How much lettuce?

[nopEda]

From what I understand finches can digest cellulose, so it breaks down into usable sugar for them. I've been keeping Romain lettuce around and change it once a day to keep it sort of fresh, usually five days a week. The other days they get a pot of grass that they don't chow on nearly as hard as the lettuce. It might taste sweet to them so could it be like eating candy without eating enough of their seed, or do they know how to regulate stuff like that and will eat a good balanced diet as long as they have it available?

[MariusStegmann]

I don't know about Romain Lettuce, but I was always told that too much lettuce are not good for birds. It can cause diarrhea. The lettuce most common by us is Iceberg lettuce. I know that Romain Lettuce has 5 times the amount of vitamin C and 5 - 10 times the amount of vitamin A than Iceberg lettuce. I rather give my birds lots of cucumber, chickweed and also dandelion.

[BigBear0007]

I don't know about Romain Lettuce, but I was always told that too much lettuce are not good for birds. It can cause diarrhea. The lettuce most common by us is Iceberg lettuce. I know that Romain Lettuce has 5 times the amount of vitamin C and 5 - 10 times the amount of vitamin A than Iceberg lettuce. I rather give my birds lots of cucumber, chickweed and also dandelion.

Romain twice a week is what I give!
No iceberg, it's just like giving the, a slurpy! No good!
Be careful with cucumber, it can give them diaharea also!

[Ursula]

My birds get organic (!) romaine lettuce daily and I never had any problems.

They also get veggies daily which is on most days grated carrot and zucchini and about once a week defrosted corn. Occasionally I try other veggies or fruit, and sometimes wheat grass, but romaine and corn are really their favorites.

[WhiteMagicWoman]

I give mine kale, chard, spinach, cucumber, carrots, zucchini, snow peas, corn, and any other veggies in the fridge that goes in the chopper. They like the corn on the cob, cucumber, spinach, and kale the best.

I do give them green leaf lettuce or Romaine once in a great while, but I don't use iceberg, so it's not even in the house.

[kathmcm]

nopEda, your question about whether finches know what they should eat is something I've wondered about myself. Lately my birds seem to eat just hardboiled egg, a dried fruit/veggie/seed treat mix, and millet, and have ignored the fortified seed mix that I thought of as the basis of their diet. So, to the seasoned finch experts out there: do you ration certain food types?

[ac12]

I give my non-breeding birds eggs+veggies w a sprinkling of seeds only 2x a week.
That prevents them from eating too much egg and eating seed rather than pellet food.
They are fed pellet food as their main diet.

This diet prevents them from only eating one thing.
My FireFinch for example will pick out the red millet from the seed mix, then move on to the white millet, and ignore everything else. I have not gotten around to trying to convert them to pellet food.
Similarly for a gouldian that I have in quarantine, she will eat red and white millet, and none of the other seeds or pellets. She is going thru a conversion process now.

[Chichireeo]

It might taste sweet to them so could it be like eating candy without eating enough of their seed, or do they know how to regulate stuff like that and will eat a good balanced diet as long as they have it available?

I don't think you need to worry about that, as greens and seeds are different category. They will pick out their favorite types of seed in a seed blend, and their favorite type of greens if you offer a salad. But that's not a balanced diet either. Romaine lettuce seems like a mild veg. My finch won't eat it though. Could pose a problem if you need your bird to take supplements in the drinking water, and he is just eating lettuce instead of drinking.
Free choice is tricky. I learned that my green singer will NOT self regulate. Finches need to keep eating throughout the day, but overstuffing the crop all the time is bad.

[debbie276]

Your birds will require different seeds at different times of the year. You will find in a mixed seed mix, what they ate at one time they may ignore at another. I'm pretty sure there is an article about it out there somewhere, let me see is I can find it.

[kenny66]

I feed all my breeding pairs lebanese or continental cucumber, Coz or romain lettuce every day. Most of the breeders I know, including myself use seed as opposed to pellets or crumble (I am not suggesting one is better than the other) Apart from a premium seed mix (canary tonic seed mixed with premium finch mix) I also provide a small bowl of red panicum and corn/carrots/peas every day as well as live food for those with chicks. I also a bowl of a higher protein greens and grains mix 3 times per week, which the birds love. In short all of my birds pretty well have greens on tap all the time. A number of breeders in OZ are talking positively about the breeding enhancements evident from feeding continental or lebanese cucumber, for what its worth. I never feed ordinary cucumber of iceburg lettuce to my birds.

[Ursula]

I feed all my breeding pairs lebanese or continental cucumber, Coz or romain lettuce every day. Most of the breeders I know, including myself use seed as opposed to pellets or crumble (I am not suggesting one is better than the other) Apart from a premium seed mix (canary tonic seed mixed with premium finch mix) I also provide a small bowl of red panicum and corn/carrots/peas every day as well as live food for those with chicks. I also a bowl of a higher protein greens and grains mix 3 times per week, which the birds love. In short all of my birds pretty well have greens on tap all the time. A number of breeders in OZ are talking positively about the breeding enhancements evident from feeding continental or lebanese cucumber, for what its worth. I never feed ordinary cucumber of iceburg lettuce to my birds.

Kenny, what is "continental or Lebanese" cucumber compared to "ordinary"? I've never heard that term.

[Chichireeo]

Ursula I took a picture of the lebanese cucumber i happen to have. But I don't know how to upload. Anyway, they kind of look like pickle cucumbers. I wouldn't be able to ID them among other pickle cucumbers. But the store labeled it "Lebanese cucumber". I bought some for my GS to try after reading about it on some Australian finch site. So far he hasn't taken a bite.

[Ursula]

Thanks, Cate! I assume if you get them in CA I'd be able to get them in GA as well. I'll take a look when I go to the store next time where I buy the organic veggies. It's a Whole Foods Market, if anybody has them here it should be them.

[kenny66]

they are called lebanese cucumber here-looks like a big pickle. They are relatively low acid. Red Faced Parrot Finches are addicted to them. I will take a photo and upload today. Sometime it takes a while, but ALL of my birds absolutely go crazy for them. A lot of breeders use them exclusively during the breeding season.

[Ursula]

they are called lebanese cucumber here-looks like a big pickle. They are relatively low acid. Red Faced Parrot Finches are addicted to them. I will take a photo and upload today. Sometime it takes a while, but ALL of my birds absolutely go crazy for them. A lot of breeders use them exclusively during the breeding season.

One more question: how do you feed them? In slices, or halves?
I have to look for them. I never fed cucumber because I always read they are not nutritious. If these are better I'd like to give it a try.