How can I give my bird a fresh seed mix without all the chemical additives?

 

You can create your own custom dry food mix very easily. Here are some of the advantages of creating your own custom seed mix.

 
· It is less expensive than ordering online and paying shipping.
 · You can use organically-grown ingredients rather than foods treated with pesticides and other chemicals.
 · The mix can be tailored to the individual food preferences of your birds.
 · You can vary the mix from batch to batch.
Instead of buying a ready mix with Sulpher treated dry fruit or veggies, you can add organically grown "Just Fruit" and/or "Just Veggies" with no sulphur, salt, or sweetener.

 
I will share a detailed price breakdown of my first custom mix.
"With seed list in hand I went off yesterday during my lunch hour to the health food store. This is what I got. All one pound bags except where indicated. With all that I got it worked out to 21 ½ pounds. And that works out to $2.57 per pound."

Seed
· Organic millet $1.29
· Organic Quinoa $2.59
· Organic spelt $1.49
· Unhulled sesame $1.99
· Organic Flax Seed $1.59
· Raw pumpkin seeds $3.99
· Raw Sunflower seeds $1.59
· Barley pearled $.69
· Whole oat groats $.99
· Buckwheat groats $2.69
· Short grain Brown Rice $1.29 (1 1/2lb.)
· Wheat Berries $1.29
· Poppy Seeds $1.79
· Unsweetened unsulphured coconut $1.99 (1 ½ pounds)

Total for seed/coconut $25.26

 Nuts
· No-salt soynuts $1.99
· Filberts $4.99 on sale for $3.49
· Walnut pieces $3.99
· Raw Almonds $4.99
· Pecan halves $6.99 (15oz.)
· Unsulphured low sugar pineapple $3.29
· Unsulphured low sugar papaya $3.29

Total for nuts/fruits $28.03

 Cereal
· Puffed wheat .99 only used ½ bag
· Puffed rice .99 only used ½ bag

Total for cereal $1.98

For a grand total of $55.27 which is $2.57 per pound.

NOW WITH TIME HAVE EXCLUDE THE CEREAL OUT OF THE MIX AS THE BIRDS WERE NOT FOND OF IT. NOW CHEERIO'S WERE A HIT. ANY WAY BELOW IS A MORE COMPLETE LIST OF WHAT CAN BE IN YOUR SEED MIX. YOU CAN LEAVE OUT WHAT EVER YOUR BIRDS DO NOT LIKE. I ALSO ADD THE VEGGIE A-B-C- MACARONI AND WHEAT SPAGHETTI AND ORGANIC GRANOLA. EXPERIMENT AS THERE IS A LOT OUT THERE TO CHOOSE FROM.

 

Use the lists below to choose the ingredients of your custom mix.
 ~*~ MIX YOUR OWN DRY FOODS ~*~
SEEDS AND GRAINS
(from health food stores, Whole Foods Markets, & co-ops)

· Milk thistle seeds
· Shelled sunflower seed
· Unshelled sunflower seed
· Wheat berries
· Whole oats
· Barley
· Spelt
· Quinoa
· Dried pumpkin seeds RAW (expensive)
· Dried squash seeds
· Dried cantaloupe seeds
· Sesame seeds (unhulled if you can find them)
· Flax seeds
· Rice
· Milo
· Corn
· Buckwheat
· Poppy seed
· Sesame seed
· Millet (red, yellow, white)

SEEDS (from bird supply stores)

· Hemp seed
· Cockatiel mix
· Canary mix
· Parakeet mix
· Millet sprays

NUTS
(unsalted from supermarkets, online catalogs, & buying clubs like Costco)

· Almonds
· Pine nuts
· Pecans
· Walnuts
· Cashews
· Hazelnuts (filberts)
· Macadamia nuts
· Pistachios
· Coconut shreds
· Soy "nuts"

DRIED FRUITS & VEGGIES
(from supermarkets and health food stores -- look for unsulphured)

· "Just Fruits"
· "Just Veggies"
· Banana chips
· Papaya chunks
· Pineapple slices
· Apple dices
· Apricots
· Cranberries (sugarless are hard to find)
· Cherries
· Raisins
· Currants
· Green peas
· Chili peppers
MISCELLANEOUS
(from supermarkets, buying clubs, health food stores, & elsewhere)

· Coconut shreds
· Nuts (on sale after Fall & Winter holidays)
· Sesame seeds
· Sunflower seeds (raw)
· Dried peppers
· Dried fruits (unsulphured)
Cereals (non-fortified, sugar and salt free)