FINCHforum

there are so many different opinions as to the correct time to boil the eggs for when making the egg foods, some say anything over 10 mins and you destroy nutrients, then someone says 20 mins to kill salmonella.Which is the best time ?

Here is a link to some good egg information.

Egg Safety

When I boil eggs I use the "cold start" method and that has always worked for me.

I just put cold eggs in a pan of cold water and bring it to a good rolling boil and then I let the pan sit off the burner for 20 minutes. I get perfect hard boiled eggs every time and never over cooked and are sterile. Just make sure you have enough water to cover the eggs well or the water will cool down too fast.

I too use the cold-start method as Deborah does, but after the full boil, I turn off the burner but leave the pot sitting on the burner for 15 minutes.

cant help you at all with this as I dont boil any eggs. I ask she who must be obeyed to do it for me. that way I dont get in trouble for burning any saucepans

thanks so much for the info , now its less confusing , i will do it this way.

i was going to do some eggs with shell mash them up then add a bit of wet wholewheat bread, i seen this on a website, has anyone done this? would it be ok for finches? the article said to remove it after 30 mins.

Why wet the bread? Are you going to tear up the bread and mix it in? The egg mash is moist, and most finches prefer a dryer crumbly mix, so adding fresh or dry bread to it would probably help soak up some of the excess moisture. As a treat this would be OK, I think. But I wouldn't feed them store bought bread on a regular basis. Too many additives. Why not just add dry eggfood mix to the mashed egg instead?

I leave my eggfood mix in the cage for about 3 hours and have had no ill effects. But it would be a good idea to put it in a shallow dish, so it would tend to dry out after a time, and hopefully not be as bacteria laden, and the finches seem to lose interest once it gets too dry.

this i will try anything to get them to eat the eggfood, i have the eggcite is this seed mix what i would mix in the egg food?thanks

Sure, the dry eggfood/seed mix would be fine mixed in with the fresh eggfood. Might encourage them to try it, if they are being picky, and if they are used to the eggfood/seed mix already. I also find that mixing a bit of the millet seed or sprinkling it on top of the eggfood always gets my pair over to the treat dish!

I use the cold start method as well and it has always worked out perfectly. As far as removing the moisture from the hard boiled eggs, I add some Breeders Blend and some Hand Feed mix and all of my birds love it!

Coop wrote:I use the cold start method as well and it has always worked out perfectly. As far as removing the moisture from the hard boiled eggs, I add some Breeders Blend and some Hand Feed mix and all of my birds love it!

I just made my first batch of egg food and my Javas haven't eaten any yet. I made with dry bread crumbs (got the instructions form the Uk Finch site). I added almost 50% of their regular seed to it, but they still aren't eating it. Anyone have a suggesstion/ Thanks!

Keep trying. My zebs took 3-4 days before they decided it wasn't poison.

Do they like millet? More than their regular seed? Try sprinkling that on top.

Gee my finches wont eat any of these things, I sprinkle their bugs , miracle meal, palm oil powder or herb salad on top of their regular seed to get them to eat it.I mashed egg with shell & put millet on the top, they still dont eat it. Im glad at least their eggcite seed they eat.

Don't give up. Keep offering it in small doses, mixed with their Eggcite seed mix and eventually they will realize it's good stuff!