Australian Niger Seed

[starman]

Stuart Whiting wrote:
I believe the article you mention about the comparison would be Doug Hill of Aussie and Marcus Pollard of Tasmaia from Clifton finch avaires
[/quote]

That may be the one, Stuart. I do a lot of reading/research (non-aviculture related) these days and tend to get a bit foggy when it comes to sources and references.
That experiment could be valuably applied to many other seeds, both exotic and local. Breeders in Australia are very well catered for with both the variety and quality of our local millets and domestic grains, but as with all things, quality varies widely. Most are of good quality, some are mediocre, but luckily few are total rubbish. The Great Seed Debate is alive and healthy over here and comes up frequently in clubs, magazines, and forums.

[mr skeeter]

i tried to get the kununarra niger and was also told it was all sold to the canary clubs so i know get all my niger from peter slade pre ordered for the singleton sale its much better seed i think. u would think the desert seed company in kununarra would hold some for the breeders in wa the chaps name is spike let him know its not good enough. cheers mick

[STUART WHITING]

Stuart Whiting wrote:
I believe the article you mention about the comparison would be Doug Hill of Aussie and Marcus Pollard of Tasmaia from Clifton finch avaires

That may be the one, Stuart. I do a lot of reading/research (non-aviculture related) these days and tend to get a bit foggy when it comes to sources and references.
That experiment could be valuably applied to many other seeds, both exotic and local. Breeders in Australia are very well catered for with both the variety and quality of our local millets and domestic grains, but as with all things, quality varies widely. Most are of good quality, some are mediocre, but luckily few are total rubbish. The Great Seed Debate is alive and healthy over here and comes up frequently in clubs, magazines, and forums.
[/quote]





Hi there starman,

That's good to know that you've also got a very good and healthy supply of quality seed pretty much the same as what we have here in England by the sounds of it,

To me the quality of seed is everything as after all it's what our birds depend on for their survival and much of our breeding results would surely be down to quality seed being used, I'm personally very critical on this

It's interesting to note however that other countries like America I've noticed that the overall purchase of decent seed mixes seems to be somewhat hard to come by, I'm also on the finch forum which is predominantly based in America and have had much discussion about this and a lot of their seed mixes seem to be bulked out by the use of pellets, now to me this would be utterly useless because after all finches are predominantly seed eaters and DO NOT have pellets in their diet in a wild state,

It's been argued that finches in captivity are weaned onto pellets as they wouldn't know any better but I still would feel that pellets are not natural for finches and is absolutely no way on earth would I ever use em,

It seems that America and surrounding states appear to be somewhat way behind in many ways compared to the rest of the world in the way that they keep their birds especially regarding diet

Over here in England we wouldn't dream of giving our finches a supplemented pellet diet and from what I've gathered Aussie breeders wouldn't eaither,

For breeding routine I'd very much follow the very same principle as to what most of you good Aussie breeders would use IE

The highest quality seed that one can purchase, this repeated for the use of soaked seed and an abundance of live food

Definitely not pellets

Speak soon

[Tiaris]

I get my dry seed from a seed grower who does a regular run over this way. The best test of seed quality is its sprout rate. I feed plenty of sprouted seed & if seed won't sprout, it isn't even seed (IMO). The untreated fresh niger is one of the quickest seed types to sprout.

[STUART WHITING]

I get my dry seed from a seed grower who does a regular run over this way. The best test of seed quality is its sprout rate. I feed plenty of sprouted seed & if seed won't sprout, it isn't even seed (IMO). The untreated fresh niger is one of the quickest seed types to sprout.

Totally agree Graham

[Greg41]

It would appear that I give up on Aust Niger and try to dress up the imported seed with a bit of oil.[Sunflower, aniseed etc ]
Even getting any seed from East to West sometimes takes a bit of managing.

Cheers.

[STUART WHITING]

It would appear that I give up on Aust Niger and try to dress up the imported seed with a bit of oil.[Sunflower, aniseed etc ]
Even getting any seed from East to West sometimes takes a bit of managing.

Cheers.

Hi there Greg,

This is part of an article by the well known Robert black about the importance of vitamin D3, he mentions about the use of cod liver oil,

Don't know if yerself or anyone else happens to use cod liver oil with seed or other various foods but wanted to inform that although this is very good to use for our birds it also can go very rancid if exposed to air for any length of time

Here's part of the article

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[Craig52]

Stuart, i am sure our birds in aviaries here receive plenty of vitamin D3 naturally from the sun but D3 can't be absorbed properly unless it is combined with calcium.
Vitamin A is the hard one but is available in oily seeds fed in moderation. I'm sure Greg could buy hulled sunflower seeds at any supermarket and feed sparingly after crushing it up.
I say sparingly as it is a heating seed and can put weight on your birds in particular parrot finches, if worried about this buy a good vitamin powder that covers all vitamin/minerals and amino acids in one on your soft foods or water once a week.
One good one is Solaminavit from Alfarm supplies in Cranbourne Melbourne online. Craig

[Greg41]

Hi, I think enough has been said about this topic, my birds get all the right bits and bobs including hulled Sunflower Seeds.
It was really just to highlight the problems we in the West can have getting a supply of some seeds and my disapointment with
Dessert Seeds.
Cheers.

[STUART WHITING]

Stuart, i am sure our birds in aviaries here receive plenty of vitamin D3 naturally from the sun but D3 can't be absorbed properly unless it is combined with calcium.
Vitamin A is the hard one but is available in oily seeds fed in moderation. I'm sure Greg could buy hulled sunflower seeds at any supermarket and feed sparingly after crushing it up.
I say sparingly as it is a heating seed and can put weight on your birds in particular parrot finches, if worried about this buy a good vitamin powder that covers all vitamin/minerals and amino acids in one on your soft foods or water once a week.
One good one is Solaminavit from Alfarm supplies in Cranbourne Melbourne online. Craig

Yes I quite agree there Craig, I use many oil seeds meself IE black and red rape, Nyger, linseed, hemp and a few others wild oil seeds etc,

I fully understand about the D3 issues combined with calcium, back here in England I discuss and educate others about this as our summers are rather erratic and many of us although keep a few foreign outside in avaires during the few months of summer many also keep their birds in the birdrooms where they won't receive enough sunlight to make any absorption to the birds,

This is what I've always used, once a week for non breeding birds and x3 times a week for breeding birds

A very easy and simple way of administering enough calcium and D3 along with feeding the everyday seed diet and with rational live food, obviously more live food when breeding.

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