When I was growing up my mum told me that any plant with white sap is toxic! This advice (true or false) has stuck with me..... but i have heard mention of Milk Thistles being given to budgies. So are Thistles safe for budiges :hap: ????

Apparently good for budgies. But, in saying that, my Dad swears I killed a canary they had once when I, as a small child gave thistle to the canary. :hap:

My partner who bred budgies many many moons ago swears by thistles and I have given them to my birds and they love them. I only give them thistles from my own yard though, cause I "grow" them. I know no poison has been laid near them etc (my yard isnt full of thistles, just when one pops up, I dont pull it out until its a decent size now lol)

So does that mean Thistles wont make a budgie sick if they are given to them on occasion, but are possibly not good if they are given thistles too often....

 

Mine haven't had any thistles before, but I am very good at growing thistles and sour sobs, and i wanted to make sure that i wasn't throwing away a valuable nutritional food when I did my weeding.

Mine love milk thistles also... I've never had a worry with how much I've fed them... my theory is if they eat that much, they know what they're doing

They love them

What about the old Scotch and Californian thistle. I don't think they'll be loved!. I feed mine dandelion, they love it.

When Im around building I collect the seeds from any thistles I come across and toss them around my back garden , they pop up and when big enough I feed the birds with them . A Bantam breeder I know grows the thistles in a garden bed just for them and he says the chickens love it too.

I have always fed milk thistles to my birds when I can get them, Budgies don't eat them as readily as Canaries…to my knowledge they are considered the ultimate Green for Canaries. I have read on some forum of recent time where they are supposed to be good for their stomach. I'm not sure about the Scotch thistle variety I have never fed them, but think that wild Goldfinches eat the seed heads.

 

You were taught right but Liv, you should be wary of most plants that exude milky sap, as many are very toxic.

 

Like various so called milk weeds like the ones that Monarch Butterflies feed on & Poinsettias & Rheas plants.

Edited June 26, 200816 yr by Norm

What do milk thistles look like?

Sailorwolf, I did a search for Milk Thistle & that's the problem with common names often there are various plants known by the same name, it came up with a totally different plant with Purple flowers which is not the plant we are talking about, then I tried Sow Thistle, try this site plenty of pictures. the none prickly one is the best, but I have used both.

 

http://images.google.com.au/images?hl=en&a...=1&ct=title

Edited June 26, 200816 yr by Norm

Thanks Norm

WOW!! Thanks for all your replies guys

 

I pulled some thistles out of the garden yesterday, but i haven't tossed them yet, so i might give them a wash and see what the birds think

Be careful Liv, wilted green are not supposed to not be good for them, of course a little wilt wont be a problem, but if in doubt best not to use them. I have kept them alive in water for a few days, but trim off the base before feeding them.

There is one sitting under my window that looks like a thistle. I'm too cautious to try it though.

Is it a sow/milk thistle. Will my budgies live if I feed it to them? I probably still won't try it.

 

The white specks are pretty pretty raindrops

Edited June 27, 200816 yr by Sailorwolf

Be careful Liv, wilted green are not supposed to not be good for them, of course a little wilt wont be a problem, but if in doubt best not to use them. I have kept them alive in water for a few days, but trim off the base before feeding them.

 

Thanks for the warning - I will toss those - I am SURE I will find more lurking in my garden

 

So you only feed leaves and stems, not base and roots too ???

You could feed the roots, only everyone worries so much about bacteria, I'm not sure it would be a problem. But what I was meaning is if I collect thistles from elsewhere & keep them fresh in water I trim the base part, as it may have become slimy in the water & only feed the top. If the plant is growing in my garden I always just trim off the top & let it branch again & then get two heads later on…weeds too valuable to pull out…better to have a sloppy garden…

Edited June 27, 200816 yr by Norm

Wow Norm!! I never actually thought of cultivating my thistles, I just leave them in my garden until they are a good size, then pull them up and throw the whole plant in. I think I will start trimming my weeds! LOL

Weeds are only weeds if they are not wanted in your garden

 

I like the idea of keeping a few (out of the way) plants a trimming them

I feed grass to my birds, roots (with Lots of dirt) and all. They love it and i sware the soil is good for their immune system

There is one sitting under my window that looks like a thistle. I'm too cautious to try it though.

Is it a sow/milk thistle. Will my budgies live if I feed it to them? I probably still won't try it.

 

The white specks are pretty pretty raindrops

That certainly looks like one Sailorwolf, but I will usually wait till it flowers & gets some seed heads on it for the birds. Just be careful also as I see a fern growing next to it, plants growing in too much shade are not to supposed to be the best.

 

I have been planing on doing an article on wild weeds that I feed my birds, but so far haven’t had the time to get it ready.

okay.

That would be awesome if you could do that article Norm. Maybe others could contribute to it as well.

There are some proud thistles, growing in amongst my hubby's prize iris!! - any inappropriate spot and a thistle WILL grow

 

They are about to flower

 

 

*image deleted*

 

And what about these ugly things....

 

*image deleted*

 

Norm, Your article sounds like it will be very interesting!! I look forward to reading it when its done

Edited August 15, 200816 yr by **Liv**

Nice healthy thistles! I grow mine bigger than that, but then I have a lot of birds in my big aviary. I dont give them any other weeds than the thistles, although at the moment, I am throwing seed husks from my indoor birds in a particular patch and the grasses are starting to grow so I will be able to start cutting them back and giving them as well.

I am so glad that this is being asked, I have a Weed garden haha ( not that it was planed) and I too have been sooo worried that I would feed the wring type to my guys, the pictures of the THISTLES look like wet the beds the yellow flower ones, which is good as I have them here But i don't understand the whole PRICKY ones wouldn't they hurt the birds???

 

 

LIV: I do was told white sap is bad clear is good ....... ALot of poisionus ( sp ) plants have white sap !!!!

Hi

I used to go around my primary school picking milk thistles in the lunch breaks for my birds. They used to love it and As far as I can tell, It didnt harm them. I would make sure you have never poisoned the area where the thistles are growing.

Your thistles look nice & healthy Liv, the other plant is what we call Paterson’s curse & I think you in SA call Salvation Jane…it’s great plant for honey bees, but I wouldn’t feed it to birds. It’s supposed to be toxic to some animals.

As some one said always be very careful from where you pick your wild weeds, next to busy Highways the ground still could have plenty of lead from the previous petrol & avoid where dogs may have urinated on them. Or where weed killers etc have been used.

Thanks Liv, I must try to get time to put that article together, but been pretty busy. There is one weed I use lots that I don’t even know the name of so maybe someone will be able to tell me.

Most of the seeds that are in bird seed mix will grow better in the warmer months as they are mostly summer plants, you can just cut the grass to feed, but they really like them when the seed heads are nice & plump.