FINCHforum

My Birds came from a store so they are "seed junkies" I'm trying to switch them to pellets (ok I've been trying for a few weeks now) the mixing ìt with seed then lowering the amount of seed and increasing pellets approach didn't work my birds just tossed the pellets to get to the seed. Now they are breeding and the other methods of switching them are a little. ...let's say tough I'm afraid that
trying to switch them while breeding they won't get enough nutrients. I give them green veggies like cukes and romaine lettuce and spinach. I also feed egg food daily or every other day. Should i wait to try to switch them? My goal originally was for the chick's to never get the chance to be seed junkies! Now i don't know?!

Why would you want to switch them to pellets? If you give them egg-food with a bit of egg, and greens then they get all the nutrients they need. They don't need anything more. If you want to spoil them give them a bit of sprouted seeds. Sprouted seed contains hundreds of times the nutritional value of the unsprouted seed. I give my birds Avi-Plus eggfood that I mix with scramble eggs to make it palatable for the birds.

lnlovesorange
Never a 'pia'
If your birds are breeding, this is not the time to switch diets.

Regarding pellets... some birds like them and some don't . Some birds take to them and some don't.

Personally, I feed seeds (a good quality mixture) and my birds do really well. Of course, they are not fed seeds alone. There is lots of fresh foods, and I mean lots, so seeds are just part of the equation. There are lots of vegetables and fruit, and eggs. You can also go into things like cuscus etc. Live foods and so on, are also very healthy and some birds love that.

My opinion, (and that's just my opinion) there are no pellets in the wild, and birds have been doing fine with seeds for many MANY years. .

When birds are breeding, I'd offer egg everyday.
If you like the idea of pellets, offer them on the side, in a treat cup.

~Elana~

Really? I'm giving them everything they need? I've just read that pellets are so much better? Funny you mention the sprouted seed i just ordered this for them. Is this what you meant MariusStegmann?
http://glamgouldians.com/product-abba-soakedseed.php
i didn't know pellets were only better if you don't give your bird other stuff! My eh food is hard boiled eggs and i add commercial dry egg food (quiko) then sometimes a little millet mixed in broccoli, romaine, or a commercial dried greens mix. They devour it.

lovezebs
that's my Birds. I give them fresh veggies daily and egg food more now since they laid eggs and egg shells. My mom always jokes that there are more and healthier foods in the fridge for the birds than the humans!
Great i feel better now. Thanks guys!

Never ever feel like a PIA. We are here to help, it is the whole purpose of this forum. I agree with the others, a varied diet is best. Some feel an all-pellet diet is best, but even with pellets, my opinion is that they need other things as well. As lovezebs said, in the wild they are eating seed, along with other things, so I wouldn't worry about them eatinbg seed, as long as they will eat other things.

lnlovesorange
All of our birds eat better than we do, lol.

Just posted a picture in another thread, showing some of my guys attacking their veggie tray. I'll post it here as well.

~Elana~

lnlovesorange Not quite. I make my own sprouted seeds. I take a container, put some seeds into it, add 1 liters of water and add 2 drops of unscented bleach to it. The bleach prevents mold. Pet-stores sell products that you can use in stead of bleach. I use Jap seed, because it is fairly large and it has a high oil content. I leave the seed to soak for a day, drain the water completely and by the next day, the seed would start to sprout. You can then divide it into small portions and freeze it. The time it takes for the seed to sprout may differ, because it is fairly warm here. It is best to freeze the seeds when the chits only start to show. When a 1 mm to 2 mm chit is showing. That is when the nutritional value is at the highest. See below what sprouting does to the nutritional value in beans.

Wow MariusStegmann. That's amazing huh? I thought that is what i was buying it said to do that (what you said to do in your last post) I'll check around for something different if you have an online link I'll gladly take it. Thanks for the help/advice !
@lovezebs GREAT photo! I only have a pair right now so I'm wasting more than they're eating but totally worth it. How many birds do you have total? And what is that beautiful orange one in the photo he (damned males are always prettier in bird world) he is gorgeous. And thank you for the advice and comments!

Sally Thank you. . Btw with this horrible winter were having (I'm in eastern MA) it must be dry in my house. .. third bath today for my guy. .. (tried to get pic but he's very. ...humble) no bath pics of him! Lol. Thanks again everyone.

lnlovesorange - Welcome! I see you're from MA! Whereabouts? I grew up in Reading, then lived in Melrose for about 10 years.

I agree with the others.
I think a pellet diet would be more ideal than a seed-only diet. But I think offering a diverse range of fresh foods with seed is preferable. I think people view pellets as an ideal food compared to a seed-only diet, as is very common in the petkeeping world. Many just don't realize that you can't serve just seeds. So a pellet diet is a more nutritionally complete option compared to seeds only.
My guys won't touch pellets, so their nutritional value is a moot point for our flock!

I also feed seed with lots of fresh fruits/veggies, eggs and a range of dry foods, like Miracle Meal, health greens (parsley and alfalfa) and Herb Salad (a mix of a couple dozen different herbs.)

That orange bird in Elena's photo is Luciano the canary. Isn't he lovely? So handsome!

MiaCarter lovezebs Luciano is quite lovely it helps his cause in my car cuz orange is my favorite color! I'm in Lynn So not far from those places at all. It's funny i saw a post you wrote that said you were a rehabber in the Boston area and i wondered where. then i looked at your location and it said FL so i figured you moved. The winters here are rough which is hard wham you want to own finches. If i could i would build an outdoor aviary and house 100's of them! I bought my pair And fell in love like i always do. ..fast and hard. But again with the climate here i just don't have the room indoors. But once I get back on my feet and have a place of my own. ...there WILL be a bird room! Question what fruits do your focus eat? So far I've tried grapes, apples, bananas, oranges, strawberries, honey do melon, and pears and they haven't eaten any of them! Can you recommend any other fruits or anything to get them to try fruits? Veggies they love, no problems there!

lnlovesorange - Ah, Lynn wasn't far from me at all!

Indeed, I moved here to Florida a few years ago. It's nice, but I miss the seasons (and yes, the winters) of Boston! (I was one of the crazy folks who loved snow and found shoveling to be a nice workout!)

Fruits can be very hit or miss, I've found. Like you, most of our fresh foods are veggies.
We've done apples (no seeds! They contain arsenic).
They love pears and a few like bananas, but they're both tricky because they go off quickly.
Pineapple was another winner. But they didn't go through the actual large pineapple fast enough, so I get the canned stuff instead.
I have a few who like oranges; others not so much.
Berries and cherries are always a hit, but they're often pricey. But if you can grow your own, that would be lovely.

I've never tried melons. I hate them and I tend to only get things that I like! LOL
I also tried grapes but they got ignored (which is fine because they're not good in large quantities.)

Of veggies, their favorites are spinach, kale, peas and cucumber. Cucumber is far and away their favorite food item.

lnlovesorange

Hi.
Thanks for the compliments about my Luciano. Yes, as Mia mentioned, Luchi, is a Canary boy (who recently became a husband to two pretty wives, who both btw, are now sitting on eggs... he didn't waste any time ).

Luciano, by the way, is the one who started me on the road to becoming a finchaholic. He came into my life, after some twenty years of Lovebirds, and then life became a slippery slope .

As to how many birds I have? I plead the fifth (even though I'm Canadian), lol.

I will however tell you the species that I share my life with.
Canaries
Gouldian Finches
Zebras
Societies
RF Parrot Finches
YF Star Finches
Budgies
Goldbreast Waxbills
Red Eared Waxbills
Orange Cheek Waxbills
Red Cheek Cordon Bleu Waxbills
Red Billed African Fire Waxbills
Long Tailed Shaft Tails
Cut Throat Finch

That's all of my feathered kids, and of course does not include the two dogs and two cats.

~Elana~

MiaCarter what kind of berries? And thanks for the tip . I will try pineapple . I'll give apples a go again to. Maybe they were just overwhelmed at first cuz i was trying a lot of new things! Btw, cucumbers are my babies FAVORITE too !