Canning veggie mix?

[zandperl]

Currently for Kappa's veggie mix I chop all the ingredients, cook half of them, add supplements, freeze it all, and give her the appropriate amount daily. Feeding fresh veggies daily is not an option for me due to things such as my personal schedule and how long veggies can keep before it goes bad. I cook half and leave half uncooked (though all gets frozen) with the thought that cooking or not cooking will change the nutritional value, so I want variety.

I'm starting to think about canning instead of freezing, and I'm curious if anyone has experience with canning bird veggies (or canning in general) and what you think of it.

My understanding of canning is that you have to heat all the contents to a temperature high enough to kill all sorts of germs. For non-acidic foods, which includes most of what we feed birds, this has to be higher than water can boil, so you need to use a pressure cooker as part of the process. You then seal the containers with the special canning lids, let them cool to room temperature, and then since everything is sterilized it can keep for months or years.

My questions include...

1. Can I use my mother's old pressure cooker?
2. Is there any way to know if everything is successful other than seeing if anything grows in the canned jars or seeing if Kappa gets sick?
3. If I cook everything, will this destroy the nutritional value of it? I may be able to supplement with fresh veggies for a few days once a month, but not more than that.
4. Got any good resources on canning (preferably online) that you would like to share?

Thanks! :)