FINCHforum

It seems Bill Van Patten has retired and I can't seem to find anyone who has any more of the Birds R us white and black sprouting seed and softfood. Does anyone know where I can get this? Or do I have to stop using this feed? I really liked it!
Thanks
Lori

Oh I didn't know that. I had been buying my seed from him too. I have seen it at larraines lady gouldian in Atlanta ga.

I went to her site and she is mostly sold out too. Searches online and it seems like Bill was the wholesaler for just about everyone.

Higgins makes a "soak and sprout" seed that is inexpensive and performs very well. I've been using it for years. You may want to look into it. Bob

Tiffany aka "Nixity" sells Birds R Us seed. Check with her.

He was wholesaling to me, Laraine and Kristen at Meadowlark Farms (she dipped out of reselling it awhile ago though when he increased the wholesale prices).

He recently announced he was no longer going to wholesale it because he was retiring and wanting to focus on producing birds rather than fulfilling a bunch of seed orders and the work was wearing on his body (he had broken his foot a couple of times )

However - he told us the seed would still be available through him, but it looks like perhaps he has either changed his mind about that or is maybe just taking a much needed break!!

The only thing I have left in stock is a box (maybe two?) of the Premium Herb Seed and a canister of Virkon-S tablets. I'm wiped out of everything else.

I am selling the Roose Green Solutions seed though (need to order more) and in terms of quality it is literally right up there with the Birds R Us seed. It would be an excellent switch to make, though it really lines up mostly with the Maintenance Blend so you'd need to find an alternative for the Breeding/Molting Blend.

The Breeding/molting blend just has more Canary seed, right? Since it has more protein.

It has more canary and it also has Nyjer, poppy and I think Rape seed?

Thanks for the comments. What I am using is the white and black sprouting mixes and soft food. I use my own concoction of seed for the general seed mix. So does anyone know where I can get the black and white sprouting seed mixes and soft food. I guess an alternative sprouted seed mix would be an option but I dont want to get something that takes days of work to produce and cant be frozen. What I like about the Birds R Us mixes is that they are only chitted (soaked and left to barely sprout) overnight. Then, because I use the Virkon S, they can be mixed with each other and soft food and then frozen. They are crumbly and can be used straight out of freezer each morning...works like a charm and is quite easy I think.
Lori

I had no problem using my regular seed mix which has none of those colored pellets in it. I sprouted it exactly like you would the black and white mix and they froze just fine too.

Hi Debbie,
Well that is interesting because I had considered that myself. Is that what you use now for your breeding gouldians? What is your base seed that you use for this sprouting?
thanks,
Lori

I guess an alternative sprouted seed mix would be an option but I dont want to get something that takes days of work to produce and cant be frozen. What I like about the Birds R Us mixes is that they are only chitted (soaked and left to barely sprout) overnight.

That's what I've been doing with seed from my local feed store. As long as the seed is fresh and doesn't contain any pellets or other misc, any seed will work (aside from hemp and niger/thistle, which are usually treated so they won't sprout). I usually start soaking in the morning and drain it when I get home from work. It's ready to feed or freeze the next day.
I believe there are sources for viable thistle seed if you really want it in your mix.

My mix is just a basic finch mix from the local feed store. I used to sprout seeds from Herman Bros Seeds without a problem also.
Here's there finch mix page:
http://www.hermanbros-seed.com/finch_se ... OAK%20SEED

How long will the softfood and unsprouted seed last if opened, but in the freezer?

I would guess at least a couple of months. I can't rember what Doug Fidler says on his video. I don't keep it in there that long and usually the batches I make only feed the birds for about two weeks.
Lori