Red Factor feeding clutch

[Mozelle]

Fabulous picture!
I'd love to get a pic like that from my birds

[ranchnanny]

It wasn't easy cause every time I get to close they leave the nest. It's so much fun watching them I don't get much done good thing its raining outside. I have a good excuse for not doing yard work.....

[debbie276]

Just a FYI, paprika has the preservative ethoxyquin in it.

Ethoxyquin is listed and identified as a hazardous chemical by OSHA. It has a rating of 3 on a scale of 1 to 6, with 6 being super toxic requiring less than 7 drops to cause death. When manufactured by Monsanto, the containers are marked with the word POISON. Monsanto makes no representations and will not be responsible for damages of any nature whatsoever. The Department of Agriculture lists and controls Ethoxyquin as a pesticide.

Originally developed by Monsanto as a stabilizer for rubber, Ethoxyquin has also been used as a pesticide for fruit and a color preservative for spices, and later for animal feed.

The original FDA permit for use as stabilizer in animal feed limited use to two years and did not include pet food, but it falls under the same legal category. It has never been proven to be safe for the lifespan of a companion animal.

[ranchnanny]

Thanks for the FYI I don't use it anyway...I like the egg food for Red Factor canaries.

[ac12]

DANG
That is not something that I wanted to hear.
The bottle of paprika is going in the garbage can.

Because he does not like carrots, yam and totally ignores red bell pepper, paprika was my way of getting him to eat something for his orange color w/o resorting to the expensive color suppliments.
Now a search for some red veggie that he WILL eat.

[ac12]

Sherry
If you have a telephoto lens, use that.

I have to use a telephoto lens to take pix of my fiches. That keeps me far enough away from the cage that the birds don't get spooked by that big black hunk of stuff in my hand. And the sound of the shutter at that distance does not spook them either.

Put the camera on a tripod to eliminate hand held shaking
Focus the lens MANUALLY. You have to focus manually or the autofocus on the camera will try to focus on the bars of the cage.

[ranchnanny]

Thanks for the photo lesson. I am new at picture taking with this new camera. Thanks Again.

I use Quicko Red Factor Egg food which has the coloring in it. He loves it.

[lovemyfinch]

Gary, you can also get a red colour eggfood from Orlux

[ac12]

Janie
I do use the Orlux Red Egg food, but he does not eat very much of it. In his last 2 molts, he got more and more white feathers, which tells me that he was not eating enough of whatever it is that puts the color into the feathers. That is why I was putting paprika onto his veggies.

For some reason I have not seen any Orlux egg food at the last 2 bird marts that I have been to. I had to pick up a different brand of the egg food w/o the red for my other finches. And dumb me did not think of asking why they did not have Orlux.

[ranchnanny]

Isn't there something you can put in the water? The gal I bought Peeps from uses that. I can't remember the name I believe its in the egg color food as well.

[6finchfriends]

Gosh, I haven't visited the forum in two days and everything is happening! Sherry your Daddy and babies are so darn cute!! I'm so glad you posted a new photo! That baby cracks me up! Who knew they had such long necks and big mouths! So cute!!! I still love your strainer nest! Makes me smile.
(it's raining here too of course )

[ac12]

There are a couple color supplements that can be put in the water or food, but they are EXPENSIVE. The breeder recommended that I not use it for that reason and instead try to use red colored veggies to give the bird the color stuff it needs to have orange feathers. But so far he does not seem to like the red veggies I give him (carrots, yams and red bell pepper), especially the red bell peppers. Since red veggies has not worked for me, I might have to bite the bullet and get the color supplement.

[finchmix22]

I put the red veggies in a food processor and add pellets on top of the mix and the birds eat the pellets and get some of the veggies! They don't even know they are eating red peppers or other colored goodies. I do the same for the greens in other cages and the birds love it, especially during breeding season.

[G8love4finches]

Great picture!!

[ac12]

The problem w this canary is that I have not gotten him converted to pellets.
I did do some research on beta carotein and found that there are several green veggies that have that (beet and turnip tops) so that might be a way to get him to eat something that will help his orange feathers color come out.