What to feed Baby Goudians will be away for a few days

[Vera]

My baby Gouldians should be out of the nest any time now (its time and I see their little heads poking out of the nest). We are going to be away for 3/4 days next weekend and I have a friend coming in to look after them, but I am wondering about what to feed the babies. I have been making egg food out of boiled eggs and shell and the parents love it, and I have been able to change it every few hours so it's not sitting too long, but I dont want to bother my friend to have to do that. I have some commerical egg food as well but so far my parents wont eat it, so I have blended it in with the homemade egg food.

My questions is: Do you think it would be alright to grind up the commerical egg food and mix it in with their seed so the babies are still getting some egg food while we are away - would this work for a couple of days or does anyone have any other suggestions?

Always appreciate the suggestions and feedback!

[wildbird]

If the parents aren't eating and feeding the commercial egg food now, they won't when you're away. I think you can freeze the hard boiled egg and shell mix and use it as needed. The friend would just have to put it in and take it out in a few hours as you do. You could have it divided into small portions and ready to feed. If they don't have available what they are used to , the parents may not feed the babies. Dry commericial mix is not like hard boiled eggs.

[lovezebs]

Vera

That is a bit of a dilema....
I agree with wildbird about the parents not feeding the store bought egg food., if they are not feeding it now.

I know that some people do freeze hardboild egg food, although I've never tried it personally. It's worthwhile a try.

I would also leave loads of spray millet in the flight, along with washed greens in the fridge that your friend can hand out. I wouldn't chop them however, as they will wilt and turn to mush (larger pieces should be fine if they are washed and stored in a closed container or plastc bag.

Hopefully all will be well.

[Vera]

Do you think they would be okay without egg food for a couple of days if they have lots of good quality seed, millet and greens, as well as crushed oyster shell?

[ac12]

I would make a batch of egg food, just before you leave.
This give it the longest usable life, before it goes bad in 3-4 days.

I never tried freezing, but you might experiment now, to see how freezing some egg food then thawing it out in the fridge for a day will make it. That is something that I might do as well for when I go on holiday.

I would put some commercial egg food out NOW, to see if they eat it.
It can take a while for some birds to try a new food. And some never will.

[Vera]

Thank you Gary
I ground up some commerical egg food today and put it in with their seeds and they seem to be eating it so fingers crossed.
I have put some out before and they just ignored it but I will try that again.
Good idea - I can make up a batch up the day we leave and keep it in the fridge it should be fine until we get back. I wanted to save my friend from having to come in a few times a day to change it but I think they could have some each day that should work.
I have been changing the egg food every 3 to 4 hours is that about right?

[ac12]

Vera,
Yes, with HUNGRY chicks the parents could be going through the egg food in a hurry, forcing you to keep refilling the egg dish. Especially as the chicks grow and need more food.

Try a larger flat bowl, to put more egg food out. The wide flat bowl will let the egg dry out rather than stay wet and spoil (at least here in Calif).
I usually do egg 2x a day; morning about 7-8am, then dinner about 4-5pm. Lights out at 8pm.
Although if I am home, I might do a mid-day change of the egg food.

But like you I will have to think about a 1x a day feeding, when I go on holiday for 2 weeks.

I "try" to get the parents used to a mix of Miracle Meal and commercial dry egg food. This gives them something that won't spoil over a longer period of time. This is for the days when I am away from home most of the day and returning after lights out, so they only get food change 1x a day.

The other thing that I do is give them a seed mix with about 40-50% canary seed. As I understand canary seed has more protein than the other seeds.

But you have to keep an eye on the birds.
I found that sometimes as the chicks grow, the parent birds will change their diet; stop or reduce eating one food (like egg) and start eating a different food more (seeds).

[Sally]

Vera I make my egg food quite dry by adding a lot of the commercial egg food to my homemade stuff. If it is quite dry, it can sit out. For example, for every four hardboiled eggs, I add about 1 1/3 cup dry commercial egg food. I pulse this in the food processor, just a few pulses, just enough to mix it well but not get mushy. I have put egg food in the cages and left it all day with no problem. As long as your birds are in the house with regulated temperatures, I don't see any problem with leaving the egg food out all day. I've also frozen my egg food. I make up big batches at a time, and put multiple containers in the freezer. You should try freezing some, then thawing it out, to see how your birds like it.

When I have gone out of town and wanted my pet sitter to feed egg food, I just prepared batches of the egg food, and then put small containers in the freezer, each with one day's worth of food. I told the pet sitter to put one container in the refrigerator each day, so then when she comes the next day, it is all thawed and ready to feed. She would toss the old food from the day before, put the thawed egg food in their dishes, and then put another container from the freezer into the fridge, so it would be ready the next day. This worked great.

[Vera]

Thank you for the helpful suggestions. I think they will be fine!~ Easier to leave them now

[ac12]

Sally,

That is a GREAT idea to pre-portion the egg food for each day.
That will make things easier for the bird-sitter. Then they won't give too much or too little.
I tried to put in writing how much to feed, and it does not come out clear enough to not be misinterpreted.

[Vera]

The last of the Gouldian chicks came out of the nest today so I am happy to report that I have FOUR very healthy looking chicks - in fact they dont look much smaller than their parents! They are so cute!

I think next time I will try and plan it so the babies are born perhaps a month earlier I think it would make things easier. Today they gobbled up ALOT of homemade egg food!

I found another brand of commerical egg food they seem to like it has mealworms as well as some other things in it. It sure was pricey though! But worth it for a back up!