Commercial Food and Millet Q..

[alfdtuna]

I just wanted to get a sample of opinions on the better commercial mixes for Gouldians (non-breeders). While I don't intend to cut corners, I would like to keep food as simple as possible and with all of the seed mixes out there today, I'm sure there are several that provide adequete nutritrition with minimal supplimentation. What if any water suppliments are needed? I know birds love millet but is it that nutritious or more of a snack?? Thanks in advance, Tracey

[Sally]

My bird club does a bulk order from Hagen, so that is what I use, but it is not available in this area otherwise. I use their Finch VME mix. I know there are some bird clubs in the Houston area, you might want to check with Marigold to see what she is feeding and where she gets it.

My birds love spray millet, but I have to limit how much they get, as I've found they'll pig out on spray millet and ignore the mix. I prefer to use vitamins that I can sprinkle in their eggfood, rather than put in the water. If you are not interested in breeding, your birds can get most of the vitamins, etc., from a good diet plus veggies plus a mineral mix.

[alfdtuna]

Thanks Sally..what do you mean by a 'mineral mix'?? Millet is more of a treat than staple correct??

[Sally]

Each cage has a mineral cup, and I make up my own mixture. You can use a commercial oystershell grit alone, just make sure it is not gravel. Right now, I use Abba brand mineral grit, and then I add small amounts of Morning Bird trace mineral mix, fine-ground charcoal, ground eggshells, and if the birds are breeding, ground cuttlebone. Before I started using the Abba mineral grit, I used ground oystershell grit, adding the same additional ingredients as above.

Spray millet is definitely more of a treat, they need a good finch mix as their main seed diet. When breeding, I offer more spray millet, as the fledglings will usually go for this as their first seeds.

[alfdtuna]

After I posted the food question, I later discovered that it seems to be a 'loaded' question...more preference than a definite mix. I guess simply put..is a major brand, lets say Kaytee finch mix along with a varying fresh veggie each day sufficient for non-breeding Gouldian males? Is calcium/cuttlebone and egg foods that necessary in this case?

[B CAMP]

alfdtuna
Welcome to the forum ,if you fill in your profile with where you live it makes it a lot easier to answer questions sometimes ,have you checked out the finch information center there is a lot of good infomation about gouldians
http://www.finchinfo.com/birds/finches/ ... _finch.php

[Sally]

It's easy for those of us who have a lot of birds and who are into breeding them to get carried away with their diets. Sometimes I think I am a 'finch chef'! When you have just a few birds as pets, you do not have to go into feeding to that extent.

The most important thing is to work out a program that works for both you and your birds--it has to fit into your time schedule and monetary budget, or you won't keep up with it. The second most important thing is to give your birds a bit of variety--the same old seed mix only will not keep them in optimal health.

A good basic seed mix formulated for finches and made by one of the large companies like Kaytee or Jones will probably be just fine. You want to watch to see that the seed is as fresh as you can find--some pet shops will have bags of finch seed sit on the shelf for a long time. I personally do not care for the mixes that have the little colored bits in them--supposed to be vitamins, I guess--but those little bits will stain when they get wet. I prefer a mix that has several different kinds of millet and canary grass seed as a minimum.

A mineral cup with ground oystershell grit and fresh veggies that they will eat, and you have a basic diet for them. Gouldians do need extra iodine--you can put a small dish like a finger treat dish filled with powdered kelp, and they will eat what they need.

When they are molting (Gouldians have a heavier molt than most species), I would give them eggfood, as they need extra protein to make all those new feathers.

As Bill mentioned, check out the Finch Information Center, linked at left--excellent species article on Gouldians, plus other articles on nutrition that will probably help you.