milk thistle

[jusdeb]

Found bird food nirvana yesterday .
Dandelions , Milk Thistle and seeding grass up to the ying yang .

Ive never feed them milk thistle before so question ....do they get all of it ? Leaves and flowers ?
And will feeding them these wild greens everyday hurt them as I intend to cash in on the free food for a while .

[roma9009]

just throw the lot in the birds will pick through what they want you can feed everyday but it would be better every couple of days as the birds will appreciate it more

[lardles]

Milk Thistle and the related Sow Thistle (looks the same but with prickly leaves) are a great soucre of greenfood.

My finches eat the leaves, and the siskens particularly like the flowering buds/heads, which in warmer weather are usually covered with aphids, so free livefood too.

Parrots will eat the lot, but love the stalks. Parrots also like the flowers of dandelions, but havent seen finches have too much to do with them. Flowering winter grass heads are a finch favorite too.

Always give them a good wash,

[Myzomela]

No problems Deb. The only issue with greenfood is when the birds are given a lot at once after having none. It is usually a good idea to gradually increase the amount of any new food, particulalrly greenfood. It really stimulates a lot of parrots in particular. During the breeding season I would definitely feed it daily, especially when they have young, when you can feed as much as they will eat.

[jusdeb]

They are used to greens everyday . They Princess's actually demand it Thanks for the heads up .

I was a bit concerned about maybe an overdose of some vitamin in the thistle .

[Harvey11]

I feed my Caneries thistle the other day and they loved it,we have lots of winter grass here so all my birds are getting plenty of it


harv

[finchbreeder]

Thistle and winter grass, go down a treat with all my finches and the canarys too. And !@#$ Barley grass. Horrible stuff unless you are a finch.
LML

[gouldianpaul]

Hi Deb,
If i had access to milk thistle every day of the year my birds would eat it....mine love the entire plant...leaves and flower....I have a couple of local spots that i pick it from and collect enough for 1 week and place it in a bucket of water....it doesn't last any longer than that.

My birds also get what I call seedling grass....and there is heaps of it this time of the year, but not much when my Gouldians are breeding...I am starting to pick it now and freeze it to stock up for breeding season....I love the fact that these 2 food sources are enjoyed by the birds with the added bonus that they are fee....just a little of your time on the weekends.

[jusdeb]

Exactly Gouldian Paul . Next trip will be to freeze some seeds . Good tip about keeping the thistle in water , Ill try that .

[matcho]

I am lucky to have access to milk thistle, dandelion, wild oats, wintergrass and seeding native grass year round in rotating times. Dandelion is year round and my birds love it. Actually the use of greens daily has increased the clutchsize/survival rate as compared to last year. Surprisingly the use of live food (although necessary) for painted and stars has been able to be decreased because of the greens. Goulds especially love the wild oats. Milk thistle, especially when young is a bonus.