Question about diet

[ambrosialyn]

Ive recently decided to try some "native" foods mixed in with my grey's normal diet. Ive been tring to find some info on what they eat in the wild (like specific types of fruits etc) and havent had much luck. Has anyone else found anything reguarding wild grey's diet, or have any Idea where I can find this info?

 

Also, a dumb question here. How do you get seeds to sprout without planting them?

Amber

[dblhelix]

Palm nuts/fruit and the palm oil are things they naturally eat in the wild/congo. This link has some info on this particular item:

 

http://www.safarimkt.com/red%20palm%20oil.html

 

I have the palm oil and put some on toast for Kip to share in the mornings (instead of butter)! Yes, humans can eat palm oil too... Its supposed to be very good for their feathers. I have not been able to purchase the actual palm nuts, yet... B)

[ambrosialyn]

Thank you! I'll be tryin to get some oil if not nuts payday. I might even try cooking with the oil, I fry way to many foods:P

[ZoesDad]

Hi dblhelix,

Thanks for the link. I've been looking for palm oil and/or nut retailers for a while now!

[Guest briansmum]

anyone know where i can get palm oil in the UK?

[Guest Monique]

Search "sprouting" regarding your sprout question. I have never done sprouting but I've thought about it several times (does that count for anything? ). There is quite the process to creating the sprouts and to be sure that you don't do something wrong to keep "bad" sprouts. Doesn't sound hard persay, but just to be sure you follow the timing guidelines for rinsing the beans, etc.

[Caspersmum]

Hi ambrosialyn,

 

My mum used to sprout Mung beans (it was the 1970s!). It was a horribly long drawn-out process - if you want to get decent numbers, you really need a big plastic sweety jar. Clean it out, punch holes in half of the lid. Rinse your beans in lots of clean water. Put some water in the jar , and turn it onto its side. Put the washed beans in the jar, spreading them out well, and screw the lid on, so the holes are towards the top. Put the jar, still on its side into an airing cupboard. Then every day you have to rinse the beans, throw away the water. After afew days the beans will sprout. Feel free to give it a go, but frankly I think life's too short! And I've tried Casper on bean sprouts from the shop - he was totally unimpressed!

 

Beccy - as for the palm oil, I'm sure I've seen it in my local Tesco - but if you don't mind me getting on my high horse for a minute, palm oil plantations are ruining borneo at the moment, and may wel be responsible for the extinction of orangutans if they carry on expanding at their current rates.

 

Sorry, just had to get that out!

 

Julia

[Guest Monique]

Julia I love your stories you always have an interesting twist or tidbit to add .

[Talon]

Caspersmum,

I love next door to a Bean Sprout factory. (they grow mung bean) They do grow on the dark.

It never occured to me that Talon might like to eat them. I'll have to take a walk over there and get some to try.

[dblhelix]

We have sprouted several different beans for Kip. It is really VERY simple. We have a "sprouting jar" that can be had at most any organic type food store (around here that would be like Whole Foods or Rainbow acres). Its a glass jar with a screen lid that screws on top. You can also just buy the lids for other glass jars. The basic instructions are to rinse the dried seeds, let soak for ~ 8 hrs, then drain/rinse. You could then feed the soaked sprouts before you even see signs of "sprouting". The seeds are very nutritious as soon as they have been soaked overnight as the actual "sprouting process" and life of the seed has begun. You can then store the sprouts for several days as the tails start to grow and continue to feed. However, you should not feed the sprouts if the tails are more than 1 inch long as they then take on a bitter flavor. We have sprouted lentils, mung beans, corn, whole peas, adzuki beans and many others are easy to do Here is a good link with some simple sprouting instructions:

 

http://www.parrothouse.com/sprouting.html

 

Enjoy!