Page 1 of 1
To grow or not
Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:05 pm
by Christian
I'm still deciding whether it makes sense to grow my own greens for my canaries or not. Someone mentioned (not on this forum) that too much greens is not good. I'm looking at 5 varieties of romaine lettuce. Since its compact enough for container growing. Or should I just buy them from the supermarket? It is an investment and wonder what route I should take. Money is not the issue. Is fresh homegrown best? Please help.
Re: To grow or not
Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:38 pm
by Dave
I've never seen a case of a Canary eating too much greens. I've let mine have all they will eat, and I've done that for a lot of years.
If you grow your own, choose a variety that has dense foliage. Are you growing these under lights? In Minnesota there isn't much choice unless you have a greenhouse. No matter how you grow plants under lights, they can get thin and stretchy.
Maybe consider sprouts. Your regular seed mix will work. Most people grow sprouts until the root tip is just emerging from the seed. If you want greens, grow them a little longer. You could cycle a batch ever two weeks.
Re: To grow or not
Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:41 pm
by Christian
Dave wrote:
I've never seen a case of a Canary eating too much greens. I've let mine have all they will eat, and I've done that for a lot of years.
If you grow your own, choose a variety that has dense foliage. Are you growing these under lights? In Minnesota there isn't much choice unless you have a greenhouse. No matter how you grow plants under lights, they can get thin and stretchy.
Maybe consider sprouts. Your regular seed mix will work. Most people grow sprouts until the root tip is just emerging from the seed. If you want greens, grow them a little longer. You could cycle a batch ever two weeks.
I would grow them in a large raised bed in late spring outdoors.
Re: To grow or not
Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:51 pm
by Sally
If you are going to try this, why not grow some kale? It is much more nutritious than romaine. I also don't believe that you can overdo most greens, though it is not good to give them only one type of green IMO. Variety is always best. The advantage to growing your own is that you can grow organically and it is always fresh, but I don't know that there is any particular advantage in nutrition over store-bought.
Re: To grow or not
Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 6:09 pm
by wilkifam
The only greens you need to be careful with are spinach and kale. Dark leafy greens in moderation only, maybe a couple times a week. They interfere with calcium absorbtion. In breeding birds that would not be good.
Re: To grow or not
Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 6:49 pm
by Dave
wilkifam, why kale? Spinach I understand, since it has oxalates that bind calcium.
Re: To grow or not
Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 3:43 pm
by Flight Feathers
My birds love silver beet, so you could always try growing that. They love chickweed as well.
Re: To grow or not
Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 12:01 am
by Sojourner
Kale doesn't have nearly as much oxalic acid as the spinach. I no longer feed spinach at all - lost a bird to egg binding that I believe was brought on at least in part by my allowing them to stuff themselves to their little birdy gills with spinach nearly every day.
I don't do that any more. But kale is fine.