Tips for cleaning seeds?

[Chichireeo]

Not sure if this is the right place for this question. It is food related.
I bought a bag of finch seeds that turned out to be very dusty. When I scoop some, a cloud of dust comes up. I don't feel good feeding it to my bird, so I've been rinsing it in water before feeding it in a cup, then throw away whatever he doesn't eat at the end of the day. Is this clean enough? Any dangers posed by the dust or wet seed or should I maybe throw away the whole bag?

[Ursula]

I never had seed that was dusty. Except maybe when you get at the very end of a very big bag, there might be a little dust settled on the bottom...

My guess is the seed is old and you should avoid buying it... I'm not sure what the best way is to clean it, but I think rinsing can't hurt as long as you toss it at the end of the day like you do. In addition to normal finch seed I feed chitted/sprouting seeds as treat, and I also toss whatever they didn't eat in the evening. Wet seed can get moldy if left longer.

[debbie276]

I would try and sprout the seed, if it doesn't sprout I'd throw the whole thing out. If it doesn't sprout it probably is very old and not very nutritious.

[Chichireeo]

Thanks for the replies. I am doing the sprout test now.

[Chichireeo]

I tossed out the 2kg bag. The seeds did not sprout at all. Maybe even had fungus. These were expensive seeds but I guess you never know. Hope my bird will be ok after eating this old seed.

[kenny]

hi
when you buy seed it should be already clean and have polished look to it,that sounds like it hasnt been cleaned at all,i dought if it will hurt your birds.but if you are buying seed the shop should not object to you running your fingers through it to make sure its clean


ken

[Chichireeo]

Hi Ken, I bought this bag of seeds online

[kenny]

hi so you dint have a choice ,i would still e-mail a complaint in they took your money under false pretences

ken

[kenny]

hi so you dint have a choice ,i would still e-mail a complaint in they took your money under false pretences

ken

[cindy]

I would also avoid buying seed from open bins at feed or pet stores. It avoids the possibilities of contaminants from bugs, rodents and other bird dirt. If it is stored in open bins it may not be as fresh as bagged. Always check the expiration date,stores typically sell the oldest first on the shelf, newest is to the back of the shelf.