What's your food routine? (newbie)

Learn what to feed your birds.
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tympan
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What's your food routine? (newbie)

Post by tympan » Tue Mar 26, 2019 7:29 pm

I'm hoping to get a pair of finches I'm feeling really overwhelmed by the feeding requirements for these guys.

What does your daily routine look like?
Do you prep for a few days at a time?
Do you keep several bowls and change them daily/run them through the dishwasher?
How do you prep when you're away for a weekend?

Thanks!

Icearstorm
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Re: What's your food routine? (newbie)

Post by Icearstorm » Wed Mar 27, 2019 11:23 am

tympan

For society finches:

Buckwheat, rolled oats, white proso millet, canary grass are in a hopper feeder divided into four sections. Often provided 24/7.

I switch between using two dishes for softfood; I put food in the clean, swap it out with the dirty, and wash the dirty one. I tend to prepare stuff in bulk and then freeze it, then get it out in the morning while my breakfast is heating up in the microwave. I will be getting ramekins so I can quickly defrost the birds' food in microwave so they can eat it right away. I leave the softfood in the cage all day, as they ignore it after a few hours (so food poisoning should not be an issue).

Veggie mix is provided in the morning each day. The current veggie mix I use can be made from sugar snap pea stir fry, kale, mixed vegetables (peas, green beans, carrots, corn), chopped spinach, baked russet potato, and baked sweet potato. I prefer to buy frozen veggies since they are generally frozen at peak freshness and contain more nutrients as a result.

I steamed eggs, crushed them with shells still on, and stored them in freezer. Birds get them 1-4x per week normally, every day while breeding and moulting, and never during austerity diet. Eggs are about the most complete protein out there, and are crucial to most good breeding programs. Brown eggs contain the same nutrition as white eggs. If you're paying extra, pay for a real difference.

I also provide dry eggfood 24/7 when they are breeding since it doesn't go bad, but the protein content is low so mixing it with powdered eggs for human consumption or exclusively using the powdered eggs may work better. Honestly, a lot of dry eggfood doesn't contain enough protein to be used alone. Soy is a favorite in the agriculture industry, as it is a cheap, high-protein plant that contains a wide range of amino acids. Non-supplemented, non-sweetened, non-medicated soybean meal might actually make a better dry protein source than conventional dry eggfood, especially if a bit of ground flax (for omega-3 fatty acid) is mixed in. I'd still provide fresh egg, though.

Sesame, sunflower chips, spray millet, and amaranth are good treats. I sometimes provide spray millet during free flight. I remove the hopper feeder and sprinkle the other seeds in addition to their base seed diet over the leaf litter on some days so they stay busy foraging.

I sometimes sprinkle spirulina over the softfood when they are breeding or moulting, but don't tend to use supplements in water or food. I offer ground oyster shells and cuttlebone, and they occasionally eat it. I also provide several other things separately for them to eat if they need, but they have showed little to no interest in them: dried herbs, salt block, mineral block, bird clay, bird charcoal, salt, epsom salt. These minerals are available 24/7; I haven't had an issue with them eating too much and killing themselves.


When going away, I fill up the hopper feeder and the soda bottle that attaches to their water dish. I also add a second water dish that they know how to use in case the main one fails. If they are breeding or moulting, I mix spirulina into the dry eggfood and leave some out for them. They can go without veggies for a bit, but I have been thinking about getting dry unsalted veggies and crushing them up for the birds to eat while I'm gone. I'm thinking about getting a camera to monitor them while I'm gone.

tympan
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Re: What's your food routine? (newbie)

Post by tympan » Wed Mar 27, 2019 6:38 pm

Wow thank you! That is SO helpful to me and exactly what I was looking for!

Icearstorm
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Re: What's your food routine? (newbie)

Post by Icearstorm » Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:45 pm

tympan

You're welcome! Hopefully your birds won't be picky, otherwise making sure they're getting what they need can be a bit of a hassle. Most of them learn to eat a variety of foods eventually, though.

CathyCraftz
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Re: What's your food routine? (newbie)

Post by CathyCraftz » Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:32 am

I supply my finch with seed everyday, and changes water daily too. She gets fresh fruits and veggies almost every day and also consumes eggshells on a regular basis. Your finch’s diet will depend on the species, but all Finches should have quality seed, fresh fruits and vegetables and eggshells to give them calcium and to prevent egg binding in hens.
Some Finches are also picky though, so getting them to eat new food may be challenging. If you have this problem, try presenting the food in a different way or keep offering them the food.
Have a nice day!
Sincerely, Cathy

~obsessed with zebra finches~

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