Gouldian Diet

[winged]

I've read of various of diets for Lady Gouldians, austerity being one of them. Some people have all these different kinds of food that they give to their Gouldians at different times of the year while others just put them on a simple diet of seeds with crushed hard-boiled eggs. Seeing that I'm interested in obtaining a pair of these lovely birds and want the best for them (without overdoing it), I was wondering what kind of diet your Gouldians are on? And is the complex austerity diet really necessary?

[debbie276]

I have bred gouldians for over 10 years and have never fed the austerity diet. I cut down on the hard boiled eggs that I feed after they are done breeding and that's about it.
I think you could feed a very simple diet or a very complex diet and do just as well. Hardest part is deciding what works best for your situation.

[ac12]

My food cycle is a modification of the seasons plan, as I don't have enough cages to separate the molting and non-molting adults and juveniles. They are all in the same cage.

My primary gouldian food is LaFeber's finch pellets.
2 or 3x a week I suppliment with egg + fresh veggies + seeds, if they are molting this goes up to daily.

I just started giving them Zupreem natural finch pellets + commercial dry egg food in a shallow unglazed dish. The real reason for this is to give them food in a dish that they will "hopefully" wear down their claws so I don't have to keep trimming them.

Breeding birds get the LaFeber's finch pellets
2x a day (more frequently when the eggs hatch and they are feeding the chicks) egg + fresh veggies + seeds
I also give them a dish of Zupreem natural + commercial egg food. To provide egg while I am not available to give them fresh egg. This is also for the fledglings to learn to forage and eat pellet food.

Some breeding birds also get a dish of a gouldian seed mix. This depends on the pair, and if they will abandon/toss w/o the seeds.

After they finish their breeding season, I stop giving them the egg + veggies and instead give them a seed mix of white + red millet (they still have their pellet food). This seems to trigger them into a post breeding molt.