Navre and Friends in Boston

[Navre]

I got the oat groats. This mix is just the barley, the oat groats, the red winter wheat, and maybe the buckwheat or maybe the rye.

The smallest amount I can make in my rice cooker is two cups, so I just do 1/2 cup of each of four grains.

[Pajarita]

Try adding millet and red rice (Weehani) and eliminating the rye (a number of my birds don't like it and maybe Irwin doesn't either).

[Navre]

I can't even let my GCC out because the Grey shrieks the entire time she's out and I really can't take that 100 decibel scream anymore.

[Navre]

Try adding millet and red rice (Weehani) and eliminating the rye (a number of my birds don't like it and maybe Irwin doesn't either).

It's just so hard to see how much he's eating. I give them far more than they need.

[Pajarita]

I can't even let my GCC out because the Grey shrieks the entire time she's out and I really can't take that 100 decibel scream anymore.

Have you tried putting him in a separate room so he doesn't see her? Or keeping him on your shoulder when she is out? I have never had or heard of a gray that screams all the time... they tend to be quiet birds aside from the beeps and boops sounds they like to make (or, in the case of Sophie, raspberries).

[Navre]

I can't stay logged in. It's pretty frustrating.

I added millet to the grains. I ate a bowl last night. The millet is so much smaller that i think it just turned to mush. It changed the whole texture and taste of the grain mix. I also added green lentils in there this time, so maybe that's it.

I think I have to cook the millet separately. It's so small. I bought organic hilled millet. Maybe it's the wrong stuff?

[Pajarita]

I also buy the hulled one (it's the only one I can find in the supermarket) but yes, you do have to cook it separately. I cook it with the tri-color quinoa I add this time of the year to the gloop to give it more protein (it takes just a few minutes of boiling for it to become soft but not lose its shape while stuff like wheat, kamut or oat groats take 30 to 40 minutes).

[Navre]

I’m sure it’s fine for the birds. I just noticed the difference eating it myself.

[Navre]

Do you ever see your birds drinking water? They seem to get all their moisture from the gloop.

[Pajarita]

Mine always drink first thing in the am when I put out the fresh water... but none of them drinks a lot, a few sips in the morning and that's it for the entire day. It's the way nature evolved them because they are prey animals: crepuscular feeders that derive most or all of their hydration needs from the food they eat which is up in the trees (safe!) -and why pellets are so bad for them.