FINCHforum

This morning, I used some of my precious morning time (I have two boys so it's pretty hectic in the mornings before school) and I made a special plate of food for my finches. I based it off of Doug Taylor's Green Day diet from a link on this forum. I was so proud of what I made, and I put it in on a plate at the bottom of the cage, anxiously waiting for my birds to eat.......and they did nothing They didn't even fly down to inspect, but they did start eating their seed right away. Maybe my expectations were too high?? Should I remove all of the seed from their cage in the mornings to encourage them to eat the soft foods, and then add it when I get home later in the afternoon?

slwatson

Hello and a belated welcome to the Forum.

Sorry, I don't know what kinds of birds you have, or how long you've had them.

However, as a general rule for most Finches.
No, I would not remove their seeds for a whole day. Finches are primarily seed eaters, and need to have access to seeds to survive (unless they are on a pellet diet). Trying to starve them into accepting a new diet, is NOT the way to go.

First of all, when you mentioned 'soft foods', are we talking about egg food, vegetables, etc. ?

If that is the case, and your birds haven't been fed these things before, then they probably haven't got a clue as to what to do with this 'strange' stuff.

My recommendation, would be to start slow and in small amounts.

First of all, egg food can be made quite irresistible by a few small steps.

Hard boil egg (s)
Peel, and save the shells (for later use, dried and crumbled and offered as birdie calcium rich potato chips).
Run egg through a garlic press (or mash with fork and fluff up)
Crumble a sizable sprig of spray millet into the mixture and toss together to mix.

You can also add a small amount of pulverized store bought egg food to the mixture, and also some pulverized freeze dried mealworms.

However, if you don't happen to have the two above mentioned, just the spray millet will do.

This mixture, can be made the evening before and fridged for a couple of days or served fresh .

It has been my experience, that most birds will give it a try, and never look back. While trying this new delish food, I would withhold other spray millet treats, but continue to offer regular seed mix.

As to vegetables and greens.
Not too sure what you have been offering your guys, but here are a few pointers.
As a first , I would offer a very simple romain lettuce leaf , stuck through the cage bars.
In many cases, birds may have been introduced to romaine by some well meaning if somewhat misguided soul, who believed that lettuce is the only veggie that birds can eat.

I would offer it, but don't push it, let them figure it out.
Next will come the irresistible half slice of an English cucumber, again, stuck through the cage bars, or clipped into place, cut side facing upward.

After they figure this one out (which most birds usually do ) I'd start offering small amounts of other items, to find out what they like best.
When it comes to choices, the sky is the limit.
Kale
Spinach
Carrot greens
Grated carrots
Beet greens
Red swiss chard
Parsley
Packaged baby spring greens
Broccoli
Corn on the cob
Dandilion greens
Mustard greens
Chopped apples
A half of a mandarin orange
Bananas
Melons
Strawberry

The main ingredient, is patience.

Good luck

~Elana~

I agree with everything lovezebs has said above. I know that your new Owls are used to egg food. Try offering the egg food by itself, and the veggies in a separate dish. It just takes time for some birds to try new foods. Just like kids, some of your birds will like one veggie, while others won't touch it. That is why it is important to offer a variety of veggies. The Green Day diet is a good basic start, but one thing I disagree with is offering the same limited veggies each day. It would be like us eating only potatoes each day, it has to get boring. My thinking with caged birds is that we have to offer them as much stimulation as possible to make their lives happy, so a big variety in diet helps with that.

Thank you both for your suggestions! I have two pairs of society finches, one crested society finch, a pair of owl finches, and a pair of gouldian finches. I haven't had them very long, so I'm pretty new at this. I offered beak size kale, cabbage, broccoli stems, and a smashed egg and shell mix this morning. I'll be sure and use a variety of veggies and some fruits. If they're as picky as my own kids, then it will take a while for them to try it. I think they were a little unsure about a plate sitting at the bottom of the cage. I've had everything high up until now. I'm hoping to see that they've eaten some when I get home. So far I've noticed they've eaten romaine lettuce, apples, grapes, bananas, carrots, broccoli, and green leaf lettuce from a dish I hung high in their cage. I think adding spray millet to the egg will really help too...it wasn't very crumbly. Thanks again!

Ha. I remember the first time I was so proud of myself and made eggfood. It was lovingly prepared and offered to the flight cage and you would have thought I'd just given them something that was going to kill them.

If you make up a larger batch, freeze it and offer small amounts each day until they figure it out. Usually the birds don't like it too moist. I dry mine out with commercial eggfood and handfeeding formula.

Here's my eggfood recipe:

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=31580

There are several others listed under the recipe section of the Diet and Nutrition section.

Moral of the story is don't get your feelings hurt when you offer new foods and they won't eat them. It took my birds about a week to accept it, some even longer, and now they hang from the front of the cage in excitement if they see me coming with a tub of it.

Thanks Colt for your advice! When I got home, it did look like they had eaten some of the food, mainly the egg and kale. I put it out again this morning and no one went to it before I left, but hopefully they're getting used to seeing it.

I'm also new to this, but have found that my finches prefer larger pieces. Especially the spinach. If I put whole baby spinach leaves in, they eat (and play with) it all day and will devour every bite. If I tear it up really small, they will barely touch it. I can't explain it, but that's their M.O.

I'm thankful for the opening post and all the responses. I have had the same issue with my Gouldians and had several questions. All have been answered. Thanks!

This morning, my owl finches flew right to the plate when I put it at the bottom of the cage. Progress!!!