Custom mixing seed

[Lacybug]

I know this topic has been done to death, but I'm really interested in creating my own seed mix for my finches.
I've found a lot of information regarding mainly gouldians, but I'm specifically looking for what to give adult non-breeding zebras.
At the moment I use a Pennington wild finch blend (which is a debate for another time). I'll post the ingredients when I can find them...

I've seen all of these seed types mentioned around the net:

White Foxtail Bristlegrass, Barnyard Grass, White Clover, White Lettuce, Niger, Rapeseed, thistle
French White Millet, Red Siberian Millet, Safflower, Golden German Millet, Red Broomcorn Millet
White proso, quinoa, Brown Top millet, wheat/oats, milo, flax, Canary Grass Seed, Japanese Millet

Some of these I've never heard of, but I do know my zebs hate whatever those long black seeds are. I would honestly just give them plain white millet in bulk (with other supplemental foods of course) but I assume that's bad for them... xD

[Sojourner]

Mine do fine on a mix of 2/3rds budgie mix and 1/3 finch mix from the bulk bins at a local pet store. I offer groats and canarygrass seed separately in treat cups as well.

My finches don't care for much of anything other than the millet, canarygrass seed, and groats - which is pretty much exactly budgie mix. All the other stuff in the finch mix, they ignore.

I keep offering the other seed in the mix in the hopes that they will eventually start eating it, but I cut down on the waste by making it such a small part of the total.

I also offer millet sprays fairly regularly. And I have sunflower chips and pieces in a hanging mesh feeder that they occasionally munch on as well. Oh yeah, and fresh fruits and veggies as well.

So maybe JUST millet would be bad - well, probably. It would be bad for us if all we ever ate was one thing, too.

But mixing in a few other pretty common seeds seems to cover all the bases that need covering. My strategy is to offer a variety and let them decide what they need. I stressed about what to feed them at first, but they really do seem to know what they need if you offer them a variety. They're doing fine.

I also give them a good vitamin supplement in their water. Also, in separate treat cups, the ABBA mineral mix, charcoal, crushed egg shell which I'll replace with oyster shell when it runs out, cuttlebone, and a mineral block.

They really love that ABBA mineral mix. I refill that the most frequently of anything other than their actual food and water, LOL!

[Lacybug]

Haha, thank you so much for your in-depth reply! It means a lot to me.
I give them a lot of that other stuff too, so even if they're just picking out the millet seeds they're getting variety elsewhere.

Here is what I'm (apparently) currently feeding my finches in their seed mix:
white proso millet, canary grass seed, red millet, sunflower chips, thistle seed

Can anyone tell me if this is or is not adequate?

I perused my local feed store today, and they carry all of that except for any red millet, at least at the moment.
I know for a fact that my birds do not eat the thistle seed, as I end up with a bowl full of husks and long black seeds.
I'm really not sure how much of the other stuff they eat - it's kinda hard to tell.
So what I'll probably do is get a little bit of everything in separate cups and experiment to see what THEY want.

[debbie276]

Not positive about zebra but gouldians will change what they eat depending on what cycle they are in, I'll bet it is the same with other finches. They will eat different seeds and supplements in rest, breeding and molting mode. I'd keep the variety and not try to limit too much just because they are not eating it now.
good luck

[kyro]

I give my Zebras white millet, canary seeds and a little red millet. Sometimes I mix in Versellaga finch mix for a little variety. Black seeds they ignore. They don't seem to like red millet but they will eat it if they have already finished the white millet and canary seeds.

[Lacybug]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the comments.

[Sojourner]

So I hit my local Winco today with the idea in mind of picking up a few new seeds for my babies. Things my locally owned petshop doesn't carry.

I was SUPER surprised to find the following at Winco. For those who don't have these in your area, Winco used to be a warehouse type grocery store. These days its less warehouse-y but still definitely on the budget side of the business. What I got:

1. hulled hemp seed
2. flax seed
3. rolled red wheat
4. cracked wheat
5. Muesli, but I'm not sure the raisins in that are safe - don't know if they used something containing sulfites or other preservatives in them
6. Pearl barley - I'm putting that through my spice grinder to make it smaller so they can eat it
7. Oat bran
8. Ch-ch-ch-ch-CHIA
9. buckwheat groats
10. Sesame seed

I have some quinoa, but I've read that you have to wash some un-tasty saponins off the seed or the birds won't eat it. Does anybody know if that is true?

I also grabbed a kiwi fruit, but I have NO IDEA how to tell when that thing is ripe, LOL!

They had a bunch of dried veggies but they'd all been salted, and I wasn't sure if any of the dried fruit was safe. So I've left that for another day.

Since they're off the spinach now for whatever reason, I picked up a broccoli head, jicama, and a sweet potato. We'll see if they'll eat any of those. I did forget the grapes I meant to get, LOL! But I have the veggies, the kiwi fruit, and some strawberries instead. MOULTING'S A COOMIN' IN, and my poor little tail-less wonder needs to be strong and healthy!

So far they continue to reject all the "odd" seeds in the finch mix - especially these little round black seeds that I swear look like mustard seed. I cannot imagine that they actually ARE mustard seeds (black mustard, not the yellow stuff) because black mustard seed tastes pretty bad if you don't fry the heck out of them. There's a substance in mustard seed oil that is actually toxic, but at least some of it is destroyed at frying temperatures. In fact, in the USA all mustard oil is marked as inedible because of this chemical, but I (and lots of Asian Indians) cook with it anyway. It smells awful while it cooks that stuff out, but tastes fine once you've done that. Anyway, surely people don't feed mustard seeds to birds ... but I'm not sure what those seeds are if they are not, in fact, black mustard.

I've offered nyjer again recently and they still reject that.

They are pretty happy with the sunflower bits.

They're off the oats a bit, but I suspect that's partly to do with the fact that they get a good amount of that in the budgie mix I've switched the majority of their daily feed to. It may also be due to the fact that these are oats in the hull - the hull is not the issue, they have no problem hulling the seed, but the whole oats are bigger than the stuff in the budgie mix, so I'll most likely stick with oat groats or rolled oats in the future. Oat groats tend to get broken up so they're smaller pieces.

They are still hitting the canarygrass seed off and on - again there is more of that now in their daily feed due to the budgie mix so offering it by itself is less attractive than before. Hence, my search for some new seed types for special treats!



One thing I forgot to mention that I feed pretty regularly - is dry CeDe eggfood. I've been out of it for awhile, but with moulting coming on, I need to start feeding that again. They won't eat it moistened nor will they touch fresh egg. I much prefer to offer stuff that won't go bad any time soon anyway. Veggies are no problem because if they get left in the cage, they just dry out (I live in the High Sierra desert region). Fruit I have to be a little more careful with.

I've been offering charcoal off and on - the fine stuff that's for birds - but they really don't touch it much. I don't think I'll worry about giving it to them any more often than I have been, as I'm not sure what effect that might be having on their vitamin-water (because activated charcoal will filter out meds and vitamins).

I'm not even really sure they need it on anything approaching a regular basis - or at all, for that matter, outside of emergency poison remedies. So I've only been putting it in the cage when they're on a vitamin vacation, which I do a couple of times a month.

Personally I use the vitamins in the water so I don't have to worry about whether or not my birdies are getting all the vitamins they need in the seed they are currently eating - because they keep changing what they eat. No matter how carefully we think we are balancing our birdies' diets, what we offer and what they actually EAT are often not the same thing! To paraphrase: Human proposes, Birdy disposes, LOL!

Ditto minerals, using the ABBA mineral mix, which my birds love, plus the cuttlebone. They don't touch the crushed eggshell so I won't bother with that any more.