The Conure Coop

All of our birds are fed Zupreem Natural pellets along with a quality seed mix. For our breeding birds and our pet birds we mix about 30% seed and 70% pellets in their bowl.

We also offer all of our birds our sprout mixes and fresh vegetables. Our breeding birds are fed the sprout mix in the early morning and in the early afternoon. Our pets and baby parrots are fed the sprouts and fresh foods all throughout the day. We feed in small servings and replenish their bowls several times a day. We eat several times a day and we expect our food to be fresh....right? So why wouldn't your companion parrot expect and enjoy the same thing?

By Sprouting Beans, Grains and Seeds you are giving your Parrot a diet high in Phytonutrients!

Many bird owners believe that it is just too much work to feed sprouts to their birds. I think bird owners are thinking about the type of sprouts we eat on our salads, with long tails and tiny little leaves. This type of sprout may be difficult and time consumming to cultivate. However, that is not the type of sprout our birds will enjoy. Sprouted Beans, Seeds and Grains can be made in 24 hours. Here is my time schedule for making sprouts for my flock each and every day.
I Rinse and then Soak the sprout mix from early morning till dinner time. (For 8 - 12 hours)
At dinner time I drain the mix, rinse, and leave it draining in my "Easy Sprouter" or a colander covered with a damp cloth to keep the beans and grains moist and in the dark.
Before I go to bed I run water over the mix and agitate the mix to allow some air flow. Use lots of water and lots of gentle agitation.
When I wake up the next morning the mix will look just as it does in the photo below. The sprouts are now ready to feed to my flock.
We mix the sprouts with fresh fruits and vegetables. Each pair of large birds gets about 1/2 cup of this mix two times a day. The smaller pairs get about 1/4 cup two times a day. As I mentioned, we feed our pets and babies this food several times throughout the day.

The best time to feed this mix is when the tails just appear. At this stage you can keep the sprouted mix in your fridge and rinse at least once a day. Although we make our mix fresh each day, you can also freeze your sprouts and gently thaw them by running hot water over them. The sprouts will continue to grow in the fridge. Feed the mix to your birds within 5 days. Smell the mix daily before you feed to make sure it smells fresh and nutty. If it smells sour you should discard and start over.

If you prefer, the mix can also be soaked and cooked. Just soak the mix overnight and boil for 20 to 30 minutes. The birds love the mix prepared like this also. I like to feed our sprout mixes cooked some days just to give the birds a different taste.

Health Benefits of Feeding Sprouted versus Cooked:
Our fresh sprout mix supplies our birds with a healthy dose of live foods rich in phytonutrients. This is what our birds would be eating if they were living in the wild. Wild parrots do not eat pellets and would probably only eat dried seeds in seasons when fresh foods are scarce. My fresh sprout mix is all live food similar to what parrots would hunt for in their wild habitats.

We have been feeding our birds these Sprouting mixes for years. All of our birds eat these mixes with great enthusiasm, even the seed junkie birds love these mixes! By Sprouting these mixes we know that our birds are getting high energy foods full of Phytonutrients. Phytonutrients means nutrients derived from natural live plants. When beans, seeds, and grains are sprouted they become a live food with nutrients far beyond the dormant seed. Nutrition experts now say that phytonutrients are a major source of dietary antioxidants. Antioxidants help protect cells from damage.

Although the best way to feed these mixes is by sprouting them, if you do not have the time to sprout the mixes you can also prepare them as a cooked mix. By Soaking the mixes at least a few hours before cooking you essentially begin the awakening of the seeds and turning them into "live" food.

I hope that your birds will enjoy our mixes as much as our birds do!