feeding fresh greens

[oldguy]

Finchinfo.com lists mustard as one of the safe foods, but does not indicate seeds or greens.

Recently the place where I get organic spinach and dandelion greens has stocked purple mustard greens, packed with human nutrients, what about for the finches?

Also, regarding the limitations that are suggested for broccoli, spinach and dandelions: my Javas, zebras, stars, the female weaver and 2 female canaries will each devour a huge dandelion leaf, which they prefer to spinach, in one day and have done so every day for the last 9 months, and the two female canaries get a big 3-1/2" oval floret of broccoli everyday which they similarly devour throughout the day in addition to the dandelion. Plus an appropriate seed mix.

I maintain that their natural appetites, informed by the DNA instructions that have been passed on by their ancestors who survived to pass on their genes because they knew not to eat poisonous foods, should be trusted, and that the amount that is appropriate for them to consume is also informed by that appetite, the same as in humans (we become hungry for certain foods when our organism craves the nutrients they contain -- except in the case of certain well-known cultural distortions such as supersizing fries and sodas...).

So, are Purple mustard greens safe? And can I rely on the finch and canary appetites to regulate safe consumption amounts of broccoli, spinach, dandelion and mustard greens (or purples, as the case may be...)?

[mahfuz alam]

no idea about purple musterd greens.btw welcome to the forum.

[B CAMP]

Welcome to the forum ,if you fill in your profile with where you live it makes it a lot easier to answer questions sometimes ,have you checked out the finch information center there is a lot of good reading there
http://www.finchinfo.com/index.php

Not sure about purple but I would let them try some if I was going to eat it ,I only give my birds greens three times a week but a lot of members feed daily they love them

[Pukasand]

Welcome, welcome!

My birds, too, love their greens. Be careful with the spinach, though, and parsley. Mine only get it 1-2 a week. For the Green Day Diet by Doug Taylor, check out the NFSS.org website, it's listed under 'diet' in the NFSS and Avian Articles of Interest section. He explains alot of the greens and their benefits and hazards.

Again, welcome.

[can]

Hi,

I've never feed my purple mustard green, but I have feed them plain old green mustard greens, and they liked them.

They were not big fans of the red or purple kale, nor arugula. Although, they did pick at them a little.

Sometimes I guess there's nothing better than plain, old, leaf lettuce.

[oldguy]

Thank you all for the welcome and for the responses. As soon as I can figure out how to do it, I will fill out a profile.

By the way, there was no interest in the purple mustard greens, especially the second day when they could choose their favorite dandelion greens.

I'll follow up on the leads you've given.

[B CAMP]

oldguy
Sometime if you feed several times they start eating a new food ,try mixing the two

[oldguy]

Green Day Diet by Doug Taylor is pretty interesting. I hand feed an egg pudding to my larger birds (2 orange wing Amazons, a Jenday conure, 2 quakers) every afternoon: 1/3 Harrison's, 1/3 baked sweet potato, 1/3 free-range chicken egg all pureed together and steamed with peanut oil to keep from sticking to the covered pan, then served with an orange juice-booster vitamin sauce. I become a contorted pedestal holding out a plate of little pudding cubes in each hand in different directions.

The 2 lutino Indian ringnecks aren't in the least interested in the pudding.

I haven't tried this yet with the smaller birds, but will adjust the recipe per Green Day Diet for them.

One thing that is very good about this regular pudding treat is that I make it just a little different each time, so the flavor changes. If I have to administer medication, I can let it ride in on the pudding without them smelling a rat.

[CandoAviary]

I can picture the contorted stance
I love natural foods/remedies.
The pudding is an intersting idea.... you sound like a breeder I would love to hang around and learn about some of your husbandry. Please keep sharing your natural approach to feeding your birds. I am intrigued.

[oldguy]

Thank you for the complement. Actually, I'm not a breeder. I'm against breeding animals for life in cages. I've become a forced adopter.

I had adopted only one orange wing Amazon 20 years ago, who was found flying free and disoriented in New York city and I began to learn about her needs. I made a deal with her. She got to keep her wings, never had to go to jail, never had to learn my language and I would never turn her into a party trick. In short, she should be a bird and, a since I chose her (she didn't choose me), I would try to learn her language and to understand what she needed, which lead to adopting a friend of her own kind for her company, since they are flocking birds. Somehow I knew intuitively that Willi was a female and that Nicky was a male, and their accidental son, Snare Drum, came upon the scene after Willi rejected Nicky for 6 months until he proved himself to her. When Snare Drum was 1 year old, his mother, the HUSSY, came on to him and he knew exactly what to do. From that point on he made it clear to his father where he could sit and where he could not, and all the eggs were HIS for the next 9 years.

Their evil roommate (that would be me) would deactivate the eggs in the refrigerator and replace them one by one until Willi completed her cycle of 4 eggs. People have asked me why I didn't let her raise the young and sell them and my answer is that they would not be mine to sell.

Over the years, the priviledge of observing them living free in the house as a family unit, in fact a small flock, has given me incredible insight into how they naturally behave when they don't have to relate only to humans who train them to act cute.

The reason I now have finches and the other small birds is that about a year ago the local SCPA confiscated 80 tropical birds including 3 macaws from a 10 foot square shed. I cared for them as a volunteer at the shelter until the ownership of the birds was legally assigned to the shelter, and then was forced to adopt them when the shelter was about to sign them over to a Long Island "rescue" that was going to put 28 Javas, zebras, and misc. other finches into a single what they called a flight cage: 24" x 36". I wouldn't permit it and thus was forced to adopt them all in order to find proper placements for them where they would be able to fly.

The best I could do for the 10 Javas and 5 zebras, with the help of the Avian Welfare Coalition, was to place them where they are able to fly almost free in a 900 square foot 'habitat' at the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach.

No. I'm absolutely against breeding birds for lives in cages. No cage is big enough for any bird.

I'm gradually moving the birds who remain with me up into larger and larger enclosures as I can afford to, and am seeking like-minded caretakers to adopt the bonded pair of Stars and the latino Indian ringnecks, one male cherry and one female weaver. I may be willing to part with the lone golden breasted avadavat who was named Houdini because he kept getting out of all the cages he was put in, he is so small. Looking for homes for the singles where they will have friends of their own kind.

But whoever will take their needs seriously will have to sign a 'no-breed/no-sell/minimum enclosure' agreement before I will release them.

Well. I guess that's pretty much my missing profile, huh?

So, I'm learning what the finches need and I'm grateful to you all for your help.

[L in Ontario]

Just poppning in to say Hi and Welcome to the Finch Forum!

[Ursula]

Welcome, oldguy!

I like your story about the birds that adopted you. I share your views that birds should be kept in as large an enclosure as possible, and I'm not a fan of wing clipping either. (My parrotlets aren't clipped.) I do like to have the birds around though and I hope that mine are happy in their aviary. But I agree, what some call an "aviary" I'd call a "cage".

(Last weekend I went to the botanical garden here in Atlanta and they have quail in one of their big greenhouses. THAT's about the size aviary I would like to have!! )

[oldguy]

One of my orchid suppliers (I used to be in the orchid business) got giant rabbits to eat the weeds under the benches but they were so big they got up on the benches and ate the orchids.

Quail in the garden. Now THAT I like !

[oldguy]

that's lUtino, not LAtino...

[CandoAviary]

My first bird was an Orange winged Amazon. The pet store I worked in got 2 wildcaughts in . They were older birds and very mean. They were not going to sell to the general public. The birds went down hill fast and the owner of the store put them in her office with no vet care. She opened tetracycline that was designed for aquarium use and put in their drinking water. The groomer and I, the new peon, were pretty upset. The groomer bought the bird for $80(one had died) and got vet care. She and I were roomates and for some reason the bird trusted me...probably because I talked his language. I would open his cage and he would fly to me and follow me around. He didn't like to be handled but would initiate the visits. He had free range of the house when I was home and never had his wings clipped. He mostly would sit close to me as his need for companionship was high. I so wanted to set him back to the wild....
So I certainly understand your passion for these creatures.

I do breed the finches as I find this interaction part of their natural life. I also like to give them much space and fortunately can. Whether you adopt from desire or from force I commend you for trying to do the best by them. Are you in a climate where you can house them outdoors in planted, sunny aviaries? Do you have to keep them indoors? Best wishes.