[Alternate Green Food]

 

 

Old Man Saltbush
 (Atriplex nummularia; OMSB)

 

I have been feeding my birds Old Man Saltbush for the past 6 years, and my birds have been thriving

On this form of green food, not only does the birds get an extra green food which they devour and

Chew down to the woody growth on the branches, they even eat the bark, as on the under side of the

Bark are the trace elements, this has to beneficial to the birds, as they also do this with the Eucalyptus

Trees in the wild.

I throw it in my Aviaries liberally, and it is mostly all chewed up, by the next day, you can feed it every day, without any problems, but I suggest

Feed it a couple of times a week, as there are other feeds I also like to feed on a weekly basis, there is so much more they can have.

Variety of food keeps the birds healthy.

 

 

      

                           

 

              Old Man Salt Bush                                       Close up of the Old man Salt Bush leaf

   

Nutrition Table Old Man Saltbush

 

 

 

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Tagasaste (Tree Lucerne)

 

I have been feeding Lucerne Tree for the past three years, and have found that the birds love it,

Another green feed packed full of protein.

 

• Tagasaste has its best-feed quality and leaf production in spring when a bulk of other higher quality feed is also available,

 

The most nutritious parts of the plants are the fresh leafy tips on the ends of stems under 6 mm

In diameter. Testing on plants throughout the Upper South-East has found that new leaf on well-fertilized plants in spring is about 25% crude protein

And up to 75% digestible matter compared to 9% crude protein and 46% digestible matter for edible stems.

 

 

     

 

              Tagasaste (Lucerne Tree)                      Do Not feed to your Birds while in flower

 

 

 

Tagasaste (Lucerne Tree) Nutritional Value

 

Change in feed values of Tagasaste (fresh 10 cm long leafy tips) according to season (average of two sites at Coombe and Marcollat).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is one part of the season not to feed Tagasaste to your birds, this I have learnt by losing some promising young. The following information is to inform you about the time and reason not to feed it to your birds while in flower.

 

 

Tagasaste Staggers

 

“Tagasaste staggers” is an uncommon condition thought to be caused by mycotoxins in the plant. It appears that the syndrome is most likely to occur if stock are grazing Tagasaste that is flowering. Symptoms may range from mild tremors to seizures. These symptoms are most noticeable when the animals are under stress, such as when being moved.

Management for staggers includes isolating and resting the affected individual. Stock will generally recover from the condition within a few hours if provided with good quality feed and not mustered.

As you can read Tagasaste is a stock food, and if it affects stock like this how much more do you think it would affect Budgerigars, so please be aware that as well as the high protein levels, Tagasaste also fed at the wrong time could be lethal,

Do Not Feed While In Flower.

 

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Seeding Grass

 

I mention else where in my site about feeding seeding grass that grows on my property, I thought I would place some pictures, and a little bit off info on this seeding grass, but unfortunately I am unable to tell you the name or the nutritional value, or if it is a millet, or some type of feed that has gone wild, or just a seeding grass that grows here in its natural habitat.

 

I feed this as a treat, the birds get the whole lot, roots and all, they all come down to the floor for it, and squabble amongst them selves if there is not enough, so they must enjoy this seeding grass, I am sure that even if it just breaks the boredom of the Aviary life, as they have to pull every seed off the seed head, I enjoy just watching them feed on it, as it can become quite comical, as they try to grab the 1mm thick stems, and roll around.

 

 

     

 

 

 

   This is how it looks as it grows in clusters,        Each stem can produce quite a number of sprays

                                                                                            This Stem seems to have three

 

 

     

 

 

             This seed spray falls off the plant                             This is the amount of seed I took

              when it dries out, it spreads the                                    from the spray on the left

                seed, by the wind blowing it

                 around, like Tumbleweed.

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

        I have placed the above seed as an example                    Just another way I thought you

        and a comparison of how small this seed is.                    could judge the size of the seed.

                  Bottom left is the Seeding Grass

                   Top left is White French Millet

                     Bottom right is Plain Canary

                      Top right is Japanese Millet

                            .