GROWING GREENS.
Don’t take risks by gathering wild green food.
Grow your own and you can be sure it’s safe.
I read this article with great interest and thought I would give it a try. And I was amazed at how well it worked and how much my canaries enjoyed it.
David Allen DTA Lizard Stud.
So below is the transcript of the article printed in Cage Birds
This is an article write by BERNARD WILLIAMS and was printed in cage birds.
Gathering green food can be a time consuming job. What’s more there is always a risk that weeds collected from the wild may be contaminated by herbicides or pesticides, or have been foul by animals. It is far safer to grow it yourself. That way you can be confident that there is no contamination from outside influences.
Until recently , I used to germinate the rapeseed that I buy from my bird-seed supplier, but this year [2007] a friend of mine gave me a sack of rapeseed as bought by farmers to sow in their fields. I am told that
This seed is readily available from farm shops and that a full sack only costs about $5 . I am told that as these seeds are not treated, they germinate better than the rapeseed we feed our birds. How right that was.
I use a 2.4m x1.8m [8ftx6ft] greenhouse to grow my rape seed, but a cold frame or a small plastic covered shelving system could be used. These are cheap and are readily available in most DIY centres Standing in a sunny place these can be as good as a standard greenhouse.
1.] I put a thin layer of rapeseed in the bottom of a shallow dish. I cover the seed with boiling water and place a piece of card over the top. This is then placed in the greenhouse for 48hours
2] I brought six plastic planting trays from my local garden centre for 2.49 These tray’s can be used over and over again and will last for years, if you look after them. Each tray has 24 planting compartments moulded into it. I fill each pocket/compartment with potting compost, firm it down and spread a thin layer of the chitted seed on top.
3.} then cover the seed with a thin layer of fine compost. The tray is watered and placed in the greenhouse. After anther 48 hours, the seedlings will be seen breaking through the top layer of compost. The seedlings must be kept damp so the trays should be watered as required, depending on the weather.
4.] Five to severn days later, the cress like seed is ready to be used. In all I employ 20 trays for my 40 breeding pairs. I prepare three or four trays every few days, until all the trays are in use again and my greenhouse bench is full again. In this way, the crop is staggered so that there is always plants at different stages of growth. This means that a continuous crop of fresh cress like seedlings are available for my birds. This year [2007] the weather was good at the middle of February so I started planting a few trays. By beginning of March I was able to start giving my bird fresh green food every other day. This set them on the conditioning cycle to get them ready for the breeding season. Once a tray is empty, I start the process again.
5.] because of the shape of the compartments the seedlings can be lifted out with it’s roots and soil plug. The plug is pushed firmly into a 3inc plastic seed dish. This dish is then placed into the cage. I use one dish for every two birds. If a bird is in a cage on it’s own, I split the plug in half and give it to the solo bird.
In growing greens in the way described takes only five or ten minutes a day. This is far quicker than trying to find a safe source of wild green food. It is also fresher since it is actually still growing when given to the birds.
If I return to my shed 10 minutes after the seedlings are given, most of it will be gone. I certainly consider this a most cost-effective way of feeding greed food or though it’s not free.
