Switching diet

EmilyHurd · Post by **EmilyHurd** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:48 am

Has anyone switched their finches diet to just pellets? I have been thinking that it would be cleaner?? Is that true? Do finches have to have some seed or are pellets enough?

If anyone has switched, how did you do it?

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:54 am

Mine are converted. I gave them separate bowls of a variety of pellets in addition to their seed to get them used to the idea of pellets. Over time I gradually provided more pellet & less seed. You can also mix seed in with the pellets to encourage experimentation. Once the seed becomes pretty limited, simply removing all seed and providing only pellets (for a couple hours in the morning especially) will often 'force' them to use the pellets. Of course you have to be sure they are eating them before you take the seed away for long periods of time since birds rapidly deteriorate if they do not eat, and not all birds will recognize the pellets as a food source. Usually once you get one bird eating the pellets, the others will follow its example.

http://www.finchinfo.com/diet/introducing_new_foods.php

Pellets are cleaner for the most part because of no seed hulls. The birds do create some 'dust' from crumbling the pellets, and will throw some pellets about their cage, but I do find there is less mess overall. The biggest attraction for me is the fact that the pelleted diet is more healthy and balanced than seed.

Pellets ideally should constitute about 70% of the diet. The other 30% should be fresh foods and some seed.

StevePax · Post by **StevePax** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:34 am

I'm a strict pellet feeder. I use Lafeber's finch pellets. They are just a plain brown color, and just seem more natural to me than the rainbow colored ones. I used the second method Crystal describes below - after a while of having both seed and pellets in the cage, I just took seed out for an hour or so in the morning and the evening and left only pellets. After a couple of days of that, I watched very closely to be certain that every bird was eating the pellets. Then that was it - the switch was made. The pellets are much higher in protein than seeds, as well as higher in pretty much every other nutrient.

In fact, Lafeber's pellets are richer in protein than eggs. An egg is 12.5% protein, while the pellets are minimum 14% (egg is an ingredient of the pellets). I find that it eliminates the need for all the complicated and time-consuming recipes for bird bread and protein mixtures that people have devised. The secret lies in simply being able to get your birds to eat them.

EmilyHurd · Post by **EmilyHurd** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:26 pm

Thanks for the replies...

So is there a certain website where you guys buy your pellets?

StevePax · Post by **StevePax** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:11 pm

I buy mine in a 5 pound bucket from Amazon:

Here's the link

That seems to be the best price I've found, even after shipping.

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 3:31 pm

I get most of mine from the pet store--but the most premium pellets you can feed, in my opinion, are Harrison's (they are organic); they have a website (http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/produ ... ml#ANCHOR1--high potency SUPER FINE is the type for finches), but these pellets tend to be more expensive. I feed Harrison's on occasion to keep expenses down, and provide both Lafeber's and Kaytee pellets the rest of the time.