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.
Advantages of Live Seed

All imported seed has been killed by a heat treatment of 248 degrees., however,

* Enzymes and vitiman are destroyed at temp as low as 118 degrees.
* Dead things readily deteriorate - oil becomes rancid and stale.
* Don't get stuck with stale seed that goes out of condition

Sterilized seed does not eliminate the mess under the feeder.
Many niger seed marketers make the claim that dead seed eliminates the mess

under the Feeder. This is entirely untrue. The main mess is because of seed hulls,

which are there regardless of dead or live seed. Indeed, live seed will sprout,

however, something green is probably better than a moldy mess under the feeder.

Some folks are trying to eliminate the mess by purchasing hulled seeds. This

practice is not natural and sometimes may be dangerous to bird health since it is

the seed coat or hull which offer some protection against molds including

Salmonella.

Niger is not a thistle or weed
While niger is sometimes referred to as a thistle, it is not even a relative of the

thistle, does not have barbs, and will not become a noxious weed. Niger seed has

no dormancy and because of its high oil content, seed life is short. It is an annual

and in the 20 years I have been working with the crop, I have never seen a volunteer

after the second cropping year.

Does sterilization keep out exotic weed seeds in imported niger seed?
The only reason imported seed is sterilized (killed) is to keep out invasive exotic

weed seeds that are in the imported niger seed. We have grown out numerous

imported lots, and, in all cases, some niger seed did germinate. This leads us to

believe that there is probably some live weed seed that germinates as well.

See below from http://ceris.purdue.edu/napis/news01/fr011228-nursery.txt

and scroll down to treatment of niger seed.

(recommended program change that would result in regulatory changes)
Several years ago, APHIS identified niger seed (Guizotia abyssinica) imported as

bird food as a pathway for multiple species of Federal noxious weeds. APHIS

developed a heat treatment to devitalize the weed seeds without unduly affecting

the palatabilityof the bird seed. APHIS then worked with industry to approve three

heat treatment facilities to mitigate the risk associated with imported niger seed.

Read excerpts below taken off the web regarding live niger seed

"Good genuine seeds are also available everywhere. Plentiful supply of essential

seed such as, unsterilized niger seed, hemp seed, teazle seed, lettuce seed, small

pine nuts, plus many other seeds that I just recently discovered in Europe that there

used to be only irradiated niger seed available on the market but recently there have

been small quantities of domestically produced niger about. If you are fortunate

enough to get hold of this local niger you will notice the difference in the way your

birds consume it. When I obtained some I placed 2 bowls in the aviary - 1 with

irradiated seed and the other with the 'fresh' product. Thebirds literally emptied the

fresh seed before they were even interested in the irradiated seed. And we call them

'dumb'animals!!"

"If he doesn't achieve 95% germination the seeds are not suitable to feed to his birds.
He feeds a mixture of more or less of the following seeds: Canary seed, Niger seed,
the Niger seed available in Europe is not sterilized; therefore, germinate practically
100%.)"

http://www.abbaseed.com/Breeders/Interview_Fumagalli/interview_fumagalli.html"

All niger seed is importedfrom Africa and is baked and sterilized before it is allowed

into the United States. He likened it to a meal that has been burnt to a crisp and has

little nutritional value.Hatchlings especially, cannot digest it or pass it through their "gut".

He cited a case where he had been losing a large number of chicks and he took the

dead birds to the pathology department of Dr. Goldsmith who does work for the

Miami Zoo. During Dr. Goldsmith's necropsy, he found undigested niger that had

impacted the chick's digestive system.

Most of the above excerpts did not come from the U.S. because until now all U.S.

niger seed is imported, and, therefore, comparisons are not available. Most sites

marketing bird seed, however, emphasize the importance of fresh seed.

Only live seed can be fresh seed!