New Treat

[debbyloo]

I read on a website that some people offer Sara Lee Pound Cake to their finches, especially those feeding babies. I decided to hang a small piece to try the idea out, and have had a few nibblers so far, and lots of calls for ice cream to go with (ha!).

[cindy]

I personally would opt for something higher in protein lower in fat and salt, lower in carbs which if the birds are not active will turn to fat in their system. Calories from pound cake is almost half fat/half carbs.

I would stick with a good eggfood, veggies and a good seed and pellet diet. If you want to give them a good wholesome treat try a good all grain bread toasted (one of our members just posted about Toast). Young birds still developing and growing need a balance of healthy foods to give them the best start in life. This is JMO.

Sara Lee all Butter Pound cake nutrition details:
Total Fat 16g 24%
Saturated Fat 9g 45%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 280mg 11%
Total Carbohydrate 38g 12%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Sugars 0g
Protein 4g 8%

Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 46.2%
Carbs 48.7%
Protein 5.1%

[6finchfriends]

It probably has a lot of sugar as well which can promote yeast.

[cindy]

I would skip processed human food for humans and stick to the basics as mentioned above for healthy chicks.

[debbie276]

Seems like it has a lot of fat and not so much protein for growing chicks. I would stick with hard boiled eggs myself.

[debbyloo]

I offered the small piece of pound cake just as a test- curious to see how it would be received. I don't see myself offering pound cake every day, but, as our cooler season approaches, a bit of high energy food now and then might be a good thing. My husband often comments that my birds eat better than we do - I offer them just about every single thing that I have ever heard of offering finches, some every single day, some weekly or randomly. I try to keep them all on a healthy diet with plenty to choose from and lots of variety. I have recently tried the flourless, seeded toast and had a few nibblers, but more of the pound cake slice was eaten than the toast. Well, it does taste better than toast, but you can't eat pound cake every day. They don't call it pound cake for nothing.

[cindy]

Personally I would avoid it, even if the sugars, fat, and salt content seems small to you it is not to birds, their metabolism is very different . To much salt or sugar can through organs off. For a cooler weather treat get some billed sunflower chips(not salted) organic or pet-wild bird grade chop them fine or powder them. It has fat, protein and other nutrients that are much better for them.

Dessert type foods and crackers are what they call wasted carbs. Check out the recipe section for birdie breads.