The Complete Soft Food Is Back!
Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 1:48 pm
Mike Fidler’s Complete Soft Food is now available again in the United States.
It can be purchased at the following retailers:
Fabulous Finch
http://www.fabulousfinch.com/cart/
LadyGouldian.com
http://www.ladygouldian.com/catalog/mik ... seed-mixes
Gouldians Galore
http://www.gouldiansgalore.net/birdsrus.html
Meadowlark Farms Avian Supply
http://store.mfgouldianfinches.com/birdsrus.html
Let me try to explain what the Complete Soft Food is, and what it isn’t. It is not “the next” Quiko or Orlux type eggfood. While whole egg is the second listed ingredient in the CSF it also contains everything most finches require in addition to a species appropriate seed mix, a calcium grit, and fresh water. It is highly concentrated and should not be used with artificial supplements.
Its consistency is somewhere between a powder and a fine meal, and it is best used blended with sprouted seed. It is excellent for beginners, as it takes much of the guesswork out of trying to build an appropriate diet for any given species. In the case of the more insectivorous species, live food may still be required. But it is an excellent base for softbills and insectivorous finches eating a limited diet of insects.
It is also excellent for working with a new species that you are unfamiliar with or in establishing a breeding program for the more difficult to breed species. In the above cases an alternate method to blending with sprouted seed would be to introduce the CSF by first blending 1 teaspoon of sunflower oil with 1 Kg of dry seed and then blending in 2 heaping tablespoons of the CSF.
The CSF is not a “feel good” quick hit food. It looks like, smells like and tastes like nothing your birds have likely eaten. It typically takes time for your birds to accept it.
For those already experienced with the CSF, it has changed. My last import lot was in Sept of 2008 (which expired in Aug 2010). So my inventory was static while the Save the Gouldian Fund kept moving forward. It is now used by the Macquarie University Zebra finch and Longtail finch research programs in addition to the Save the Gouldian Fund, and is also fed to Mike’s research population of Parrot finches which have been studied by the World Wildlife Fund. For these species it is precisely formulated. For many other species the CSF will give you a solid nutritional foundation on which to build an appropriate diet based on the unique nutritional requirements of a given species through the introduction of different seeds and/or insects.
Bill Van Patten
It can be purchased at the following retailers:
Fabulous Finch
http://www.fabulousfinch.com/cart/
LadyGouldian.com
http://www.ladygouldian.com/catalog/mik ... seed-mixes
Gouldians Galore
http://www.gouldiansgalore.net/birdsrus.html
Meadowlark Farms Avian Supply
http://store.mfgouldianfinches.com/birdsrus.html
Let me try to explain what the Complete Soft Food is, and what it isn’t. It is not “the next” Quiko or Orlux type eggfood. While whole egg is the second listed ingredient in the CSF it also contains everything most finches require in addition to a species appropriate seed mix, a calcium grit, and fresh water. It is highly concentrated and should not be used with artificial supplements.
Its consistency is somewhere between a powder and a fine meal, and it is best used blended with sprouted seed. It is excellent for beginners, as it takes much of the guesswork out of trying to build an appropriate diet for any given species. In the case of the more insectivorous species, live food may still be required. But it is an excellent base for softbills and insectivorous finches eating a limited diet of insects.
It is also excellent for working with a new species that you are unfamiliar with or in establishing a breeding program for the more difficult to breed species. In the above cases an alternate method to blending with sprouted seed would be to introduce the CSF by first blending 1 teaspoon of sunflower oil with 1 Kg of dry seed and then blending in 2 heaping tablespoons of the CSF.
The CSF is not a “feel good” quick hit food. It looks like, smells like and tastes like nothing your birds have likely eaten. It typically takes time for your birds to accept it.
For those already experienced with the CSF, it has changed. My last import lot was in Sept of 2008 (which expired in Aug 2010). So my inventory was static while the Save the Gouldian Fund kept moving forward. It is now used by the Macquarie University Zebra finch and Longtail finch research programs in addition to the Save the Gouldian Fund, and is also fed to Mike’s research population of Parrot finches which have been studied by the World Wildlife Fund. For these species it is precisely formulated. For many other species the CSF will give you a solid nutritional foundation on which to build an appropriate diet based on the unique nutritional requirements of a given species through the introduction of different seeds and/or insects.
Bill Van Patten
Order coming in soon