Is lettuce bad for finches?

[skythrutrees]

I was told it swells their bellies.

I've been feeding my society finches all kinds of lettuce, but not iceberg because I was told it gives them diarrhea.

Thoughts?

I'm very confused.


Edit: Sorry, just noticed that it should have been put under diet.

[L in Ontario]

I moved this thread over to Diet and Nutrition for you.

[L in Ontario]

I believe Romaine lettuce is good for finches. Spinach should be limited and as you stated, Iceberg is useless.

[cindy]

Regular iceberg lettuce is not good, it is full of water, little nutritional value. Because of it's water content if given the bird will have very loose water droppings.

[B CAMP]

I only give it to mine about two times a week romaine,kale ,dandelions alternating

[CandoAviary]

It all depends on the lettuce. I grow a mix of leaf lettuces. I believe fresh (reduceses saminella bacteria) organic (I can control whats in the lettuce) and type are good reasons to grow. Lettuce is easy to grow in cool weather. I can not grow it with the heat here now (92% today) but will be sowing more seed soon to grow true the winter. They like oak leaf lttuce, ruby red lettuce, blackseeded simpson, endive, arugala, and muslic mixes. I make my own compost for fertilizing organically. Also some spinach and any kind of greens like collards, kale, and of course they love carrot top greens.
Much of the lettuce bought from stores are grown hydroponically (in water with chemical fertilizers) and just aren't that nutrious. If you must buy from the store it is best to buy organic and stick to the kales, collards, broccoli...all are high in calcium, magnesium, and other nutrients.

[cindy]

Mine like romaine, parsley, carrots, fresh dill all diced in the food processor. I bought Kale yesterday and will try that today.

My rule of thumb, stay away from giving them the iceberg and give them the darker leaf lettuce it has more nutrients.

[mickp]

the only time that the iceberg variety of lettuce is good for your birds is when you have the plant growing in a pot and let it go to seed.
my gouldians love it like this. my gouldians are a bit weird though, they also love eating aphids from the rose bushes, wont touch any other live food though

[CandoAviary]

mickp, It is great when you can let the birds forge naturally like your setup. Natures way is always best You can learn much from them if allowed to be birds as opposed to being caged specimens. I hope to one day have a free flying totally natural habitat for my 'pets'.

[peter tan]

Hi

Yes, I do tend to agree that lettuces are not good for finches. I had given them & my canary felt sick. 2 Gouldian finches got into bad stomach upset and 1 died maybe from eating the lettuces. I dont touch them any longer!

[batuhan]

Hi
I always provide and offer all kind of greens to my birds.
you can give the light green colors such as cucumber,lettuce,iceberg and celery LESSER than the darker greens.
you can give EVERYDAY dandelion,broccoly,black cabbage,kale etc...

vegatables are reported to give a few days a week ..
NO, I do not agree with this view.
I do not believe that this is a scientific view.

Please offer fresh greens,food,water and espicially during breeding season inseckts EVERYDAY-EVERYDAY-EVERYDAY.
dandelion always favorite greens for finches.....
Not sometimes , everyday greens

batuhan

[Leda]

i cant get organically grown veggies here. So I limit feeding my finches greens to 2 times a week. But this summer I will have a big garden with lots of gooodies for them!!!!