For Healthier Birds

 

[Freespin]

Thanks a lot! Will give it a try.

 

[GaryBV]

You're very welcome - I think soaked seeds, and sprouted seeds, are terrific for our birds and give them an extra boost of nutrients. I am curious as to what seed mixes other people use to soak and/or sprout - I know a lot of bird seed mixes contain pellets, pieces of corn, and other things that aren't full seeds, so I don't sprout those because I'm afraid of mold or bacteria.