Conference 7.286::pet_birds

    Doug,
    
    You don't have to send away...just go to Dodge Grain in Salem, NH
    (right on route 28, just before Grossmans).  They carry Carlson
    Organic Millet (same stuff as advertised in bird talk) in 5 or 20
    pound boxes.  It's nice stuff, very fresh, and runs $11 or 12 for
    5 pounds.  I give one spray to the budgie cage and one to the
    cockatiels each day, and the 5 pound box has lasted me over a month.
    
    Dodge is a great source for all you supplies. I buy 40 pound bags
    of corn cob, as well as Scarlett Nutra feeds for everyone there.
     Their prices are SIGINIFICANTLY better than the pet shops, and
    they turn over the products quickly so they are fresh.  Even their
    prices on cages are good.  I bought a Prevue 125 for my severe macaw
    and it was $25-40 cheaper than anyplace else I looked or called.
    
    Diane
    

    Hi Doug!
    
    I use millet from Sunshine Products in Oregon.  It is much larger
    than the Carlson millet.  Carlson Millet is good stuff... it's just
    so small compared to Sunshines.  In the summertime, we grow our
    own millet sprays! The backyard looks like a little meadow! 8^}
    
    Dodge Grain IS a good place to go, but a little far from Lunenburg!
    I think most any Agway dealer will carry, or at least order for
    you!  Now that you are a member of NHAS, you can buy food from the
    Co-op and save up to 20% on seed and vitamins....  The only drawback
    to the co-op is minimum seed orders are $25...*And* the co-op gets
    their seed from Dodge Grain!  ;-)
    
    Jean

    Doug:
    
    I buy loose millet spray from Erikson Grain on Rt. 27 in Acton.
    Their prices are quite reasonable, even on packaged seed.  I buy
    Kay-tee fortified seed for my finches there and the bags are about
    $l.50 cheaper than at pet stores.  Wild bird seed is quite a bit
    cheaper there, too.  I don't necessary want to buy 5 lbs. of millet
    at a time so I buy as little or as much as I want from their
    basket--usually a pound at a time.  Can't remember the price per
    pound but it may be a bit over $3, which is more expensive than
    what you're saying a 5 lb. bag costs at Dodge Grain.  Still, Erikson
    is cheaper than pet stores and they're convenient to where I work.
    They don't sell bird cages.
    
    Sandy

    Jean,
    What do you plant to grow the millet sprays.....I would love to
    grow my own, but wouldn't know what seeds to buy.  Or do I just
    plant a spray?  
    
    Feeling very silly not knowing this, but oh well....
    Cheryl
    

    Cheryl, Let me take a stab at this one........Hey Jean dont get
    offended, just trying to help and see if I know what I'm talking
    about.
    
    
    	Take a sprig of millet and extract a few seeds, now take a paper
    towel and moisten, place the seeds inside and fold over place in
    the sun and dont let the towel dry up. after a couple/three days,
    or even a week, look inside and see if any roots started to sprout
    from the seeds. If so, then the seed is fertile and you can use
    to plant your own. If not, they are sterile and you cant plant them
    and actually, you shouldnt give 'em to your birds either as they
    arent providing any nutritional benefits to your birds.
    
    I try and do that with all my bagged food.  Found out that BLUE
    SEAL feeds dont care about sterility in their seeds. never got one
    to sprout.
    
    chet
    
    P.S. Jean, howd I do?
    
    Call me!
    

    Not bad Chet!  Today's my last day again... you call me 880-8984!
    So there!  8-)
    
    Millet sprays are huge when they grow.  About 4' tall, then as the
    spray matures, it bends over.  That's why the yard looks like a
    meadow!  it's really pretty too!  The sprays start out tall and
    light green, then as the seed matures, it gets heavy and leans over
    and starts to turn purplish... then gold.  I pick them when they
    are good and gold!  Then I spray with my trusty bleach solution
    and roast for about 15 min at 300 degrees.
    
    And not, it's not silly.  I figured this out by mistake!  Actually,
    my husband did.  It's a laugh. He, Tom, is very proud of his garden
    in the summer!  We all live out of if for a couple of months.  Well,
    one year, when we still used corn cob bedding, I vacuumed out the
    flights and where do you get rid of all that stuff?  Well, shoot,
    you throw it in the garden to fortify the soil for next year right?
    
    WRONG!  All that seed slept through the winter, and grew for us
    in the spring and killed the garden!  I laugh, Tom is still quite
    upset about it!  We not only had millet, we had oats, flax , thistle
    and yes, lettuce.  There is a fair amount of lettuce seed in finch
    mix!  So see Cheryl, it was quite simple, and it did not require
    ANY effort on our part!  
    
    I did grow sunflowers one year though.  Mistake there!  I pulled
    the heads down to dry and feed in the flights, and in the heat of
    the sun, these tiny little red wormy things came out of the flower
    head.  Made me gag.... I hate bugs!  I figured with the slugs in
    the garden, the squirels in the corn and all, that these little
    red worms may not be a good healthy staple for my birds,, so I left
    the sunflower heads for the wild birds.
    
    Gee, did I cover this alright?
    
    Like I said, I'll be gone from this assignment tonite, but it looks
    like I'll be at Spitbrook next week!!! I promise to be more active
    and helpful then!
    
    Bye yawl for now!
    
    Jean

    Chet and Jean,
    
    Thanks for the info, I'm gonna try to grow some this year.  I have
    a wildflower garden (some people call them weeds, but I like the
    flowers), so a millet garden shouldn't be a problem.  
    
    Thanks again,
    Cheryl 
    

    I picked up a 5# box of millet sprays at Dodge Grain yesterday.
     The exact price was $10.41.
    

    where's Dodge Grain located at?
    

    Dodge Grain is in Salem NH, on Route 28  next to Grossmans.