Feed/seed for Zebras only

[soloisok]

I've seen some conversation about seed/seed mixes, I hope y'all won't mind me throwing out a question in that vein...

Does anyone use VME Finch Staple seed or the Tropimix Finch, Canary and Budgie Mix? I seem to get recommendations for finch seed that seems geared for Gouldians and my zebra finches don't eat much of it. A lot goes to waste.

I've served up a ton of Birds R Us seed in breeding and maintenance varieties with a great deal of waste, although they do eat the sprouting mixes I prepare for them. Ya know how some brunettes feel about blondes? As a Zebra finch person, I sometimes think I have leanings towards those feelings towards Gouldians, lol. (Hope y'all have a good sense of humor) Every time I try to get finch info, it's all about the Gouldians...

I'm a little shy about buying a lot of seed to mix on my own since I only have a total of 14 zebras of my own to feed...

[nixity]

Hi Stephani,

Have you been able to isolate which seeds your Zebs prefer?
If you can even determine which seeds they aren't eating, it might be easier for you to figure out what seeds to avoid if you did decide to go the route of mixing your own blends.

A friend of mine is doing a really interesting experiment with her birds right now - though it's costing her a fortune LOL
She bought 15 or 16 1 lb bags of almost every type of seed suitable for a finch offered by Herman Bros.
She's set the seeds out in their own dishes, but weighed them first.
Then she weighs them in the evenings after blowing the hulls off to see what her birds are eating the most of.

This way, at the end, she hopes to be able to get a rough idea of at what percentage of which seeds her birds eat, so she can create a custom blend that will suit her flock and hopefully have less waste.
Some of the seeds she's put in there that don't get touched are Flax and Hemp.
One of the favorites so far is Siberian millet, but she is simultaneously testing the freshness by sprouting each seed and this seed has less than a 10% sprouting result

Anyway - enough of the jibber jabber.. longer story short, maybe if you can determine which seeds your birds are eating it will help you determine the right blend that will work for your birds

[soloisok]

I do know what they are and are not eating by sight but I don't know what each seed is to be able to tell you.

[nixity]

This thread might help

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... 29&start=0&

[soloisok]

Tiffany - OUTSTANDING!

[CandoAviary]

I know you don't want to hear about gouldians but I feed my gouldians a great seed mix. I then run their used seed through my seed cleaner and feed that to my zebras They eat everything that is left. Once a weak I give the Zebras there own dish of the fresh seed just in case they were really missing something. They get ther own fresh egg food too regularly when breeding.
I have never noticed my zebras being fussy about anything. They produce and look great.........
Much waste comes from filling dishes too full. The zebras will eat the surface seed, shelling and dropping the hulls back on top and then thinking they have no food. Blowing the hulls or running through a seed cleaner will save you bundles. Also just getting long or wide shallow feeders and feeding a shallow layer will enable them to eat all of the seed.
Most birds will consume their favorite seeds first and may not get a variety if their favorite is in constant supply. Just like kids having a constant supply to cookies and brocolli, they will eat far more cookies. My goulds will pick out the sunflower hearts first everytime. I have noticed the zebras will also go for these first. Funny that sunflower seed is not always included in finch mixes. They love them but should not have an endless supply as they would become over weight ... same with oat groats. These are given as a treat to my birds along with millet sprays.
I also noticed that the pellet foods that I feed, rowdy bush and fruit zupreem, are the last to be consumed..... but they do eat them as long as they don't have endless access to seeds. Cage feeding is much easier to control than aviary feeding. In my aviaries I have mixed species and more birds so several trays are set out. I noticed that the goulds and zebras will get fatter in the aviary even though they get more excercise...... Reason being, endless favorite, fatty seeds

[soloisok]

Thanks for the information.
I probably do put in too much seed, I'll try to watch that.
I certainly expect some waste but also like eliminating any particular seed they just aren't going to eat. I already do my best to remove seed husks twice a day everyday. The pictures/info on the conversation link Tiffany sent helped a lot. While I don't want them to ignore other healthy food choices I provide and I do want them to have a good variety, I intend to give them a seed mix based more on what they prefer. I'll also consider using seed hoppers instead of crocks for the seed. Feel free to post links to your favorite seed hoppers.

[CandoAviary]

My experience with seed hoppers has been that the birds will just swoosh the seed to the side to get to thier favorites. There are many hoppers that have catch cups so that you can just recycle the brushed aside seed back into the hopper. It is not so much that the finches don't eat seed they don't like as it is that they eat their favorite seeds first. If their favorite seeds are always available then you will always have some of the others that are not consumed. Finch mixes are derived by nutritionlist and studies conducted for a Healthy diet, assuming the mix was allowed to be eaten. If you have ever left the seed that was at first was rejected in the dish you would find that the hungry bird goobles it up. Most times we cater to our pets and keep filling their food bowls up thinking we are doing what is best for their health. Actually it is just the opposite. Much like the restricted austere diets given to finches, many think this is depriving the finches but in reality it is the most natural way for the finches to eat. In nature they have different foods available throughout the year . The birds naturally have higher protein and fat foods available during breeding and rearing times and dried seeds to carry them through the leaner times. It all works out well. Plus they have greens, bugs, minerals, probiotics, natural herbs, fruits and natural waters to drink. Most pet/dried seed mixes are far from the perfect diet you could be feeding your zebras. Incorporate fresh greens, eggfoods, sprouted/chitted seed and a fresh dried seed and you will have happy finches. I have always found zebras to be the least pickiest eaters of all the finches I have kept.

[nixity]

My issue with the seed hopper I tried was that the birds wouldn't go near it for weeks, and when they finally did, the seed was not siphoning through like it should have, and that freaked me out thinking they could potentially starve if it continued to malfunction once I switched over to it.

[Sally]

This is the seed hopper I use. Tried to link just to it, but I get the whole page--just scroll down a ways, it is on the right side of the page. If I could only have one cage accessory, I think it might have to be this!
http://www.redbirdproducts.com/new%20pa ... PS/FEEDERS

[Rhonda]

I hate sounding stupid but what does a seed hopper do? And where can I get a seed cleaner that I assume separates the hulls from the seed? Thanks!

[CandoAviary]

You can make a seed cleaner...We made a really large one that attaches to a shop vac. here is the thread on it.
http://finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=6 ... ed+cleaner

But you can buy smaller models. My friends sells some really nice ones for around $225.00 ... I will have to find her their website for you.....