herb salad

[lou]

Not sure if it has been posted yet, has anyone fed herb salad to their finches? Just gave some to my finches this morning and within an hour it was gone . I had no idea that they would love this stuff so much. what the benefits/drawbacks of the salad?
Lou

[L in Ontario]

I think most of us use it on this forum for our finches. No draw backs (other than drawing on your bank account) for the finches that I know of.

[CandoAviary]

The herbs are for the finches to forage through and are based on nature's way. In the wild finches will seek out certain herbs to detoxify, worm themselves, settle an upset stomach, etc. Eating lots of herbs could signified that your birds are green starved or may have been lacking something that they were driven to satisfied. Herbs, just like mineral grit, eggshell, fresh greens can cause problems when finches gorge themselves on them. You said they ate it all but not sure how much all was. May not have been too much.
The only problem I have ever had with this product was a freak occurence. I had the sharp point of one of the leaves...I think the bay leaf? get stuck in the birds mouth and pierced/worked it's way through the skin. I found the problem in time and removed the hard pointed edge and the finch was fine. I now however grind the mix up in smaller pieces and remove any hard/thorny stems before feeding.
I believe in nature the birds eat fresh green herbs, not dried for the most part but for us keepers it is convienant to offer them this and it's a good product.

[cindy]

I use the product plus give greens, dried eggfood. I leave it in a egg cup or small dish for them to eat as needed.

[lou]

Thanks for the input, I had fed about 3/4 cup for 50 finches. The only leaves that I had to crumble were the olive leaves. I do give my birds greens,fruit and all the wild seeds in the milk stage that grow on my property. Boy, I was just surprised that they ate it even though it was dried.
Thanks guy's
lou

[cindy]

Herb Salad smells wonderful...if I open the container some of the finches get very excited. They flock to it. I had ordered a large amount at one time and was putting a pinch ontop of their food a few times a week, then nightly, it was the first thing they dove into. I don't think it was a case of them being starved for greens...I get the same reaction from them when fresh eggfood and leafy veggies are put in the cages...I also noticed when giving them a fresh supply of fruit flavored pellets (they also smell good) they get excited and flock to it. Granted some of them pick through and eat only specific colors but they all gather around the bowl. I think the smell also has a lot to do with how they like a particuliar food.

[colorin]

Mine always have herb salad available but they don't seem to eat much. I place it with granulated kelp and charcoal, and it all end up mixed together, but it very well could be that they just "play" around with the tiny bits.

[Wintersong]

I received a sample packet with a purchase & my birds loved it. I promptly ordered some & I mix a pinch of it directly into their seed. I will definately order more when this bag is gone.

[Ria]

can you make your own herb salad? I really didnt know much about it till I read it here! I don't have extra $$ for ordering it, but is it something I could make with my kitchen herbs or are there only certain greens that go in it? fresh vs dried? I just find it amusing to think of 'seasoning' the bird food before it goes in... a little oregano here, pinch of rosemary there... thanks in advance for any advice!