FINCHforum

So we all LOVE our birds, we gave them seed mix, egg, veggies, fruits, and many other types of treats that they're practically quite... spoiled if I may say so,

and just like humans, this effects in the birds being picky

in my case, only canary seed, millet, and paddy are eaten...
whatever happened to the mustard; niger; and other seeds? I have to throw them away...
what a waste!

I read that birds instinctively know what to ingest according to what nutrition they're lacking.
however, niger seed was presented in the mix because its been heavily raining these past few months, and I want them to be warm (the side effect of niger is warming the body)
also, economically speaking, they're being wasteful...

Has this happened to you?
What do you do when things like this happen?
I'd like to "punish" them by not feeding their favorite treats or not changing their seeds UNTIL the remaining types are finished, but my birds are in breeding mode so obviously I cannot restrict the food...

My birds will also go through periods when they don't eat certain seeds, or they start wasting seed by searching through it for their favorites. The only time I have punished them is when they empty a whole vacation feeder in one or two days, searching for their favorites. All the rest of the seed winds up spread all over the cage floor, and in that case, I don't refill the hopper right away, I make them eat off the floor! I know they can't reason, yet when I do finally refill that feeder, they often don't repeat this behavior.

The rest of the time, when they don't clean up their seed mix, I toss the leftovers outside for the wild birds--they appreciate every little bit!

Plant the seed they don't eat and they will eat it when it's green

Java finches will never ever eat niger. Canaries will, but the amount they'll take varies and sometimes they don't eat much.

dutch Sally
sweeet~! both ideas are very good! toss the seeds to a soil outdoors, let wild birds eat them, if there's any survivors they grow into plant which becomes greenfood

mondo

Perfect solution and everybody wins.
You could also try to sprout some of these seeds for them in water.
Another solution, is to offer less treats..... if you offer a child a good healthy meal, with cookies and ice cream right beside it, which do you think they will eat first???

~Elana~

When I sprouted some seeds in water me cocks throw them out of the cage and everything was glued to walls, so in some zebra-cases it is risky solution