Quarantine & Seed Sprouting

[Aily]

Sorry guys two silly questions together.
1- How do you sprout seeds for your birds? I just want to give it a try.

2- I have quarantined a gouldian finch and 2 zebras. Can i mix S-76 in the water with zebras in the same cage? What other medicines do you treat with during quarantine?

[Sally]

There are many ways to sprout seeds, I personally like the Mike Fidler method, which uses Virkon-S as a disinfectant. But it can be as simple as putting some seed mix (no pellets) in a jar, adding water, and letting it sit overnight. The next morning, you rinse the seeds, drain off the water, and set the jar aside for the seeds to chit (not sprouted, you can just barely see a little tail emerging from the seed).

Yes, you can give your Zebras the S76 at the same time as the Gouldians. I use Scatt for individual birds and S76 for times I treat the whole flock. In quarantine, I just Scatt them, worm them, and then watch for any signs of illness. I don't automatically medicate.

[Smurf]

I use the Mike Fidler method for sprouting also, here's links to information about it

Text version
http://www.fabulousfinch.com/how-to-spr ... birds.html

3 part video tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xdo4XkE ... 4011653171

The Virkon-s comes in a small 50g sachet for about 3 or 4 euros which would last you ages as only a tiny amount is needed for each batch of seed


Regards

Padraic

[Aily]

How if i let the seeds sprout in a pot of organic soil? (thinking that may be it is the natural way birds get sprouted seeds, may be childish).

[debbie276]

I have potted bird seed in window box type containers and when the seed is up a bit put the whole container in the aviary. The birds loved it, also enjoyed scratching around in the dirt. They devoured it in a matter of minutes. (and made a mess)
The sprouted seed is soaked seed that has just chitted, the sprout has just popped out and looks like a little white tail on the seed. Chitted seed is the most nutritious.

[Aily]

Grt.. Actually I also potted millet in my small window garden and the doves around my building found a picnic spot. But i was afraid of offering this to my finches.