FINCHforum

Hi everyone,
I've been adding some sesame seeds to my seed mixes for a while and the birds do like it. I'm wondering if anybody has tried feeding their birds quinoa and/or chia seeds? I'm thinking about offering small quantities in extra dishes.
Iso

My birds (canaries and linnies) love cooked quinoa. It is pricey though.

I offer chitted quinoa & sometimes cooked. My Javas don't seem to care for it. I also give 7 or 8 grains a day of chia seeds. One eats them, the other not so much. An avian vet told me to give them to a sparrow that I raised, but just a few grains a day. Chia seeds are also a health food for humans. Never tried sesame seeds, but I know some people feed them.

isobea

I have tried cooked quinoa, but they didn't really care for it too much. I had thought of sesame seeds, but read somewhere that they are quite high in fat, so I backed off from them.
Haven't heared anything about chia seed, other then in the ch-chi-chi-chia pet commercials.

Let me know how your guys do with the sesame seeds, and what you find out about the chia, please.

~Elana~

I feed my birds cooked brown rice and quinoa with flax seeds. I put it in ice trays for storage. I thaw and run it through a food processor to get it smaller.It is a good soft food that I can add eggs and vegetables to. Hope this helps.

I add sesame seeds during the breeding season, as they are nice and soft for the fledglings to play around with. All of my birds eat it with relish.

I haven't tried quinoa but I did get a bag of chia seeds which were completely wasted on my birds. The only birds who ate them were the 2 diamond doves! The gouldians and waxbills completely ignored it...

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.
I started adding sesame seeds in the winter when the nights were getting colder because I thought the extra fat might help my birdies. I still add some (not as much as then) and have noticed that they eat less of it now. I guess they know instinctively what their bodies need when. Just like they go through a phase in the spring when they eat a lot of rape seeds (remember those darn things rolling away under your feet, Elana?) and the rest of the year they mostly ignore them.
I already have bags of quinoa and chia seeds because I like to add them to soups and salads, so I put some (uncooked) ones out today. Everybody seemed quite skeptical, but then my birds are very picky anyway. I'll give it a week and see what happens.
Iso

The test week is up and here are my observations: the quinoa and chia seeds were largely untouched, some of the sesame seeds are still getting eaten. I will try offering cooked quinoa seeds next but right now my birds are into half-ripe milk weed, dandelion and grass seeds. I might have to experiment with these seeds again next fall/winter.
Iso