Quantity of seed to offer daily to 4 zebra finches

[KimW]

Couldn't find an answer in previous posts ... How much seed (approximate quantity) should be offered daily? We adopted 4 zebra finches with cage and accessories just over a week ago. Previous owner fed a seed mixture. We also have a mounted cuttlebone and separate grit dish. I'm starting to offer small bits of fruit and veggies on separate dish as we do with our larger birds, and will start hard boiled egg soon, but am uncertain of how much of the regular seed mixture to offer. Is there an estimate per bird?

[Sally]

I use gravity-type seed hoppers, so seed is available at all times to my birds, I have no idea how much they are eating each day. Personally, I believe that seed should be offered free choice. If not using gravity-type feeders, many just fill a dish/bowl with seed and then blow off the empty hulls each day. It is important to get rid of the hulls each day, as many birds won't dig down through the empty hull layer to reach the good seed. Others just offer a small amount of seed each day, dumping what is left in the dish each day. Hopefully, someone else can give you a better answer as to how much to feed each day without wasting too much.

Just like your other birds, finches enjoy a variety in their diet. Many finches don't eat a lot of fruit, but all of them love various vegetables. Egg food is one of the best sources of protein for the birds, since they aren't getting a lot of that in seeds, and protein is necessary for breeding and molting birds.

[lovezebs]

KimW

Hello.

I free feed seeds.
I offer trays of seeds to my crew, along with hanging cups. There is no set daily amount. They eat as much as the want and pick and choose whichever seeds they want or need out of my mixture.

With Zebras, I would make sure that you have enough feeding stations, so that you don't get territorial issues.

Zebras, love greens, so I would offer them daily. As Sally mentioned above, eggs are extremely nutritious (twice a week for non-breeding, non-molting birds, daily when breeding or molting ). Don't forget the shells as well, crush them, and offer to your birds for extra calcium.

[Sojourner]

KimW

I also free feed. I use silos for their staple seed (budgie mix, which my finches gobble happily while leaving all the "extra" stuff that comes in finch mix, like rape seed and flax seed). Everything else is in small treat cups and biscuit cups.

Sally

I've seen those gravity feed hoppers and admit I have been tempted. But I was afraid they'd get knee-deep in hulls too. Can you tell me which ones you are using and where you got them?

I don't really need anything with that much capacity right this second, but given I'm apparently in the rescue-bird-business now, I rather suspect that will change after the move.

Actually it may change BEFORE the move, given how little my son wants to have to do with the birds, LOL! I may have to go to the new place and paint and clean and whatnot before trying to bring the birds into their new home. He will be less afraid if he only needs to refill their water silos every couple of days. Those are mounted on the outside of the cages so he won't need to so much as open a cage while I'm gone.

[ac12]

As Sally said. You need to have a WIDE dish or multiple dishes/feeders, and blow off the hulls whenever you feed them. The problem with some finches is that they won't dig. If there is a layer of hulls on the seeds, they won't go down to get the seeds just below the hulls...and they will starve.

If you are planning. I would give approx 1 teaspoon per bird per day, then I adjust up/down by how much the birds actually eat. But start with a bit more, so they won't empty the dish by feeding time the next day.

[Sojourner]

Actually I don't need to blow hulls out of any feeder I am currently using. I use only the silos and the smaller treat cups. Biscuit cups are wide and shallow and also don't get buried in hulls.

But the staple seed goes into the silos and those also don't collect hulls. Thankfully. It makes my life a lot easier when I can just look at the silo and see if there is still seed, without having to remove it and blow the hull out of it.

*punny*

[debbie276]

I've used chicken feeders and just run of the mill wild bird feeders (all silo type) and never had a problem with hulls hiding the seed. Seed is always available as much as they want.
I also switched to those chicken waterers, holds much more water then those tubes and I didn't have to teach them to use it.

[Celeris]

I feed approximately three to four teaspoons of seed to my two zebra finches every other day. I've started using a little saucer, designed for the use of cats, and am finding this to be a lot more functional for the little guys. The cups that hang from the cage, tending to be deeper, do require frequent maintenance to clear the hulls and lead to a lot of wasted seed. With the more shallow and wider dish, I only need to check daily to ensure the little goobers haven't pooped in their food and change it out completely every other day.