Soaking/Sprouting Seed (or now do drive yourself insane)?

[christine]

Here is what I do:

Take a wide-mouth pint canning jar. Use the ring part of the top only. I actually glued screen material inside the ring to make a screen top, but you can just put screen or cheesecloth on top of the jar and then replace the ring. This is your sprouter.

Day 1 am - Fill the jar with about 1-2" good finch seed (don't use the kind that has colored pellets). Fill the jar with water and pour out to rinse the seeds several times. Fill the jar with water once more and set aside.

Day 1 pm - Pour out the water, rinse a couple of times, then set the jar with top down at an angle so the jar will continue to drain during the night.

Day 2 am - Rinse a couple of times, set top down at an angle again to drain.

Day 2 pm - Repeat Day 2 am

Day 3 am - Rinse, drain, and after a little while, feed to your birds.

This schedule works for me. While the jars are draining, I may shake them a little during the day just to get air to all the seeds. They are supposed to be best when the little white sprout just starts to show, but my guys will eat them when even more developed, too. Depending on how warm or cool your house is, the sprouts may be ready sooner or later for you. They will expand and start to fill the jar. A lot of people use a water cleanser like Sparkle, some use a very dilute bleach rinse. The main concern is that they will spoil quickly. They should smell fresh and sort of nutty--if they smell at all bad, toss them.

It really isn't so complicated. I'm just in the habit of doing it while my coffee brews in the morning, and then while doing the dishes at night. When resting, I don't give this every day, maybe once a week. When breeding or molting, they may get it every day. Then I will have multiple jars going at one time. To keep track, I just labeled the jars with the starting day of the week. And for fewer birds (this will work for 20-30 birds), just use a smaller jar and fewer seeds. You will have to experiment to see just how much you use. If you have too much, you can always refrigerate the excess for a few days.

There is an article on the FIC about sprouting seeds with an entirely different method. As you have found, there are lots of ways to do it, just try a few and see what works for you. The most important thing is what works with your schedule so that you keep up with it--if you forget about the sprouts, the smell will let you know--phew!