Seed preference and nutrition

Learn what to feed your birds.
Stuart whiting
Weaning
Weaning
Posts: 1495
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2016 5:30 pm

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by Stuart whiting » Sun Aug 14, 2016 12:35 pm

GouldieFledge wrote: I find myself in the same situation, where my gouldians will not eat the faux-looking, colored pellets. I feel like I'm wasting a lot of my money. I currently feed mine a mix of Kaytee premium finch seed seen here: http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore ... lsrc=aw.ds

This is mixed with some of the Lafeber's pellet diet that ac12 mentioned. I honestly can't tell for sure if they eat it or not; I used to provide it individually, but they didn't seem to be eating it that way.

Speaking of glamgouldians.com, I ordered some seed hoppers from Terri's site and got a free sample of her "glam goulidan" seed mix. Let me tell you, my birds DEVOURED that stuff. Nothing was wasted, the entire dish was hulls. So thank you Terri glamgouldians, your seed was very much appreciated by my birds!!!
Exactly my point :mrgreen:

I'm glad you've managed to find a very good seed supplier,

A very good seed diet goes a long way :-BD

ac12
Molting
Molting
Posts: 6421
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:39 pm
Location: California, SF Bay Area

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by ac12 » Mon Aug 15, 2016 7:57 pm

To each his own.
Gary

gouldians (GB,YB,BB), blackbelly firefinches (trying to breed), societies (foster parents).
red factor canary

camorrow
Hatchling
Hatchling
Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2016 11:23 pm
Location: Southern Utah

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by camorrow » Mon Aug 15, 2016 11:31 pm

I'm of the opinion that offering some pellets isn't going to hurt anything. I expect my Zebras to be primarily eating the seed mix, along with anything else that they take in - fruits and veggies, millet spray, any of the bits of live plants in their cage (Zebra plant, fern, birch branches with leaves and seed). BUT if they take in any of the vitamin enriched pellets, all the better to give them a more balanced diet. Clearly my kids don't prefer the pellets, but I THINK they're eating some of them now.

I've opted to buy a few individual types of seeds that I know they're mainly eating plus a couple more types that they might be eating. I'll mix the former at a higher percentage than the latter and also with some of the Zupreem Smar Selects, which has some pellets AND seeds so it's not such a waste. We'll see how they go with that.

For those that buy individual types of seed and then do their own mix, where do you get your seeds? I've only found a few options online so far, so I'm open to any suggestions to compare quality and cost. For me, with currently only the three birds and not going above six, I don't plan to buy in true bulk (25 lbs and such), as I don't have good storage for that. I went with 5 and 1 lb bags of the different seeds for now.

debbie276
Bird Brain
Bird Brain
Posts: 14789
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2009 7:30 am
Location: WV

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by debbie276 » Tue Aug 16, 2016 3:30 am

Have you tried Herman brothers? Depending on where you live, shipping can be costly though

http://www.hermanbros-seed.com
Debbie
long time breeder of lady gouldians:
Green
SF Pastel (SF Yellow)
Pastel (Yellow)
Blue
SF Pastel Blue (SF Yellow Blue)
Pastel Blue (Yellow Blue)

GREAT articles on avian lighting:
https://mickaboo.org/confluence/downloa ... ummary.pdf
http://www.naturallighting.com/cart/sto ... sc_page=56

User avatar
Sally
Mod Extraordinaire
Mod Extraordinaire
Posts: 17929
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2007 11:55 pm
Location: DFW, Texas

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by Sally » Tue Aug 16, 2016 5:05 pm

This would be closer to you, so not as much for shipping, but I think they just do wholesale bulk. It wouldn't hurt to call them, though.

http://www.seedfactory.com/aboutus.html
3 Purple Grenadiers, 1 Goldbreast + 1 cat.

National Finch & Softbill Society - http://www.nfss.org

JerseyGuy
Callow Courter
Callow Courter
Posts: 160
Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2016 8:00 am
Location: Toms River, New Jersey

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by JerseyGuy » Thu Aug 18, 2016 9:49 am

I don't feed my Gouldians pellets. They refused them. I feed my Gouldians Ecotrition 'Grains & Greens' along with Canary Grass Seed and Siberian Red Millet.
I also offer them Ecotrition Essential Blend, Spray Millet is offered 2x per week,
and I give them 'Hearty Bird' Vitamin/Mineral supplement in their drinking water
every day.
Patrick

1 Male Gouldian finch, 1 Senegal Parrot, 1 English Bulldog and 1 Chiweenie.

Stuart whiting
Weaning
Weaning
Posts: 1495
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2016 5:30 pm

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by Stuart whiting » Fri Aug 19, 2016 5:59 am

JerseyGuy

Sounds like you've got yer Gouldians on a good diet Patrick, nice one mate :-BD

Madcat
2 Eggs Laid
2 Eggs Laid
Posts: 713
Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2013 9:25 am
Location: Virginia

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by Madcat » Sat Aug 20, 2016 3:56 pm

This site offers free shipping with bulk orders. Has anyone used this before?
https://myparrotfood.com/
30+ Gouldians
1 Red Cheeked Cordon Bleu
1 White Society
1 Fawn Owl

User avatar
Sojourner
2 Eggs Laid
2 Eggs Laid
Posts: 716
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2015 12:22 am

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by Sojourner » Fri Sep 02, 2016 5:14 pm

camorrow

They're clearly rejecting the pellets. Stop trying to make them eat them. I know they're supposed to be all nutritionally wonderful, but there is no actual evidence that this is so and considerable evidence to the contrary (google "breeding problems finches pellets" or something similar).

I have never had a finch that would touch a pellet. Actually I've never had any bird whatsoever that would touch a pellet, including the rescue parakeets I got from a woman who claimed to be feeding them entirely on pellets and fresh greens - neither of which they will touch with a ten foot pole since I've had them.

My solution to the problem of picking out rape seed, flax seed, pellets, and technicolor dried "fruit" is to feed a parakeet mix and then supplement with other seed rotated through their treat cups. I also free feed egg food, sunflower chips and hearts, and nyjer. My birds don't pig out on anything and are not fat or all breed-y. Not a single egg laid since I removed the nest.

With the parakeet mix as the main seed, I no longer see much scattering and no longer end up with ever-more-concentrated quantities of the stuff they hate that I then end up feeding (at very high cost) to the wild birds - who, BTW, also utterly refuse to touch the pellets.

I've never heard of zebra finches utterly refusing oat groats but maybe I just never noticed. There's generally only a small amount of oat groats in any mix anyway.

I have Bengalese so what they like may not perfectly match up with what Zebras like, but here are some of the things I rotated through their cages until I could identify things they relish, things they will eat occasionally, and things they repeatedly refuse.

I went to the bulk bins at a local Winco/Cub Foods - bulk bins at any grocery store ought to have some of these. Its not a complete list of everything I tried, just what I can remember off-hand.

Sesame seed - they like
Flax seed - they hate
Hulled hemp - they like-to-love depending on I'm-not-sure-what
Millet - they like
Oats (not hulled) - they LOVE
rolled oats, rolled red wheat, rolled wheat - they will eat all of these
Oat bran - they'll eat it but why bother when they LOVE the whole stuff
Wheat bran - Will eat but they prefer the rolled stuff
Barley - too big/hard for them. Pretty sure it was pearl barley

I get these from my wild bird supplies:
nyjer - they hated it at first but once they finally tried it hate turned to LOVE
Sunflower chips and hearts - they like and do not over eat

One other thing they like is fennel seed, but only the skinny kind, not the fat kind you can get in the US. I get mine from an Indian grocer. I only know the name in Hindi.

I'd stick with the parakeet mix as their staple diet and hit the bulk bins to try other likely looking seeds to supplement, remembering to offer small amounts at different times even if they reject it at first. I was shocked at the turnaround in attitude towards the nyjer seed once they finally tried it, LOL!

Given you're also regularly offering them greens, you shouldn't have a problem finding things to supplement the parakeet mix.
Molly Brown 11/22/15
Pyewacket 6/15/17
Trudy 2/24/18

Turn towards home, and go there. Many overs, over woods and fields, streams and hills, many overs. Just turn towards home. How else would one go there? Perhaps it was a dream, and you have awakened from it. May the earth rise up beneath you, with home in your heart, and your person waiting.

Stuart whiting
Weaning
Weaning
Posts: 1495
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2016 5:30 pm

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by Stuart whiting » Fri Sep 02, 2016 7:32 pm

Sojourner wrote: camorrow

They're clearly rejecting the pellets. Stop trying to make them eat them. I know they're supposed to be all nutritionally wonderful, but there is no actual evidence that this is so and considerable evidence to the contrary (google "breeding problems finches pellets" or something similar).

I have never had a finch that would touch a pellet. Actually I've never had any bird whatsoever that would touch a pellet, including the rescue parakeets I got from a woman who claimed to be feeding them entirely on pellets and fresh greens - neither of which they will touch with a ten foot pole since I've had them.

My solution to the problem of picking out rape seed, flax seed, pellets, and technicolor dried "fruit" is to feed a parakeet mix and then supplement with other seed rotated through their treat cups. I also free feed egg food, sunflower chips and hearts, and nyjer. My birds don't pig out on anything and are not fat or all breed-y. Not a single egg laid since I removed the nest.

With the parakeet mix as the main seed, I no longer see much scattering and no longer end up with ever-more-concentrated quantities of the stuff they hate that I then end up feeding (at very high cost) to the wild birds - who, BTW, also utterly refuse to touch the pellets.

I've never heard of zebra finches utterly refusing oat groats but maybe I just never noticed. There's generally only a small amount of oat groats in any mix anyway.

I have Bengalese so what they like may not perfectly match up with what Zebras like, but here are some of the things I rotated through their cages until I could identify things they relish, things they will eat occasionally, and things they repeatedly refuse.

I went to the bulk bins at a local Winco/Cub Foods - bulk bins at any grocery store ought to have some of these. Its not a complete list of everything I tried, just what I can remember off-hand.

Sesame seed - they like
Flax seed - they hate
Hulled hemp - they like-to-love depending on I'm-not-sure-what
Millet - they like
Oats (not hulled) - they LOVE
rolled oats, rolled red wheat, rolled wheat - they will eat all of these
Oat bran - they'll eat it but why bother when they LOVE the whole stuff
Wheat bran - Will eat but they prefer the rolled stuff
Barley - too big/hard for them. Pretty sure it was pearl barley

I get these from my wild bird supplies:
nyjer - they hated it at first but once they finally tried it hate turned to LOVE
Sunflower chips and hearts - they like and do not over eat

One other thing they like is fennel seed, but only the skinny kind, not the fat kind you can get in the US. I get mine from an Indian grocer. I only know the name in Hindi.

I'd stick with the parakeet mix as their staple diet and hit the bulk bins to try other likely looking seeds to supplement, remembering to offer small amounts at different times even if they reject it at first. I was shocked at the turnaround in attitude towards the nyjer seed once they finally tried it, LOL!

Given you're also regularly offering them greens, you shouldn't have a problem finding things to supplement the parakeet mix.
All very straight forward and normal info there mate,

Incidentally bengalese ( society finches ) eat pretty much the same diet as zebras , both species are highly domesticated birds :-BD

User avatar
cindy
Bird Brain
Bird Brain
Posts: 18754
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:33 pm
Location: west central Florida

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by cindy » Fri Sep 02, 2016 8:27 pm

grind your flax seed and add to bird bread or soft foods. Flax seed is a very hard seed.

Zebra, Gouldians, Java, CBM Shaft tail & Grasskeets


~ My Facebook groups ~

*Finchaholics ~ finches, hookbills, softbills & canaries are welcome here!
discussions regarding species, housing, breeding, preventatives, treatments

*Birdaholics ~ Avian Classified Ads Only

camorrow
Hatchling
Hatchling
Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2016 11:23 pm
Location: Southern Utah

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by camorrow » Fri Sep 02, 2016 11:15 pm

They're eating a mix of primarily white millet, red millet, and canary seed, all of which they devour. I mixed in smaller amounts of sanflower seed and oat grouts, but I don't know if they're hitting that yet, with a touch of SmartSelects from Zupreem, because, hey, if they eat some great. If by the end of this large mixed bin they still aren't eating any of the SmartSelect then I'll pull it too. They're either occasionally eating some of the pellets now or they're just pulverizing them into dust. :lol:

User avatar
Sojourner
2 Eggs Laid
2 Eggs Laid
Posts: 716
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2015 12:22 am

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by Sojourner » Sat Sep 03, 2016 8:42 pm

Stuart whiting

Ah, well in that case - if zebras actually do eat pretty much the same things as Bengalese, which is what I sort of expected - they ought to LOVE the whole oats. My guys lurv lurv lurv their whole oats.

Sadly (because they are so perfectly dimorphic) zebes are, to me, the parakeets of the finch world - noisy, quarrelsome, messy-for-finches birds, LOL!

I'd like to have more societies but hesitate to get more given how hard they are to sex, short of a DNA test. Unfortunately all the finches I like best are hard to sex.
Molly Brown 11/22/15
Pyewacket 6/15/17
Trudy 2/24/18

Turn towards home, and go there. Many overs, over woods and fields, streams and hills, many overs. Just turn towards home. How else would one go there? Perhaps it was a dream, and you have awakened from it. May the earth rise up beneath you, with home in your heart, and your person waiting.

Stuart whiting
Weaning
Weaning
Posts: 1495
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2016 5:30 pm

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by Stuart whiting » Sat Sep 03, 2016 9:01 pm

Sojourner

Yea mate unfortunately bengalese are difficult to sex at times but I used to have a fair few of em and then this gives you the option of hopefully picking a few pairs out after careful observation :-BD

User avatar
Sojourner
2 Eggs Laid
2 Eggs Laid
Posts: 716
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2015 12:22 am

Re: Seed preference and nutrition

Post by Sojourner » Sat Sep 03, 2016 9:12 pm

I don't want to breed, just want birds to watch. Ideally I'd have all of one gender, but that's impossible to accomplish with birds that aren't dimorphic unless you DNA test every single bird - which you generally can't do until AFTER you've already bought and paid for the bird.
Molly Brown 11/22/15
Pyewacket 6/15/17
Trudy 2/24/18

Turn towards home, and go there. Many overs, over woods and fields, streams and hills, many overs. Just turn towards home. How else would one go there? Perhaps it was a dream, and you have awakened from it. May the earth rise up beneath you, with home in your heart, and your person waiting.

Post Reply