Egg Food

Geordie · Post by **Geordie** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 6:58 am

Aye, my birds love swinging around and my wife has long hair so you can imagine what they are like during play time, they love swinging on her hair.

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 7:48 am

Now that would be quite a sight to see...your wife being used as a play perch!! (That was a hint for some photos in case you missed it

)

Post by **Sally** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:38 am

avi983 - it just occured to me that your country gets so very hot, especially in the summer. If it is hot where your birds are, you will have to watch sprouted seeds, they sour very quickly in the heat. Also any wet food, or fresh egg food. They can be offered, but not left in the cage for a long time.

avi983 · Post by **avi983** » Mon May 12, 2008 10:13 am

Hello
Just giving an update my birds have started having egg food.The problem was that since my cage is 4ft high.So,I used to give them the egg food in a dish at the bottom of the cage.So i got 2 of those dishes you can hang by the cage and Vola!! all fo them were digging in.and tehy took their first bath too.So i guess evrything going just fine.Now have to get tehm to eat some greens.I think 2 of them are in their second stage of molt.SO still waiting on them to color up.
@ sally Yeah it gets pretty hot here during the summer.But my birds are kept in the house.So can i give them egg food evryday or should just give them twice a week.Cos i read somewhere during molt they shoudl be giving egg food evryday.

Post by **Sally** » Mon May 12, 2008 3:31 pm

I have adult Gouldians and juvie Gouldians molting at this time, and they get eggfood every day. The adults ate eggfood while they were raising babies, but now they won't touch it. The juvies dive into the eggfood dish as soon as I put it in their cage. I have other species that are going thru their juvie molt right now, so they also get eggfood every day. They need lots of protein when they are molting.

avi983 · Post by **avi983** » Mon May 12, 2008 11:02 pm

Ok sally thanks, But i have to add a lil of seed mix to get them to eat even if i dun put the seeds they come and pek on it for sometiem and then leave the dish so just to make a lil intresting for them i add a lil seed mix.I am think whether i shoudl add an iodine block have cuttle fish already.But i will have to source it from overseas not available here.Oh and i am thinking of adding a blue gouldians to the lot.But very few people have them right now so on the look out for breeders.

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Tue May 13, 2008 5:25 am

gouldians dont bath very much even in the hottest of weather, I have seen mine sit on the edge of the water dish and sort of dip their chest into the water but never have I seen them bath like all the other finches

avi983 · Post by **avi983** » Tue May 13, 2008 5:34 am

Oh ok i didnt know that. was wondering cos they toook bath for the first time and then i didnt see them take a bath after that day.That explains it thanks

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Tue May 13, 2008 1:51 pm

My gouldian bath every day more than once. But they have teacher birds and they watch the others and join in.
When one goes to bath, they all come. Sometimes there are 12 birds in the aviary at a time. I think it really helps when they can learn from other birds.

fairestfinches · Post by **fairestfinches** » Tue May 13, 2008 9:29 pm

One tip for getting birds to try egg food or to eat again if they have gotten burned out on it is to use a some garlic powder. Not much just a dash.

Post by **Sally** » Tue May 13, 2008 10:51 pm

fairestfinches - is that why you use garlic powder in the eggfood recipe on your website? I have been meaning to ask you about that. I'll try that on my adult LGs, as they are still molting but ignoring the eggfood.

My 3 LGs that were fostered to Societies have learned to bathe from them, they jump right in the bathtub. My adult LGs rarely bathe, just do the pretend thing on the edge of the bath dish.

avi983 - LGs really need extra iodine. You said you would have to get it from another country. I use liquid kelp and powdered kelp. My bottle of liquid kelp is actually sold for humans, available in health food stores. I don't know if that would be a source for you in your country.

fairestfinches · Post by **fairestfinches** » Tue May 13, 2008 11:19 pm

Hi, Sally!

Yep, that's why our eggfood recipe calls for a pinch of garlic. For some reason, goulds are really attracted to it. And, it has the same health benefits for birds as it does for humans.

All of our birds love to bathe ... except the red crested finch hens. When the bath water dishes hit the cages, every bird jumps in. We have to put two dishes in the flight cages cuz too many birds will try to cram into the little bath dishes to bathe at the same time and fights would break out as to who got to bathe first. It was hilarious! But, for whatever reason, the red crested hens just won't bathe.

Purified sea salt is another source of iodine. I read/heard somewhere that it's cheaper/easier to get in some countries than in the US.

Michele

avi983 · Post by **avi983** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:07 am

Hey thanks all,will try the garlic powder thing.I havent seen garlic powder on the market shelves.As for Kelp i dunno what that is have seen it on some of the web sites.Can i use normal iodised salt used for cooking?if so how to give it?

fairestfinches · Post by **fairestfinches** » Wed May 14, 2008 2:43 am

Hi, Avi!

You can find garlic powder in the spice section at most grocery stores.

Don't use regular iodized table salt. Not good for the birds.

Not sure if you're in the US or not, but you can find liquid iodine and powdered kelp at a number of "web"stores.

If you're outside the US, there are some UK companies that make it. Just do a google search for it.

Michele

Post by **Sally** » Wed May 14, 2008 11:18 am

The garlic powder works! My adult LGs are eating eggfood this morning. I think I will start a thread on this, since many of us have birds that won't eat eggfood from time to time. Thanks, Sean and Michele!!