FINCHforum

Hi all. I'm just curious if egg food can replace actual hard boiled eggs or should I feed both? Thanks in advance for all the responses!

You could add comercial "egg food" to a hard boiled egg to dry it out a bit. Don't forget to also feed the egg shells

Baking egg shells right now.

You don't need to bake the shells if you boiled the egg

Dry commercial eggfood is OK, I use it like Debbie to add to my homemade eggfood to dry it out. It is nutritious, but IMO you can't beat good old hardboiled eggs. I mash mine up shell and all, but some like to peel them and offer the shells separately.

Actually I've never bought commercial egg food. I hard boil eggs and add a bit of handfeeding formula which is a complete food with everything the birds need. Every breeder should have a small container of hand feeding formula in the freezer in case of emergencies as well as having a bottle of liquid calcium in the cabinet.
BUT, if you already have commercial egg food it can be added tot he hard boiled egg.

debbie276@Sally
I just received my ABBA Nestling Food today from glamgouldians.com. I bought it to put out for my fledges. I already offer fresh egg food daily for the whole family and they refuse to eat it if I modify the recipe in ANY way. Should I just put the Nestling Food out in a separate dish or don't even bother??? It looks just like the commercial egg food...

I'd try adding just a tiny bit at a time to your homemade eggfood, it works great to dry it out a bit. For fledglings, besides eggfood I offer spray millet and veggies, and then their basic finch mix. It is surprising how quickly they learn to eat real food, but the spray millet is so easy for them, and it is like candy, so that is one of the first things my fledglings will eat.

I agree with Sally

I third what Sally and Debbie said! Spray millet is the best thing to have around for fledglings IMO. I love to watch them picking at it - they seem to get some confidence with that and then move on to try other stuff.

Sally@debbie276@Martie
Thank you Ladies. I put some nestling food out for the fledges in a separate dish today. I also have millet spray, kale leaf, finely chopped broccoli, home made egg food and a water dish all on the cage bottom. Two of my societies fledged this morning .

My javas wouldn't touch a plain hardboiled egg placed in the cage. (canaries would) I make them a homemade egg food, that is mostly egg, and they gobble it up. Bob

Not sure what brands you get there or how good they are, but I hardly ever give fresh boiled eggs to my lot. I've always used commercial egg food which I moisten before offering. Ours have added vitamins and balanced nutrition added along with herbs. On the packet directions it says to add a boiled egg if you wish to increase the % protein.
I mix mine with the veggie mix I offer and the birds never turn their beaks up to it. Even the waxbills love to eat it.

What kind of veggies to do you all offer?

I make a seasonal mix of whatever is avail and safe for them to eat. Usually has carrot, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, corn and sprouts as a base plus other things in season.