Growing grasses for food and nutrition

[flywhoaman]

A great deal of discussion goes on at the Aussie Finch Forum about what grasses are harvested or raised for their native finches and fed to their captive birds, especially during the period when the finches are raising their young. With the exception of internationally accepted forage grains, like canola (rape), and millets, many of the grasses that are fresh harvested for the birds in Australia are neither native nor available here in the US.

How many breeders here in the US utilize fresh grass seed heads for their finches? I would think that any of the grass type finches, whether they are native to Australia or Africa (or Australasia, etc.) would benefit from this nutrition. I am planning to grow millet in pots, both white and red, for this purpose but am wondering what other grasses available here would be suitable for this purpose. If you have a large aviary, do you add pots of grasses to your "landscape"?

[debbie276]

I always offer available seed heads from the garden/yard

[flywhoaman]

Do you notice any difference in preference between one kind of grass (or are you offering pretty much the same kind of grass?) I do know the Australians say their birds love chickweed, which is actually a native of Europe and (big surprise) eaten by chickens. I am confident this is the same plant that we have here.

[Rox]

I've been trying to grow seed in pots for over a year now and to be honest, it just isn't working. The plants just don't grow as well as they do in an open bed. Next spring, I will be converting a patch of my backyard into a millet garden. Your normal bird seed can be planted and I know jap millet and white millet grow really well when given a proper chance. At the moment, I just have a patch of grass/weeds which I let grow and cut for the birds.

Pot plants in your aviary all depend on what birds you have. My first aviary started out beautifully planted, both in pots and in the ground. My canaries soon killed everything and quickly taught the other birds (finches and waxbills) how to strip a plant bare in 1 day. I now just have dried brush in there and I give them fresh cuttings from safe plants in the garden rather. I also have herbs planted in pots outside the aviary for this lot and they eat through the fence. Saves the plant from total destruction.

My second aviary is free of canaries (finches, waxbills and diamond doves only) and is planted and is growing spectacularly. I even let the seed sprout itself in there, so it's pretty self-sufficient.

[flywhoaman]

Very cool, Rox. That is exactly the kind of response I was hoping to hear. When you grew grasses, what size pots were you using? I am imagining having to grow them in fairly large containers in order to create enough food and cover for the plants to withstand the use by the finches.

When you say canary, are you talking the domestic canary or the singing finch type? There was an Australian breeder with a fairly large aviary who had the same problem as you but he had cockatiels in his aviary (!) with his finches which stripped everything bare, including bamboos and shrubs.

Have you experimented with any grasses other than the millets?

Thanks so much for your response!

[Rox]

I have used pots ranging from 30 - 50cm in diameter but the plant's don't grow that well and the seed heads that do form are tiny compared to when you plant out in a bed.

Most of the grasses I get are indigenous from our local nursery. Below is a great link that will give you some more ideas, as I'm not sure what grasses you have available on your side.

http://www.finchsociety.org/fsa/grass/grass.htm

Glad I could be of some help

Oh and I have the smaller Fife canary but I think pretty much all canaries will enjoy a good chew!

[monotwine]

My birds will always take to fresh / half ripe seed before they think of going to any other food on offer.
It is a great stimuli to some finch species to breed and also quite nutritious.
I grow grasses and shrubbery in both pots and the ground/dirt of the aviary itself. Here are some of my experiences:

Grasses in the aviary can be kept in a large pot which is plunged in the ground if you want it to look natural. This allows for good watering without wetting the surrounding dirt floor and causing unhealthy damp conditions for the birds. It will also allow control over some that become wild weeds if left in the ground without boundaries (like bamboo). You can then also keep the plants in the growth media best suited to them. I just top my pots off with gravel to prevent the birds from getting into the soil. Grasses can be grown straight in the dirt if you have a tougher species that does not require too frequent watering / like me have a fairly high water table. Drip irrigation around the plants in the ground is a good way to avoid having to wet the whole floor of the aviary when needing to water them. A grass in a container quickly becomes root bound and then dries out and becomes less vigorous, so you need to make sure they are sufficiently potted on. Above all, make sure you can offer the grass what it needs to grow. Usually this is good light i.e. full sun.

My grasses do flower in the aviary, but rarely ever make it to seeding stage. The birds also like to eat pollen and strip the heads before they have time to seed. However the pollen is also a stimuli for some birds (or thought so) so I leave those there for that purpose and they are ornamental plants which give my ground birds cover.

I use wild native grasses in the aviary planting. They are hardy, fast growing and adapted to local conditions. The birds also use them for nesting.

Occasionally a millet seed will make it past sprouting and actually grow in the aviary, but again it does not get far enough along to make seed. The birds steal the pollen first.

I have had success getting a seed crop off grasses and millet crops in containers, but as Rox said your yield is less. The best millet crop of seed heads I've had is from growing white french millet in open ground i.e. my veggie / farm garden patch. I did not need too much space, but good composting and watering helped get very vigorous plants with lovely heads of seed. I harvested when it was half ripe, used what I wanted and froze the rest. Worked out well. Additionally some species will send up secondary flowers if you harvest by pulling out the seed head instead of cutting the stalk.
Weed grass can be an easy meal. Here I use Ehrharta erecta. I have them as container plants and grow them in a few patches where they are allowed to be useful weeds. I allow the containered plants to seed and then place the whole pot in the aviary for the birds. I rotate a few of these in and out of the aviary depending on how long they last. When those pots are recovering / growing new seed heads, I harvest small bunches of seed heads to place inside the aviary for the birds.
The trick to getting them containered is to place an empty pot full of soil near a weed patch and allow them to establish themselves in it. Funniest thing trying to grow weeds.... they never grow where you want them and don't like to be transplanted!

To sum it up though, grasses (especially long lived ones) are great for ornamental value in the garden and will only have a seed value if you grow them out of reach of the birds.
Millet crops will give you a great yield if they are purpose grown for such and are definitely not in the reach of the birds.

Have fun growing some seeds for the birds.

[lovezebs]

1386373956629.jpg (21.32 KiB) Viewed 926 times

Hi all. Just a quick question regarding grasses and weeds etc. I live in Alberta Canada. I walk my pups daily, weather permitting in a sort of a semi wild area, where we have a multitude of weeds and grasses growing in the spring and summer. I think they are wild grasses etc. but not sure. Now the question is, how would I know if they are safe or not for my boys? This winter I have picked up bits of dry grasses and little twigs and stalks, that of course are dry and frozen this time of the year. I washed them , dried them and offered them to the kids to play with. They had a blast with these, dancing, singing, screeching in joy as they attempted to build, God only knows what. Anyway, would these same verds be alright when they are in bloom or going to seed???

[Sunbay]

Beautiful! Looks like you have a great selection of goodies to offer your birds. Lovely area - lucky you!



Lauren

[lovezebs]

LOL. Problem is, don't know what's good or bad in all that lot.

[debbie276]

Any of those grass seed heads would be fine and I'm sure your birds will love it