Sally, my birds love chitted quinoa. I also use spirulina once a week....that is a great protein source. Millet does contain protein. In most of my veggie chops I have been including seed in the mix, I add it to the warmed couscous, it is all eaten when I go to clear the plates for all the cages. The budgies, scarlets, javas and zebras are down on the plates right away.Sally wrote: I agree that sprouted seed is one of the best foods for birds, breeding or not. The parents will feed sprouted seed to their babies, and sprouted seed is one of the first foods that fledglings will try. I prefer just chitted, where the root has just barely emerged from the hull, to sprouted, where the root is a bit longer. Nutrition is supposed to be at its highest at the chitted stage. Legumes are some of the best sprouts, but most of them are too large for finches. They may eat lentils, it is worth a try.
But I also believe that egg is one of the best foods for birds. It supplies not only protein but many other nutrients. Some birds take a long time to accept any new foods, and some never will. With my birds that aren't picky eaters, I notice that when feeding baby birds, they eat lots of egg, followed by lots of veggies or sprouted seed, followed by spray millet, followed by regular finch seed mix. Of course, I have waxbills, which normally feed their young with insects, so they have a higher need for protein than many other species.
Here is an interesting article on the benefits of eggs: http://www.howmuchprotein.com/foods/eggs/
Debbie, all my birds love boiled egg when offered it. I mix it in the veggies, even the new birds, fledglings go right to it along with the veggie chops!!!!debbie276 wrote: Sprouted seed is fine but you can't get the much needed vitamin D from seed like you can hard boiled eggs. Not to mention iodine which goulds require.
The spirulina does turn everything green....including one of the lighter hens!!! I mix it in the couscous and veggies....they still down itSally wrote: cindy
I've started adding spirulina to my eggfood, one of my friends does this. I tried it once before, and I think I put in too much spirulina, the eggfood turned green! This time, I still think I added a bit too much spirulina, though it is not as bad as before. Next batch, I will use even less. However, my birds all ate it, even green. I'm trying a new recipe for eggfood, more along the lines of Roy Beckham's recipe, except my friend prepares it differently. So far, I've only mixed it with chopped broccoli, as I know my birds love brocooli, and I didn't want to change too many things at once.
I'll have to try the chitted quinoa. When I prepare it for myself, I cook it until the tails appear and water is absorbed. Is this how you prepare quinoa for your birds? Or are you soaking it just like you soak any seed till it chits, not cooking it?
