Eggs yes no, Millet yes no, greens yes no CONFUSED

[cindy]

this is guide for veggies even though it labeled for parrots... keep in mind the section talking about cooked chicken or turkey, some species of parrots are fed cooked meat... not sure I would feed it to my finches!!! Same with some of the cereals. http://www.theparrotandbirdemporium.com ... d=0u7u7e5t

The veggie section on this article is good... I do not feed meat to any of my birds... as I said "keep in mind the section talking about cooked chicken or turkey, some species of parrots are fed cooked meat... not sure I would feed it to my finches!!! Same with some of the cereals."

Veggies finely chopped are usually eaten... some birds will like certain ones, others will not. Some will not even touch veggies and will only eat dried or fresh herbs.

[cindy]

this article does have "parrot" in the title but explains the nutrient content of certain veggies... a good reference

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww50eiii.htm

[cindy]

safe herbs to give your birds are included on this site... http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-magazin ... birds.aspx

[cindy]

this is kale

[cindy]

for dried herbs you can get them in what is called an Herb Salad, ladygouldian.com sells this...birds love it http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/product_herbsalad.php

[flymouse]

Debbie,

Thanks for the site. The other one was recommended in this Topic Feed. Here is something that kind of sounds like the other one.

Seed alone is a highly deficient, imbalanced foodstuff. Seed-only diets commonly lead to deficiencies

These sorts of deficiencies compromise the health and reproduction of adult birds,7 and may pose serious problems for young, growing birds. Carrot, spinach, and silver beet are a few good sources of most of the vitamins and minerals that are deficient in seed. To begin supplementing the diet, start the birds off on 3 parts of an appropriate seed mix and supplement in 1 part soft food (such as an egg mix or other nestling food).


I'm putting in little bits for everyone to see. Kind of good information.

Seeds should be frozen for 7 days directly after purchase (to kill any moth/beetle larva or eggs that may be present) and occasionally sprouted to test their viability.

If at all possible, try to wean your birds off of seed and onto a high quality formulated diet.

Well there it is again and this is the Finch site you sent Debbie. grin

I am not taking my birds off of seed or millet. So guess that is my first decision. lol.

The above is under Seed Mixes & Formulated Diets ok going back to read more on the next subject.

[flymouse]

Everyone should read the article on this page. I think just for kicks i am going to take out all the foods that if given to much can cause this or that and see what is left if anything. grin. Like Kale was one of several that can cause Kidney problems

http://www.finchinfo.com/diet/safe_toxi ... _foods.php

Toxic & Harmful Foods
Never feed any of the following to any of your birds:
Moldy foods (possibility of mycotoxins, nutrient degradation)5
Rhubarb and the house plant dieffenbachia (contain potentially toxic levels of oxalate)5
Castor beans and black beans (contain plant toxins that cause kidney, liver, GI tract epithelium, and heart damage, as well as red blood cell agglutination and cell mitosis interference)5
Avocado (some species are toxic to some birds, especially to canaries)6,7
Raw egg (the avidin in it inhibits biotin)
Chocolate6
Alcohol
Poultry feeds (chick starter, chicken scratch, etc. grow large amounts of Pseudomonas, E. coli, & Klebsiella)2
Stimulants (such as coffee, tea, or other caffeinated beverages)6
Raw milk and raw milk products (e.g. dried skim milk [50% lactose], dried whey [70% lactose]), uncultured milk products.6 Because they contain significant amounts of lactose (a specific product of mammals), and because birds which have been tested cannot digest lactose, birds suffer from diarrhea when the diet reaches a level of 10-30% lactose on a dry weight basis.6 Milk products containing lactose should be avoided in favor of other sources that can more safely offer the missing nutrients you seek to supplement.

[flymouse]

More cute out info. Not sure if I am goofing putting all of this in here. So people don't read every post like I do.

Here is the link in case you want to read it
http://www.finchinfo.com/diet/egg_mixes ... _foods.php


Preparing an Egg-Mix & Other Soft Foods
Egg mixes and other soft foods can be used to supplement the diet and are especially important for molting and breeding birds. They should be provided several times daily to breeding birds to be used as a nestling food, and provided to non-breeding birds at least 3 times per week, if not daily


well there you have it. The professionals opinion on how often to feed it.

Ingredients
Sunflower seeds
1 large egg
1½ tsp. hulled, unsalted sunflower seed kernels, finely ground
optional: additional safe fruits and vegetables of your choice, chopped fine

Where do I get unsalted sunflower seed Kernels. Buy salted and RINSE over and over ?????

[debbie276]

You have to pick and choose what you are comfortable with. Personally I feed a good seed mix as their main diet and supplement with eggs, greens and green seed heads. I do not believe in an all pellet diet but know many that offer pellets on the side. A few vegetables make their way into the dishes but I don't even try fruit anymore.

Don't try to do it all, pick a choose what you have available and are able to do

[Sally]

Many vets recommend an all-pellet diet. We recently had a guest speaker at our bird club meeting who is an avian vet--he said you should feed pellets rather than seed. This is one area that I disagree with. I tried an all-pellet diet years ago. My birds did fine on it, but I noticed one day that they were less active, less singing. I gradually switched them back to a seed diet, and the change was very noticeable--they started flying around again, singing, instead of just sitting on their perches looking bored.

My philosophy is that we should try to offer them as much stimulation as possible. I certainly wouldn't like to be confined to one room and fed only one or two foods. We can't avoid the confinement, but we certainly have the ability to try to provide some interest in their lives, whether it is by way of toys, food, foraging--whatever it takes to make their life more interesting.

As you are seeing, there is no one way to care for finches. Each person has to work out their own program. It must work for them, and it must work for their birds. It really doesn't matter what anyone else does, as long as your birds are happy and you are happy.

[cindy]

I love using pellets.... our avian vet said they need both seed and pellets. I do a ratio of 40p/60seed or 50/50 depending on species...javas down pellets. The reason is the same Sally gave...foraging and she said mental stimulation. If you do not use pellets used a good quality, very complete vitamin in your soft food.

A few years ago the trend was to go all pellets especially with hookbills, our avian vet said new studies were done and they found the birds need the seed added. Unless the vet instructs you for health reasons that the bird needs to be on a no seed diet...serve both seed and pellets.

[Sally]

I might add that I have a small circle of friends who are all finch keepers, we call ourselves 'the finch ladies.' We socialize, we go to bird shows together, we swap birds, we help each other out. NOT ONE OF US HAS THE SAME PROGRAM! We've all developed our own individual programs according to what species we have, how much free time we have, whether working or retired, how many total birds we have, how much effort we want to put into it. Yet most of us show our birds and do well at it, so our birds must be healthy. The fact that we don't all feed the same should say something.

We all enjoy our birds and our hobby. I think none of us wants to be so tied down with preparing foods, worrying about their diets, worrying about our birds that it is no longer enjoyable. When you first start out, the tendency is that you want to do the best for your birds, so you try everything. That is normal, but just take it a little at a time. Remember that those of us who have had birds for a while took a long time to develop our own programs--mine is so much different now from when I first started out!

[flymouse]

http://www.finchinfo.com/diet/safe_toxi ... _foods.php

I love using pellets.... our avian vet said they need both seed and pellets. I do a ratio of 40p/60seed or 50/50 depending on species...serve both seed and pellets.

Where do you buy pellets that are small enough for a finch. I noticed in the OLD FOOD I don't use now (the bag of Finch seed I bought at Walmart) there was pellets inside. The bag said for Finches, but the pellets were pea size. To me that is way to big. Do they make smaller pellets? And if so where do you buy them?

[Sally]

You aren't going to find quality pellets at Walmart. I don't think you even find quality seed at Walmart, I question how fresh it would be, not to mention the fact that they tend to sell seed for parakeets, canaries, and finches all in one bag, like they all eat the same thing. If you have a pet store available, you can find good seed/pellets for birds from finches to parrots. If not, you may have to order online. If you are in the country, many feed stores will carry or order seed for domestic birds. Otherwise, you may have to order online.

Lafebers, Roudybush, Mazuri, Harrison's, Pretty Bird--there are many good companies out there making pellets for finches. Kaytee makes a decent seed mix that is available at most any pet store. I happen to prefer seed mixes without any pellets at all, but the seed mix I buy isn't available everywhere. It is Hagen, which is headquartered in Canada, and I love their special finch mix (my birds feel pretty good about it too! ).

[cindy]

PetSmart carries the Roudybush nibbles, Zupreem fruit blend for finches and Lafebers.