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bird germination?

Nightshade

Nightshade

In the wild birds help germinate seeds so I figure wouldn't it be easier to germinate wild peppers by feeding a pet bird the seeds and putting a tray of soil at the bottom of the cage to catch the seeds?
 
I can tell you from years of experience that pet birds love seeds. They especially like to take them apart and eat the middle. In the wild the birds eat far more than they can chew to pieces, and store them in their crops for later,  so whole seeds pass through their digestive tracts in small numbers. This is nigh on impossible to replicate in your front room. It would be interesting to see if marinating chili seeds in bird poop would help in their germination rates. 
 
I can not help but wonder what the look on the face of an African Grey would be after it's first bite of an Butch T or Moruga.....
 
Nigel, give it a go! You've got an aviary going on there!  :)

Arkennon said:
I can not help but wonder what the look on the face of an African Grey would be after it's first bite of an Butch T or Moruga.....
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I've given my Macaw plenty of super hots and she goes straight for the seeds...
 
Yep, they do go straight for the seeds and throw the fruit part away. We often give them fresh Jalapenos because around here they are often 69 cents a pound. We do give some of our outdoor birds dried peppers and often get volunteer plants, but it`s because they are messy and throw stuff all over, including pods with seeds still in them. 
 
The Macaws we`ve had have been twice as messy as the Amazons, or worse. I`d love a big Macaw, but my Wife isn`t too keen. We`ve had pairs of B&G and Greenwings, but don`t have them now. A friend of mine used to breed Hyacinth Macaws, which I`ve always loved. He sold his birds because of medical reasons and I didn`t have $20,000 for a pair!!!
 
What bird would you recommend is the best. I'm looking for a bird from the rainforest and it has to be unique but affordable off topic but thought I would ask. I would assume the bird poop would make a good starter fertilizer for the seeds?
 
I used to feed other Solanaceae (Withania somnifera especially but also Solanum spp.) to my chickens!  I kept Japanese bantams (the coolest chooks ever!) and their domain was my orchard and veg and herb garden.  They chowed chilis and any other berries.  I had loads of self-sown plants all over the place.  The mega benefit was that it kept my birds internal parasite-free but also I could pick way extra pods for sauces or the table!
 
Chickens are perfect because they will eat anything and they try and swallow their food whole and it moves thru them quickly.  And the turds are big enough to spot.  You not gonna get so lucky with a little Passerine.
 
ADDED:  You can try some of the wild chooks such as green jungle fowl (very beautiful and quite rare) or the red (but it looks very much like a normal chicken!) or even better the Sonnerat's or grey jungle fowl - very unusual bird that doesn't tame easily.  Well worth the effort tho.
 
Nice suggestion on the chickens. We had Silkies for a while, as I wanted to see if there was a market for black chicken in the Asian communities down here. Plus I love the stuff. Anyway, I hatched them from fertilised eggs and they did great, then they hatched a few young and we were doing well. We had them outside in a very large pen (about 40 yards square) with a 6' fence all around. A Mountain Lion ate the entire flock one night. I kid you not. I found tracks and poop. 
 
Jungle fowl are fantastic birds, especially Sonnerats . I like Silver Seabrights, but there are so many cool ones. Like Japanese bantams!

Nightshade said:
What bird would you recommend is the best. I'm looking for a bird from the rainforest and it has to be unique but affordable off topic but thought I would ask. I would assume the bird poop would make a good starter fertilizer for the seeds?
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Tough one, as they are all pretty expensive - minimally $250. Have a look on Google for Fig parrots, as they are sometimes available. Look at Parrotlets, too. Some of the smaller Conures are nice birds, but can be noisy. Sun conures are especially nice birds, as are green cheeked conures. There are people who breed Toucanettes and birds like the Green Aracari, but you`re going up in price range to $600+. 
 
Be careful about buying from anyone who looks a bit shady, or from a swap meet, as birds can have a lot of VERY expensive vet issues. Birds that have not been treated well can be cheap, but a complete nightmare that the most experienced aviculturalists cannot manage. We have rehabilitated a few and know from first hand experience. Finally, under no circumstances buy a Cockatoo, especially a cheap one. They can be fantastic, but I would say get one of those ONLY if you have tons of bird experience first. 
 
If you have any questions I`ll try to answer as best I can - PM me off forum.
 
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