We feed our parrots a mixture of two different sprouting mixes. One mix has Beans and Grains in it, and the smaller finer mix has seeds and grains in it.

Many bird owners believe that it is just too much work to feed sprouts to their birds. I think bird owners are thinking about the type of sprouts we eat on our salads, with long tails and tiny little leaves. This type of sprout is difficult and time consumming to produce. However, that is not the type of sprout our birds will enjoy. Sprouted Beans, Seeds and Grains can be made in 24 hours. Here is my time schedule for making sprouts for my flock each and every day.

• Rinse mix and then Soak overnight in the fridge.
• The next morning I drain the mix, rinse, and leave it draining in a colander covered with a damp cloth to keep the beans moist and in the dark.
• Several times during the day I run water over the mix and agitate the mix to allow some air flow.
• The next morning the mix will look just as it does in the photo below. The sprouts are now ready to feed to my flock.

We mix the sprouts with fresh fruits and vegetables and feed each large bird two heaping soup spoons of the mix per day. Smaller birds get one heaping soup spoon.

The best time to feed this mix is when the tails just appear. At this stage you can keep the sprouted mix in your fridge and rinse at least once a day. The sprouts will continue to grow in the fridge. Feed the mix to your birds within 5 days. Smell the mix daily before you feed to make sure it smells fresh and nutty. If it smells sour you should discard and start over.

If you prefer, the mix can also be soaked and cooked. Just soak the mix overnight and boil for 20 to 30 minutes. The birds love the mix prepared like this also. On days when I will not be home to rinse the beans during the day I will prepare the mix in this way.

Our fresh sprout mix supplies our birds with a healthy dose of live foods rich in phytonutrients. This is what our birds would be eating if they were living in the wild. Wild parrots do not eat pellets and would probably only eat dried seeds in seasons when fresh foods are scarce. My fresh sprout mix is all live food similar to what parrots would hunt for in their wild habitats.

We have been feeding our birds these Sprouting mixes for years. All of our birds eat these mixes with great enthusiasm, even the seed junkie birds love these mixes!! By Sprouting these mixes we know that our birds are getting high energy foods full of Phytonutrients. Phytonutrients means nutrients derived from natural live plants. When beans, seeds, and grains are sprouted they become a live food with nutrients far beyond the dormant seed. Nutrition experts now say that phytonutrients are a major source of dietary antioxidants. Antioxidants help protect cells from damage.

Although the best way to feed these mixes is by sprouting them, if you do not have the time to sprout the mixes you can also prepare them as a cooked mix. By Soaking the mixes at least a few hours before cooking you essentially begin the awakening of the seeds and turning them into "live" food.

I hope that your birds will enjoy our mixes as much as our birds do!!