New guinea grass and johnson grass

List what type of plants you keep in your aviaries/cages
Misso
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Thanks for the replies everyone. Di do your gouldians eat the seed heads?? From the guinea grass and Johnson grass?
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finchbreeder
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Location: Midwest of West. Aust. Coast
Location: Midwest of West.Aust.Coast

New Guinea grass looks like what we call Geraldton grass, Mums and my Gouldians and Canarys raise almost exclusivly on it, as do my Painteds and Javas. Purple fountain grass thats the proper name for pussy tail bush, Canarys particularly love it but the Gouldians also show interest, and them that don't eat it use it for nesting material.
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triplea
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Location: Gawler SA
Location: Gawler SA

The ones Diane has i call the same.Heres a link which has a few more,And also a very good read.
http://www.finchsociety.org/fsa/grass/grass.htm
Thats is a good read Thanks Gomer
I've got some very good plants of that palm grass but no seed heads yet.
Anything I say. What a wonderful philosophy you have.
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Diane
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Location: Northern 'burbs of Adelaide
Location: Northern 'burbs of Adelaide

Misso wrote:Di do your gouldians eat the seed heads?? From the guinea grass and Johnson grass?
I havnt had any seed heads from the Guinea grass yet as I only bought it a couple of weeks ago.

They sure do with the Johnson grass, I have one male gouldian that will land on the seed head and tuck in while Im still holding it. As soon as I walk towards the aviary with a handful of the seed heads some of the birds move to the front of the aviary to check out what I have. All the birds I have eat it eat it, gouldians, canaries, RH and blue faced parrot finches, emblemas, firefinches.
They will also spend ages trying to drag the stalks into the nesting box as part of the nest building. Excellent comedy entertainment for a Saturday afternoon watching a gouldian get a 3 foot long piece into a 5 inch box. Lesson in perseverance too.
Diane
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finchbreeder
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Anything that's hanging out of the nests I cut off and let them haul it back, but yes seeing a little finch hauling a great long length of grass raises a chuckle. Usually in consideration for the fact that what's not eaten is used for nesting cut to about 30cm or 12" lengths, once they have had a good go at it.
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mackstaa
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Hiya does anyone have Johnson grass or Palm grass in Perth ?????????/

I cant find any anywhere I have plenty of green panic and Guinea for trade to any kind finchos :D
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Redwing
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Location: SOR Perth, WA
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Hi Mackstaa, I have some Palm grass plants at my workplace that I collected seeds from last year but they're not seeding at the moment. Can let you know when they start ... think it was in winter. Have tried to buy some plants from nursery but no luck. Like you would also love to get hold of some of these other plants that everyone talks about but don't know how you do it. Have just planted some seed mix in a pot do you just put the whole pot in for the birds to eat the shoots or will they seed and if so how long does it take? Sorry to jump into your thread Mackstaa.
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mackstaa
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Anytime Redwing,
You may have to keep one young Palm grass for me :)
The guinea grass kidd you not is 1.8M high and I get 30 seed heads off it a day its in my vege patch :D and we just harvest it every morning. African Veldt is along my garden borders and I harvest that every day too(Put in aviary and Parrotfinches Mow it until it doesnt recover). Finch mix I grow until it seeds then harvest the whole plant but you should do it spring/summer the growing is starting to slow down now and the millet spray heads are maturing very small with not many seeds as it gets colder :geek:
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Diane
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mackstaa wrote:The guinea grass kidd you not is 1.8M high
:shock: Mine doesnt grow that big! It sort of splays out a bit rather than growing up. Even the Johnston grass isnt that big!
Diane
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desertbirds
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A few shots of Guinea Grass and some sort of giant johnsonson grass.Guinea grass is best left for a week or so once the seed heads start to appear.Its seems to take awhile for the seed to actually form.Johnsons grass on the other hand can be fed at almost any stage and be devoured.I planted some "taste of Africa" seed and this giant form grew,in the aviary it would have topped 2.5 metres but i chooped it back.it doesnt seem to be as popular as the standard size Johnson grass with the finches but it is easier to control the spread of this type.
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