Wanting to know what brands of seed and other food products

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Barb
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Wanting to know what brands of seed and other food products

Post by Barb » Sat Apr 26, 2014 6:29 pm

I'm just starting with Zebra finches that I am going to adopt and would like to know what brands of seeds and other products are advised...thank you.

Barb and Layla, My Little Rat Terrier
Zebra Finches--Omar and Baxter
6 Societies
RIP Milo

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ml830
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Re: Wanting to know what brands of seed and other food produ

Post by ml830 » Sat Apr 26, 2014 7:32 pm

Hi Barb,

I like to order the deluxe mix from Laraine's Lady Gouldian finch site. Mine are societies, but they LOVE it. I was sent a sample of it when I bought fake finch eggs from them, and my birds loved it so much that I bought it when I ran out of my other food.

Yesterday, I mixed up something I found in a Birds & Blooms magazine, but made my own version and they absolutely loved it. I mixed 1 1/2 tablespn smucker's natural creamy peanut butter, 1 tblspn flour, 1 tblspn cornmeal, 1 tblspn seed, and about 1 tblspn water. I mixed it all up and put it in a tiny bowl for them. Today, it was a little dry, so I stirred it up and they went crazy for it. They're feeding it to their 16 day old babies. I love it because it doesn't go bad. I also feed all of them egg food. Recipes are in this section of the forum. Another very important thing is to feed them some type of fresh veggie. I chop up some kind of veggie daily for them. Congratulations to you on your birds. Good luck with them, I think you'll be very happy to have them :)
Mary
Betty & Pippie, fawn societies
Miss Black & Elton, chocolate societies
& 5 growing babies!

dcompt
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Re: Wanting to know what brands of seed and other food produ

Post by dcompt » Sat Apr 26, 2014 8:27 pm

There is also a mix of many different dried herbs called Herb Salad that most birds seem to like. It's available from online bird shops.

I agree with the vegetables. If your birds haven't been fed fresh foods, it may take them a while to take to them (or any new food), and each new one you introduce may also be met with suspicion or disinterest at first. I would suggest always putting it in the same bowl, at least at the beginning, so they will begin to associate the dish with something really good to eat.

An easy thing to begin with is romaine lettuce. Most birds seem to love it. You can chop it, but now I just toss a whole leaf in the cage and they go for it. That might be rather overwhelmingly big for little birds though until they get used to it.

It can be expensive to order from specialty finch shops because of the shipping, so if that is out of reach or you would just prefer to buy at your local pet shop, probably any brand of commercial finch seed they carry would be ok. Most will contain pellets that some birds will eat, some won't.

If possible, find out what they have been eating and get some of that; you can mix it with a new seed mix if you find one you would prefer to use. Add the new seed to the old in increasing proportions until finally they are getting only the preferred seed. If you can't do this, just pick one. Many of the seeds included will be the same anyway - all commercial mixes will have at least millet and canary seed (the name of the specific seed, not seed mixed for canaries).

Zebra owners can tell you if they have any special likings. I don't have them, so don't know about that.
Donna

7 happy societies: Pippin Onewing, Badger Boldfinch, Gaffer McChirp, Hermit Funnyfeather, Ziggy Streakwing, Patch Rowdybird, and Chip Potterfinch.

dcompt
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Re: Wanting to know what brands of seed and other food produ

Post by dcompt » Sat Apr 26, 2014 8:33 pm

Another thought - I don't know if you have had any birds before, so you may or may not be aware of this. Finches hull their seed and then drop the hulls. A dish can look like it is full of seed when actually the top is just covered with the discarded hulls. This will need to be removed - the easy but messy way is to step outside with the dish and gently blow them off. It can look like there is plenty of seed left when actually there is none, or it is buried and the birds can't find it. Finches can starve surprisingly quickly, so you will need to watch for this.
Donna

7 happy societies: Pippin Onewing, Badger Boldfinch, Gaffer McChirp, Hermit Funnyfeather, Ziggy Streakwing, Patch Rowdybird, and Chip Potterfinch.

Nerien

Re: Wanting to know what brands of seed and other food produ

Post by Nerien » Sun Apr 27, 2014 12:10 am

Instead of going for the seed mixes that have all the pretty colors, go for one that looks more natural, and has a variety of seed types in it. The birds are not attracted by nor impressed by the pretty colors, those are put in to attract humans to buy that brand. Better to skip the artificial coloring as much as possible.

To check and see if the seed you are getting is fresh, try to sprout or grow some of it. Sprinkle some on a small pot of soil and see if it grows (and then you can feed these greens to your birds). Or soak it in water and see if it sprouts (and again, feed the sprouts to your birds, as longs as they haven't started to grow fungus or mold or other disgusting stuff). Fresh seed grows. Old seed doesn't, or very little does. If you find the seed you bought doesn't seem to be too fresh, try a different brand, or try a different store, maybe they just buy too much at once and then it sits around forever until sold.

There is lots of information on sprouting seeds on this board, do a search, it's a really good way to vary and improve your birds' nutrition.

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ml830
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Re: Wanting to know what brands of seed and other food produ

Post by ml830 » Sun May 04, 2014 4:33 pm

Hi Barb! Did you find what your birds love? It has been trial and error for me. I know when they don't like something because they won't go near it! #-o I've read so much about foods to give that I have tried a lot. Egg bread has been a big hit. I hope you got some good ideas from everybody! :)
Mary
Betty & Pippie, fawn societies
Miss Black & Elton, chocolate societies
& 5 growing babies!

Barb
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Re: Wanting to know what brands of seed and other food produ

Post by Barb » Sun May 04, 2014 9:00 pm

Thanks for all the info.

WOW! My two boys are very eaters...They eat their seed and I give them hard boiled egg, sprouts and lettuce. And the egg food.

They don't eat the millet in the millet holder. Is the odd? Maybe I should put it in a dish? They also don't seem to use the cuttlebone.

I did get some Snack Attack oyster shell mineral treat and leafy greens and herbs.

Barb and Layla, My Little Rat Terrier
Zebra Finches--Omar and Baxter
6 Societies
RIP Milo

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ml830
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Re: Wanting to know what brands of seed and other food produ

Post by ml830 » Wed May 07, 2014 12:03 pm

My birds snacked on the cuttle bone for about a week and then stopped. I think it's because of all the other nutritious things we give them. They probably have no need for it at all with all the calcium in the egg food, and those little buggers are smart, so they're not even paying the cuttle bone any attention. :lol:
Mary
Betty & Pippie, fawn societies
Miss Black & Elton, chocolate societies
& 5 growing babies!

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