Recycling seeds?

[JRs Gouldians]

Has anyone heard of any sort of machine, or home built contraption that filters out your old seeds that you have already given to your birds? The machine would filter out the non eaten seeds from the old husks. So basically it helps you save seeds by not having to throw out good seeds just because they are mixed in with all the old husks. I remember hearing about this a while back and was wondering if anyone has ever heard of something like this, or if any of you have anything like this. Any information on it would be appreciated.

[debbie276]

It's called a seed winnower. There are quite a few plans out there on how to make them. Maybe try a google search to find them, don't have any bookmarked right now sorry.

[B CAMP]

http://finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=6 ... cleaner%20...
Check this out

[CandoAviary]

Hey JR check out this one we built...here is the link to that post
http://finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=6 ... ed+cleaner

The old style winnowers actually worked by 'blowing' the chaff off the seed. The one I built is operated by vacuum, same outcome, just not as messy

[B CAMP]

The one i posted is yours

[G8love4finches]

I know a breeder in Airdrie AB who makes such a machine...You can find him selling birds under the name Finch Passion on Kijiji Calgary

[ac12]

I just use a straw and blow into the seed dish and the hulls come flying out. One thing with this is that the seeds left in the dish is mostly the seeds that they don't want to eat, which in my case are all the dark/black seeds.

[AndreasLon]

I just put the seeds in a shallow dish, shake the container sideways and all the husks come to the top, then I blow them off. No need to throw the seeds away or buy a winnower, unless you have a huge amount of birds and seeds to deal with.

[debbie276]

You could also just pour the seeds from one bucket to another outside and let the breeze blow the hulls away.

[fabulousfinch]

I just use a straw and blow into the seed dish and the hulls come flying out. One thing with this is that the seeds left in the dish is mostly the seeds that they don't want to eat, which in my case are all the dark/black seeds.

AC12 hit on an important point "One thing with this is that the seeds left in the dish is mostly the seeds that they don't want to eat"

and I might add "or don't need right now."

A study done at the Save the Gouldian Fund about 5 years ago was in finding the perfect seed blend (or so they thought). They placed catch trays under the seed hoppers and had research assistants examine every hull and uneaten seed tossed out as chaff. After 3 or 4 weeks of examination they determined which seeds were being eaten and which were not (some seeds were completely ignored, some were eaten occasionally, some eaten heavily). They then offered only a blend of the seeds that had been eaten either occasionally or heavily (omitting the uneaten or mostly ignored seeds).

As a control exercise after 3 months they offered the original blend that had been studied, and to their amazement, the selection order was completely different, with some of the omitted seeds now being eaten (some quite heavily). The lesson learned was that the birds needed an opportunity to select, and that their needs will vary over time. What they may ignore now, they may need later. The best thing you can do is offer a wide variety of fresh seeds and let your birds make the final decision.

Now, an experiment as described above will only work if all seeds are fresh viable seeds. If a potentially favored seed in the blend is stale or has become rancid (typical of black oil seeds) they will move on to something less desirable but that is at least fresh.

So by recycling seeds you are putting seeds back in front of your birds that were either turned down on the first pass due to a lack of freshness, or simply because they don't need them right now.

"No waste" seed mixes are usually very limited in seed variety and give your birds little opportunity to select other nutrients they might need over time.

You might consider putting up with a little waste to give your birds the opportunity to select out either the stale/rancid seeds, or seeds they might select lightly or not at all now, but will select later.

When I toured a number of excellent Aussie finch aviaries in 2008, not every breeder was using Fidler's exact diet. But a common denominator in every diet was a wide variety of fresh seeds.

Just my 2 cents worth

Bill

[lovemyfinch]

I am glad that you posted this Bill
I have been wondering for a while if I should be recycling or not, being as how my flock seems to be increasing. I use the hoppers so I don't really see what they are eating (I dump the trays without checking). I think that I will continue to do things this way. I have noticed that in some cages the oittle black seeds are all in the hopper tray, and other times there are none. So yes, I guess that they do eat what they need at that moment. So I will continue with the variety and put up with some waste. It's the same with the greens, sometimes they will go a whole week without eating them and then suddenly one day will empty the dish. I guess they know best, and the only thing that I can do is make sure that they have what they need on that specific day.

[FeatherHarp]

You could also just pour the seeds from one bucket to another outside and let the breeze blow the hulls away.

Debbie...that is what I do at the moment being I don't have many birds. But now that the temps here in MN are getting colder...going out onto the porch to blow seeds in the below freezing temps is done in a much speedier manner...especially in the morning when I just run out in my jammies.

I like that straw idea....I will have to try that too.

And then there is the cat factor when I am blowing seeds...our two barn cats are always underfoot and usually get themselves covered in seed hulls.

[ac12]

I put the dish over the bathroom sink when I blow out the hulls. That way I just wash the hulls down the drain.

Although very funnily, I had one seed hang up and sprout.
I saw it growing up out of the sink drain

BTW many times when I blow off the hulls, I expose seeds that the birds did not dig down to get. I find most of my birds will not dig down more than 1/8" or so. So once there is a layer of hulls on the seeds, they stop eating.

Having said this, many of you know that I primarily feed my finches pellets, to avoid this wastage and the mess of flying hulls all over the floor.

[CandoAviary]

So by recycling seeds you are putting seeds back in front of your birds that were either turned down on the first pass due to a lack of freshness, or simply because they don't need them right now.

"No waste" seed mixes are usually very limited in seed variety and give your birds little opportunity to select other nutrients they might need over time.


Bill

It depends on why you are recycling leftover seed. I feed my 300+ gouldians fresh seed daily. The mix does vary due to the birds nutritional needs, ie, breeding, resting, moulting, etc.
The recycled seed goes to the flocks of societies and zebras who eat a great quanity. They also get some fresh premium mix like the gouldians but they also get the gouldian's leftovers If I have even more left over, the wild finches around my home get it in the feeders There is no such thing as stale, rancid, old seed around my house....I have the fattest wild doves in the entire neighborhood I also recycle the removed hulls to the compost barrels. The organic soil created will be used to grow/ fertilize the new millets, herbs, and greens that are fed to the birds

[bluebutterfly213]

This my winnower, its seen some use thats for sure, I think Im its third owner, it was given to me by someone who upgraded.

The vacuum hose is attached to the tube at the top, the hole in the pipe can be adjusted to increase or decrease the flow of air.
The wooden channel has a perspex front so you can see the winnower working.
The scoop is where the seed needing to be winnowed goes, there is an opening at the bottom that allows a steady flow of seed into the perspex section where the hulls agitated by the airflow continue into the vac or the seed falls down the shute into the container at the bottom.
My winnowed seed goes to the chickens, and by default the local bird population.