Egg Food

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:07 pm

I have been wondering about the egg food that is used for Finches...and didn't find any in the local pet stores so was wondering about where you guys get your commercial egg food from?

I know I can make some eggs myself but does the commercial egg food have more nutrients and vitamins already in it?

I do not order off the Internet unless the site allows orders by phone...so finding finch products is becoming a real challenge since the pet stores don't have much for finches other than seed...argh!

Post by **Sally** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:24 pm

As I posted somewhere else, the local pet shops don't carry very many supplies we need for our finches. Most of the online suppliers will have a phone number where you can talk to a real person. There are several online suppliers here on our forum (TammyS and fairestfinches), so you could always PM them to see about placing an order. I just tried fairestfinches recipe for eggfood (you can find it at their website), and I really like it (so do my birds) and it is very easy to prepare. The commercial eggfoods usually have vitamins, etc., added, and if fed dry, you never have to worry about them spoiling.

fairestfinches · Post by **fairestfinches** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 1:28 pm

FeatherHarp,

We use Miracle Meal. It does have more nutritional value than fresh egg foods and it can be left out as a free choice food with out fear of it spoiling. You can check it out on our website for more information. We do take phone orders. I'm getting ready to go out and get the last of the Christmas shopping done so I won't be in for several hours but, if you send me your phone number privately I or Michele can call you this evening, and answer any and all the questions you may have.

Sean

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 5:30 pm

Thanks for all the good info Sally & FairestFinches!

I will check out the websites once the Christmas rush is over and then I will have more time to leisurely research the products.

S. W. Houston · Post by **S. W. Houston** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 1:52 pm

Hello All,

Speaking of Egg Food, I’ve found that my Birds just LOVE the Egg Shell, crushed and put in a little Bowl. I guess this is an on-topic question !?

When I’m crushing the Shell into little pieces, there’s sort of a “skin” that inside it, is that ok to be there, does it hurt or get in the way, and if it’s not good for them, how do I get rid of it ?

Have a good Day !

Post by **Sally** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 2:21 pm

The eggshell is excellent for finches, most of them really love it, too. There is a range of opinions on how long to cook the eggshells, but they should be cooked some. I put mine in the microwave for about 3 minutes on high, then crush them. I have read of people microwaving them for 15 minutes, but I figure the eggshells will explode all over the oven for that length of time! When I am baking bird bread, I put shells on a cookie sheet and cook them at 250 (oven had been at 400 cooking bread) for about 15 minutes, then turn oven off and leave them in till oven is cool. I crush mine in a mini chopper, so there isn't too much of that skin visible, but I leave it and offer it along with the shells to the birds.

S. W. Houston · Post by **S. W. Houston** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 10:53 pm

We had some HB Eggs yesterday, and when I got hold of the Shells, there was hardly any "skin" in them this time. I wish I knew just how that happened? Temprature, length of time in the boil, both !?

Have a good Day !

Edit:
Nevermind, I found it at:
http://www.finchinfo.com/diet/egg_mixes ... _foods.php
Ya just don't have to go hardly anywyere but here, to find out what you want about Finches. OR, how to boil a Hard Boiled Egg.

spector · Post by **spector** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:12 am

I make my own egg food, from a recipe I found on a finch site a while back. It is basically just Jiffy corn bread mix, dry handfeeding formula (I use Kaytee Exact), and a bunch of eggs (I use a whole dozen), shells and all. I play with that basic recipe, adding baby food or diced up veggies - whatever I have on hand that looks tasty.

The resulting bread is very solid, so I cut it up into tiny pieces. The nice thing about it is that it just dries out and gets stale, so you don't have to worry about taking it out after a few hours, as you do hb eggs.

Now that my society pair is sitting on babies, I offer it and brown bread, both soaked in warm water. I notice they eat quite a bit of the egg bread, but very little of the regular bread. I have to admit, however, that my other finches barely touch either.

williep · Post by **williep** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:03 am

Sally wrote:..... The commercial eggfoods usually have vitamins, etc., added, and if fed dry, you never have to worry about them spoiling.

My post refers to the last bit of your quote so I deleted the rest: On any eggfood packet i saw, it suggests you moisten the food before you give it to your birds. Obviously this post by Sally got me thinking, so I guess my question is... Can you feed the eggfood dry and if so does it loose any nutrients in the process and who else does it. It would be gr8 if that is the case it it would save me a lot of money. Please respond

Post by **Hilary** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 1:11 am

I keep a bowl of dry eggfood (commercial variety, not homemade of course) in all of my cages for them to pick at when they want to. It's a convenient source of protein that won't go bad, and most consume it with gusto. I then supplement with fresh eggfood.

beccafigs · Post by **beccafigs** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:41 am

I just made egg bread like spector described, (except I just boiled and dried the egg shells in the oven and ground them up in the blender to offer like oystershell, and I omitted the formula-so just eggs and jiffy mix), and my birds went NUTS for it. Mine was not super dense though, rather fluffy actually. Since it's bread I can just leave it rather than take it out in a couple hours, but last night there was not much left. I tore off a piece as soon as it was fairly cool and crumbled it up a bit. As soon as I put it in my societies came to investigate, and once the zebras caught on it was flung all over the cage and nearly totally devoured. It made a HUGE loaf so I used my vacuum sealer and sealed the leftovers up in their own bags and tossed them in the freezer.

I also used to offer them commercial egg food. My zebra boys had eaten it long before I got obsessed and started on my way to triple the number of birds I had. I did notice that my female zebs started to have runny, greenish poo for a while, and other than the poo they were fine. I offered heat and they didn't even use it. I stopped using the commercial egg food and the runny poo has stopped. I don't know if it is directly related or if something else was causing it and this was all I noticed. I'll probably just stick with the egg bread in case that is what it was.

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:15 pm

I had made some bird bread last week too and I put a bunch of those colored pellets in there since my finches or Lovebirds wouldn't eat them straight.

But they loved the bread and didn't even notice the hidden pellets....ha!

I alternate that with the egg food just for variety. Hubby thinks I am nuts for "cooking for my birds"...

hilljack13 · Post by **hilljack13** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:17 pm

I'm sticking with the hardboild egg. I even snack with my finches every now and then.

beccafigs · Post by **beccafigs** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:54 pm

Featherharp- That's cute. My hubby thought I was weird when I told them I made the bird bread, too. Sometimes I am not around enough to remove food that may spoil (like when I go out of town this weekend til the hubby deploys) so I like the bread idea. I don't want to make my neighbor spoil them as much as I do!

Hilljack- That's funny!

hilljack13 · Post by **hilljack13** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:09 pm

beccafigs wrote:
Hilljack- That's funny!

Yea, it's a good thing I have a large cage. Those doors are a tight squeeze.