FINCHforum

hi lia-w
when i first did tonic seed you where able to buy aniseed oil on its own so you could but few drops into a pound of tonic seed that i used to mix myself i still mix a few extras into mine but i but ready made tonic seed now..as you cannot buy aniseed oil now on its own so here is a list of all the tonic seeds that should go in a mix and if you can buy a citrus oil or even better aniseed you can mix your own...the reason i put extra in mine is that certain birds leave behind certain seeds and the majority are expensive thats why you only give half a teaspoon per bird then watch to see what they leave and change it for another seed theen you will find that they will not leave any when you get the mix right...so here is my list of tonic seed

japanese millet
red millet (this is the stuff that comes off the anjou sprays )
hemp
lettuce seed
niger
naked oats (groats )
linseed
perrilla
sesame
blue maw (poppy seed )
chicory seed
teazle
and if you can get a citrus oil orange ,or lemon or as i said aniseed they will love it they seem to like the aniseed best and the oil is soaked up by the seed but you could fake it by getting star aneese and put a pod in your seed tub

ken

No worries on the "hijacking" this is just the sort of info I want too. Commercial interests being what they are (with the collusion of certain sectors of the scientific community), getting the straight dope can be difficult.
Hey Ken, perhaps you could re-list your terrific program on a new thread, since "tap water" might not catch the attention of everyone who might interested.

hi hoji
i think cyrystal will be better at it than me as she should be able to just move the post with her admin keys..i do it on my home website as it is a lot easier to move stuff when you are admin and you dont have to re write stuff

ken

hi hoji
just for that post i have repasted it onto the health thread

ken

Perfect, Niger seed is the black stuff they sell for wild finches right?

lia-w
yep that is it its mostly eaten by goldfinches ,but its really oily so it does the joints and the feathers good

ken

Perfect thank you for putting up with me!

hi lia
no problems thats what we are here for to help each other

ken

Another thought...could we feed blood worms to finches? The freeze dried kind doused with vitamins for fish? I was just looking at the bottle for my betta...

I personally wouldn't; the quality of the product may be very low and it's designed for fish (not birds).

Very true

Is this tonic seed a mix you feed them daily or just a certain times (during molt)

hi hope
i feed the tonic seed once a week in rotation with other food like eggfood ,greens etc you only need to feed a small amount as it is very rich and they will get a liking for it and ignore the normal seed if you give them to much i just put enough in a finger drawer and feed it that way..you can give alittle extra if the birds are moulting as it will help and sometimes i give a little extra if they are of colour as they tend to eat that more readily than just thier ordinary food

ken

Can the tonic seed be bought already made up? In a commercial mix like through Lafeberes or Kaybee something?

yes you can buy it ready mixed this is the stuff i buy ,if i cant get the stuff i need to mix my own the problem is they will not tell you what seeds they put in it and at what ratio ,but it does them good

http://www.haiths.com/brand/1/product-K ... -CBKRATON/


ken