Fatty seeds in zebra finches

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Lagosuchus
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Fatty seeds in zebra finches

Post by Lagosuchus » Sat May 05, 2018 10:24 pm

Hello people,

I have a pair of zebra finches. For some time I've been making my own seed mix as I saw they didn't eat some seeds and those colored pellets that are in the commercial ones. The thing is that, right now, they refuse to eat any kind of fatty seed I offer them. I've tried Nyjer, flax seed, chia, perilla and rapeseed. Sometimes, the female has eaten some nyjer and perilla before, but I don't see her eating them anymore. Do your zebra finches eat some kind of fatty seeds? Do they really need them? I live in a warm country and sometimes I offer them mealworms.

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Fraza
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Re: Fatty seeds in zebra finches

Post by Fraza » Sun May 06, 2018 7:32 am

Lagosuchus they don’t need them I don’t think some people only feed them basic seeds for they’re whole life however I feed them a mix of every seed wild bird seeds to budgie
FINCHES I HAVE
Bengalese
zebras
Java sparrows
Silver bills
java x beng hybrid



PETS IVE HAD
dogs
Fish
Cocktiel
Doves
Hybrid cherry x Bengalese
Stars
Heck’s
Canary’s

My favourite is COCO my grey pearl society cock been here since the start my flock leader


YOUTUBE CHANNEL
https://m.youtube.com/results?q=fraser% ... de101&sm=3

Lagosuchus
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Re: Fatty seeds in zebra finches

Post by Lagosuchus » Mon May 07, 2018 4:09 am

Thank you for the info, Fraza. It's true that it may be boring to always eat basic seeds. I also give them different kind of vegetables and fruits, finch pellets, millet sprays(red and yellow) and mealworms(these ones once a week) so they can enjoy different flavors every day.
Right now we can find melons in our shops and we bought one for the first time on this year. I can't wait for it to be ripe and give them a slice of it!

Pd: I've seen your channel. You have very beautiful society finches and they seem very healthy. Congrats!

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Fraza
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Re: Fatty seeds in zebra finches

Post by Fraza » Mon May 07, 2018 5:01 am

Lagosuchus thankyou it’s nice that I know memebers are watching it and yeah same I feed them quite a mix everyday

I have a box of egg mix then mealworms,mixed green veg , oustergrit (important for eggs being strong), mixed seeds ,millet etc

And I haven’t seen ur birds yet where are the pics !!!

Mine like applebif u want to try that
FINCHES I HAVE
Bengalese
zebras
Java sparrows
Silver bills
java x beng hybrid



PETS IVE HAD
dogs
Fish
Cocktiel
Doves
Hybrid cherry x Bengalese
Stars
Heck’s
Canary’s

My favourite is COCO my grey pearl society cock been here since the start my flock leader


YOUTUBE CHANNEL
https://m.youtube.com/results?q=fraser% ... de101&sm=3

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Sojourner
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Re: Fatty seeds in zebra finches

Post by Sojourner » Mon May 07, 2018 12:00 pm

Lagosuchus

I give them broken sunflower chips out of my wild bird feed stash. Ditto nyjer, same source. They go on and off any individual seed, its no big deal as long as you make the offer from time to time, they will utilize it when they need to. Unlike budgies, who will basically pig out on whatever their "favorite" is to the exclusion of all else and eventually end up with fatty liver disease. Mine ignored nyjer for something like 6 months and then went wild over it, then went off it again. Ditto chia. They have NEVER eaten rape seed. They go on and off the hemp hearts. I just keep switching things up.

I too found that they wouldn't eat any of the "extras" in so-called "finch" blends so I feed them a run of the mill parakeet blend - canary reedgrass seed, millet, and a small amount of oat groats, no Dayglo pellets, no tiny chunks of dried fruit. Just the seed. I feed it via a gravity feeder and rotate through a wide variety of other seeds and grains in treat cups. Unlike my budgies, my finches don't pig out on the parakeet blend. My parakeets don't actually get the "parakeet blend" that is supposedly the staple seed for them but 3 or 4 times a month. The finches have access to it every day.

KEEPING IN MIND, they need to have fresh veggies/bird salad for about 80% of their total diet. If they're getting (and eating) plenty of fresh veggies, particular seed varieties don't matter so much. Don't let them pig out on spinach, its VERY high in oxalic acid which can lead to calcium deficiency.
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.

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Re: Fatty seeds in zebra finches

Post by Flight Feathers » Mon May 07, 2018 4:28 pm

Lagosuchus wrote: Thank you for the info, Fraza. It's true that it may be boring to always eat basic seeds. I also give them different kind of vegetables and fruits, finch pellets, millet sprays(red and yellow) and mealworms(these ones once a week) so they can enjoy different flavors every day.
Right now we can find melons in our shops and we bought one for the first time on this year. I can't wait for it to be ripe and give them a slice of it!

Pd: I've seen your channel. You have very beautiful society finches and they seem very healthy. Congrats!
I give mine a variety of seed like canary seed, budgie seed and aviary mix although most often it’s budgie seed and they just pick out the seeds they like and then my quail or my turquoise parrot will eat some of the bigger seeds. They also get chickweed and silverbeet and sometimes apple and peas ina pod although they don’t seem to like it (fussy birds)
~Flight Feathers Bird Home~

14 Zebra Finches, 4 Budgies, 3 Cockatiels, 2 Canaries, 7 Chinese quail, 3 Bengalese Finches, 1 Turquoise Parrot, 1 Goldfinch

Now a member of the NZFBA!


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Re: Fatty seeds in zebra finches

Post by Lagosuchus » Sat May 12, 2018 7:52 am

Thank you for your advice, people. I'll try to offer them some of the seeds and foods you have mentioned and I haven't tried before so I can select their favourites and give them from time to time. Tomorrow I'll try grinded raw sunflower seeds. It's been lucky that I have them for my own breakfast! With what you said I think I'm going to remove the fatty seeds from their mix and give the ones they seem to like more apart in another seed feeder, for example once or two times a week if they hog them.

Have you ever tried dandelion leaves? Mine go crazy for them. I even plant them in a flowerpot. I can't be really sure the ones that grow in public gardens are free from parasites and harmful bacteria and they like them too much.

These are my zebra finches, Fraza:
Image
I'm sorry I don't have a very good camera but I hope you can at least see them :).

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Fraza
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Re: Fatty seeds in zebra finches

Post by Fraza » Sat May 12, 2018 11:32 am

Lagosuchus oh Yh very nice and isn’t that white one big
FINCHES I HAVE
Bengalese
zebras
Java sparrows
Silver bills
java x beng hybrid



PETS IVE HAD
dogs
Fish
Cocktiel
Doves
Hybrid cherry x Bengalese
Stars
Heck’s
Canary’s

My favourite is COCO my grey pearl society cock been here since the start my flock leader


YOUTUBE CHANNEL
https://m.youtube.com/results?q=fraser% ... de101&sm=3

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Sojourner
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Re: Fatty seeds in zebra finches

Post by Sojourner » Sat Jun 09, 2018 1:11 am

My wild finches go crazy for sunflower leaves. They will absolutely STRIP a sunflower of the leaves before getting around to the seeds in the heads, LOL! This year I plan to try to grow more sunflowers and harvest a few leaves for my inside guys and see if they like that.
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.

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