Sprouting is Nutritious
Sprouts or soaked sprouts are the single most nutritious whole food you can feed to your parrot. The reason for this is that it's a living food. It's a plant in the progress of growth, and it just doesn't get any fresher than that.
Sprouted seeds are more nutrient-dense as they are high in vegetable proteins, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and chlorophyll.
Sprouted seeds are lower in fat, as the process of sprouting utilizes the fat in the seed to start the growing process - thus reducing the fat stored in the seeds.
It is an invaluable food at all times; however, it is especially important for breeding or molting birds. Sprouted seeds also serve as a great rearing and weaning food as the softened shell is easier to break by chicks and gets them used to the texture of seeds.
With regards to produce, the term fresh is relative, unless they are coming straight from your garden. The vegetables and fruits we see in the supermarket are far from fresh picked. Once they are harvested, they are brought to a plant where they wait for processing and packaging. Then they wait for several more days for a truck to transport them across the country to the stores. Then they wait some more until they are displayed, bought, and eventually cooked. It is now many days past their harvesting, and each day accounts for more and more nutritional loss. By the time we buy them and get around to serving them, they are far from what they once were.
I have heard people complain that sprouting is hard. It is not.
The only other concern is for the growth of bacteria and fungi on the seed while they are sprouting. As long as you keep them properly rinsed and drained and keep them in an area where there is good air circulation (not in cabinets, for instance), there should never be a problem with that.
This is the effort you will expend to make a batch of sprouts:
Soak the sprout seed mix for 8-12 hours on your counter
A normal kitchen sieve propped up in a plastic or glass container / bowl works perfectly fine
Rinse thoroughly.
Drain well and set aside until they sprout then serve soaked sprouts
Soaked sprouts have the highest nutrition or rinse and allow to form longer sprout tails and serve. Either way works!
You can save leftovers in the fridge or even freeze for later use.
It's quite an undertaking, isn't it?
Each step takes less time than it does to change a roll of toilet paper. Please try your hand at sprouting and provide your parrot with raw nutrition that won't break your budget! It might take a few tries but it will be worth it. Put a couple of his favorite fruit or veggie in it. It might help get him interested enough to give it a try!
Check out our Sprout Section Here!