Do any of you feed your birds alfalfa sprouts? Is it safe? TIA!

Sprouts can be tricky - especially the alfalfa sprouts. If you buy them in those small plastic box containers - be sure they are the freshest possible & give them a good rinse & use them up fast.

I've grown the sprouts myself but Laker just didn't get into them that way.

The best thing i've found & they're hard to find is growing sprouts in a non soil medium. Since i got those I've been growing my own sprouts in a flower pot beside my Budgie's cage. I've added other seeds as well. I got cat grass seeds in a packet, alfalfa & millet seeds from the health store too. I just sprinkle them into the medium & water. Right now i have 4 little pop-corn sprouts as well.
here are some photos of Laker trying out the cat grass & the pea sprouts.

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	Laker 27-12-06 009.jpg (80.6 KB, 6 views)
	Laker eating peasprouts19-12-06 004.jpg (162.2 KB, 6 views)

The packaged sprouts from the grocery store are generally not recommended for birds since they frequently contain bacteria. Making your own is better, using your bird's regular seed and/or human-grade grains from your local natural-foods grocery. It's easy, too.

There's some general advice on sprouts for birds at http://www.landofvos.com/articles/sprouts.html In general, the sprouts are most nutritious when the root has just started to emerge from the seed - you don't have to sprout it out into a long tail. Even just soaking the seed overnight will start the germination process and improve the nutritional content.

I make sprouts using a mason jar with a piece of plastic canvas mesh (available at craft stores like Michaels) in the lid:


I rinse the seed, soak it overnight, drain, rinse, and drain again, then let the damp seed sit, rinsing once again in the middle of the day and once again at bedtime. In the morning the sprouts are ready to serve. If you're not home in the middle of the day it's OK to skip that rinse. Total prep time: about 36 hours. Total time spent actually working on it: about 3 minutes. The tiels love it and frequently choose sprouts over dry seed.

It's recommended to tilt the bottle at a downward angle during the damp-sitting phase so excess water can drain, but I live in the desert and it works better for me if I don't do this.

You can also buy sprout packets for parrots. I got mine from www.sproutpeople.com. A lot of bird toy websites sell them also.

Thanks for the info! I am going to try and grow some of my own.

When you feed it to your birds, leave the sprouts in the cage for a few hours only. They can get moldy or spoil after a while, and have a shorter useful life in warm weather than in cold. There's a lot of disagreement over how long is safe - some people say 2 hours, some say 12 - but definitely pitch them if they start smelling sour.

I live in a dry climate and 12 hours is fine in the winter, but 4 hours is more like it in the summer, especially if I've mixed red palm oil with the sprouts which seems to make them go bad faster. I suspect that the RPO traps in moisture which helps the nasty stuff grow. But the sprouts are a great delivery vehicle for RPO so I add it anyway and accept that I'll have to pitch everything a little sooner.

what a blast from the past..... I used to have the coolest sprout growing set up in the 70's -- different size meshes for alfalafa and mung beans. I don't think there was any dirt involved (but who remembers the 70's). Good hint about the cat grass, cuz the cats won't eat it most of the time and every now and again I think they might change their mind (and I will keep the cat saliva off of it...I promise)

I agree with Tielfan, alfalfa sprouts (and any other types) are absolutely great but grow your own. Pre-sprouted in the little plastic container is a real bacterial problem waiting to happen. I'm on the way out the door, but we sprout for Buster on a daily basis. I use a system based on coffee filters and shallow clay dishes that works great. You can't go wrong with sprouted seeds!

Actually you CAN go wrong with sprouted seeds - improper techniques can lead to problems with bacteria and mold, which are not good things to give your bird. So it pays to do a little websearching to read about various techniques and gain confidence that you're doing it right. But properly sprouted seeds provide a wonderful nutritional boost, and seed-eating birds (like cockatiels) often accept them much more readily than other new foods, since sprouts look pretty similar to dry seed.

Well, of course, you can go wrong with sprouts, you can go wrong crossing the street and end up dead! Please don't assume that a short reply is the sum of all my knowledge. Please understand that I know how to safely sprout seed for Buster. I did my research well and take all the proper precautions for cleanliness in my growing and in my preparation for feeding. This is no different than sprouting any number of seeds for other purposes. I've got more than thirty years professional and high level amateur horticultural experience under my belt even though I may occasionally mis-identify or misread a label on a tree. I just get a real kick out of all the contraptions that people come up with when a really simple thing like a small clay dish and coffee filters are all that are needed. I have a new computer and camera on order. When they arrive, I'll send pictures of my set up.