Different seed names

[Diane]

In Mike Fidler's Gouldian Life Cycle Calender he gives a list of seeds that the Research Station uses as a breeding mix

Red Millet
White millet
Siberian Millet
Canary seed
Rye grass
Silk sorghum
Signal grass
Niger seed

I have been looking at feed stores and can find, white millet, white french millet, siberian millet, canary seed and niger seed.
Are there other names the rest of these seed would be known as?
Red millet seems to be a problem, unless its known as panicum, thats the one they always suggest, but no one seems sure.

[gomer]

Red Millet red panicum
White millet french millet
Siberian Millet jap millet

All others are commonly known as you have listed.except i am not familular with Silk sorghum.they are all readily available depending on where you live signal is hard to get here in Vic.Rye may be hard in other states perhaps?

[GregH]

Silk sorghum is a forage sorghum with a johnson's grass background. I've no idea where to source it (certainly not here in the Philippines) but agricultural suppliers, farmer's co-ops etc should be able to source it for you but make sure that it isn't treated or you'll poison your birds. The same guys should also be able to get signal grass seed too. Sigal grass has escaped into many coastal swampy areas so you might be able to collect green seed depending on where you are.

[jusdeb]

I buy red millet under the name of red panicum ...oh and the birds love it....from my research this is the one commercial seed mixes seem to omit or put in very little..

[Diane]

Thanks for the help guys. I do buy the red panicum and yes my birds love it too. I have also got some different reddish coloured seed called Panorama. Following the Fidler diet might be harder than I thought. I might continue with the finch mix I already have and add the other seeds I can get without too much hassle

[craig]

I have been checking out that setup aswell. I'm pretty sure you could find rye grass in SA but if your stuck, nutriwing in WA sells it, if that helps. What I was wondering about though, was reading through that diet regime what does he class as maintenance seed ? He mentions breeding mix and the austerity diet setup but no mention of the standard mix. Any ideas on which seeds to leave out ? Also whats the go with the grit, investigating more around the site it seems to imply that you give no calcium based grit, as in eggshells as the diet covers it ?

Hope im not hijacking this thread, but i'm quite interested in giving this setup a go.

PS, anyone give me a good idea of what seed ratios to feed? or is that not really that important ?

Craig =)

[Diane]

Thanks Craig I have had a look at the Nutriwing site, might be worthwhile to get one or two of their mixes

He mentions breeding mix and the austerity diet setup but no mention of the standard mix.

He mentions the maintenance diet in the October part as being a......
"standard finch seed mix and soft food supplement just twice a week"

PS, anyone give me a good idea of what seed ratios to feed?

If you are trying to following Mike Fidlers regime he lists the percentages of the supplement diet only
The Gouldian Research Station supplement diet is (proportion in brackets behind the seeds):
Frozen green milk seed or sprouted seed (85)
Mike Fidler's soft food (10)
Mashed frozen mixed vegetables (5)

[craig]

Thanks for the info Diane. If your still looking for those seeds etc.
I did find a bit of info

rye-grass (Lolium perennae)
Signal grass (Bracharia spp)
Johnson’s grass (Sorghum hapense) to do with the silk sorghum.
*this come from gregs article on finchme =)

No clue on where to get it in WA. Might be able to find it better with the scientific name.