egg food-how long to feed?

[6finchfriends]

I have 2 zebra weenlings that are 6 weeks old. They've been eating well on their own for two weeks now. How long do I need to feed them egg food? I still give them a big plate of egg food twice a day and they eat like little piggies. They haven't gone through their first molt yet even though one of them has been working hard on learning to sing. (just adorable) I am also giving them all the seed, greens, corn, peas, and millet they can eat.

[ac12]

About a week after they wean, I cut egg food down to 1x day. Egg food is easier for them to eat. But sometimes they are just fine with seeds and pellets. If so, I might cut egg food back to 2 or 3x a week.

Once they start molting, then I go back up to 2 or 3x a day until they finish molting.

[cindy]

Trish, normally I keep it down until the babies are eating on their own. Are they also eating the other food stuffs like pellets and seeds you offer them? If not you may want to only serve a dish of egg maybe twice a week to assure they are getting what they need like the nutrients in pellets and greens.

Egg food is mostly protein and calcium it they are eating mostly that they may be getting to much protein at this point. Zebs are little piggies for sure!!!

[ranchnanny]

Trish what kind of peas and corn do you feed your finches fresh, frozen, canned?

[6finchfriends]

Thanks so much for the replies! I thought maybe they had to get a lot of egg food/calcium until they molted. I have to admit I'm glad I won't have to make sure they have fresh eggs 2x a day! Yes they eat the seed and chew on the greens and veggies. They seem to like grated then chopped carrot as well. My older birds won't eat finch fruit flavored pellets so what I did was grind it up fine and now I sprinkle it on their veggies or greens. I don't know if I'll buy more when my jar of ground up pellets is gone.

Sherry~I always feed frozen corn and peas. Well, of course I warm them up in hot water first. For the young ones I mash it with a fork. The older birds can figure it out themselves. Societies love corn and the Zebras love the peas but I give them both. One thing all my birds love and I mean LOVE dandelion blossoms. I gather a few once or twice a week, cut the petals off and mix it in with their greens and veggies. Funny birds

[ranchnanny]

Thanks Trish I will give the corn and peas a try...

[lovemyfinch]

This is just the way that I do it, probably not the norm. My birds ALL get eggfood every morning. The way I see it is, eggs are protein....feathers are made up mostly of protein.....thus good healthy feathers need protein.
They also get their veggies every day. Fresh veggies in the spring, fall and winter.....and veggie pate in the hot humid summer months. Seems like during the heat the veggies wilt before I can get them from the kitchen to the cages.

[annague]

I do eggfood year round w/veggies, too (so you're not the only one! ) But I do reduce it to 3-5X a week (as opposed to every day) during non-breeding season.

[debbie276]

Not only are eggs full of calcium and protein they also have:
omega-3 and omega-6
Vitamin A and Vitamin E
Vitamin D and D3
Vitamin B12
Pantothenic Acid
Folate and Choline (Vitamin B family)
Magnesium
Phosphorus
Potassium
Sodium
Zinc
Selenium
Iron
Carotene

I feed hard boiled eggs everyday when they are breeding and have chicks, also when the birds are molting. All other times I feed eggs to 3 or 4 times a week.

[6finchfriends]

So I haven't really hurt them by giving them egg? Good. They seem very active and healthy. Of course I give them all the other stuff every day too. Veggies, greens, seed and millet. I will cut back to one spoon full in the morning with their other foods until I see the little boogers molting into their adult feathers.