Out of curiosity, seed requirement?

[LauraBird]

Hi,

My finches have egg meal, complete finch food, miracle meal, charcoal, kelp, eggshell, millet, and seed.

Of course the seed is the only thing you can't tell just by looking whether they need more seed (lots of empty shells can fill a bowl, rather than looking empty).

When talking about finches and their constant need to eat due to their metabolism, is seed an mandatory part of their diet or a daily treat? In other words, if they ran out of seed, would they get sick because all the other food doesn't supply a certain thing that seeds do and is required?

Just want to know how obsessively (daily, every other day, weekly) I need to check their seed cups. ;)

[finchmix22]

LauraBird
Yes, seed is the main source of nutrition for finches, but it is not the only source for a balanced and healthy diet. Finches need a quality finch seed mix, dark leafy vegetables, carrots, and some fruit. They also need eggfood during breeding season and periodically at other times to give them all the necessary vitamins and minerals, such as Calcium, protein, etc.

[Sally]

Agreed. Most finches are basically seedeaters, though in the wild they will balance their diet with plant material, minerals, sometimes fruit. Some of the waxbills are very insectivorous, so they will eat a lot of bugs, but they still eat seeds as well. With most seed cups, you have to remove the hulls daily, as the finches don't go after seed that is buried. This is why I love the seed hoppers, as the hulls (most anyway) drop into the hull drawer beneath the hopper, and the birds are presented with seed on a constant basis.

[LauraBird]

what is a seed hopper?

[Sheather]

If you have pellets in the cage you do not absolutely need to supply seed at all, technically. When my birds are on pellets they may only get seed a couple times a week.

[debbie276]

Seed should be available at all times as they are seed eaters. Hard boiled egg and other vegetables, greens and pellets are supplements to the seed.
A seed hopper is like an outdoor wild bid feeder in that it holds a lot of seed that drops of the bottom as the birds eat them.
I would never recommend a pellet only diet for finches.