My Eggfood Recipe

[Sally]

This is a variation of Doug Taylor's Green Day diet, just more dry ingredients than he uses. My birds really like it dry, which is OK with me, because it sits out all day.

Normally, I hardboil 12 eggs. Then I put them in the food processor, shell and all, 6 at a time. I place the eggs in a large bowl so I can mix well, and I add 1 Tbs. wheat germ oil and 1 Tbs. cod liver oil. Then I add 2/3 cup Hagen's Tropimix (a nestling food), 2/3 cup Hagen's egg granules, 2/3 cup Volkman's commercial dry eggfood, and 1/3 cup enriched yellow cornmeal, mixing well after each addition. This makes for a fairly dry, crumbly eggfood.

Last night, I boiled 36 eggs, made up my eggfood, and divided it all into 6 containers, one for the refrigerator and five for the freezer. Time will tell if I like doing it this way, or if my birds will still like their eggfood once it has been frozen and then thawed out. Next I will try chopping and freezing fresh veggies. I can see this working with carrots, broccoli, maybe cabbage, but not kale or collards--I think they would go mushy when frozen and then thawed.

[cindy]

Thank you Sally! freezing the kale collards fresh may not work well, if not try steaming slightly first and drain well. That may work when you freeze it.

[Chichireeo]

Sally, can you recommend a brand of cod liver oil? There are so many out there, and i've heard some not as good as others? Something about mercury? Which do you use?

[Sally]

Sally, can you recommend a brand of cod liver oil? There are so many out there, and i've heard some not as good as others? Something about mercury? Which do you use?

I have been using Spring Valley's Norwegian cod liver oil, which I get at Walmart. I doubt it is organic, seeing that Walmart carries it, but I was not aware of problems with mercury. I keep it in the fridge, as I think it goes rancid easily. I get Viobin wheat germ oil at a health food store that carries groceries, and I also keep that in the fridge. I found that the other health food stores in my local area only carried wheat germ oil capsules.

[Sally]

I have been very happy with this eggfood being kept in the freezer and then thawing to serve, it seems to maintain its consistency very well. My birds consume this just as well as when I make it fresh. I now buy 6 dozen eggs at a time, and make an evening of it! I make up 12 eggs at a time, place that into 2 5-cup Rubbermaid containers, so when I am finished, I have 12 containers for the freezer. This will last about 3 weeks, but I am overly generous when I serve eggfood!

I have also chopped broccoli very fine and frozen containers of it, and it seems to work out. It will be a bit more moist when thawed than the fresh broccoli, so it may affect how long the eggfood can sit out in warm weather.

[finchmix22]

The Harrison that you add, is that also part of their regular diet?

[Sally]

The Harrison that you add, is that also part of their regular diet?

I don't add Harrison's to my eggfood. That is something I have used for handfeeding. I was mixing 2 parts Harrison's Neonate with 1 part Lafeber's to make up a formula for handfeds that had more protein. Right now, I am handfeeding two new Purple Grenadiers using Hagen's handfeeding formula, which is 22% protein. They seem to be doing well on it. I may start adding a tiny bit of soya musca, which is 61% protein, as the waxbills seem to have a higher need for protein than other species. I'm wondering if that is the reason that my handfeds always seem to develop slower than parent-raised babies.

[Ahmet_Menderes]

great ideas
@sally I have some questions please
1. how long time can I keep the container in the freezer ?
2. how long time can I keep the container in the refrigerator after removing them from the freezez
3. Is it possible to remove the container at night so It will be ready to serve early morning, and can I put remaining material back to the refrigerator in order to use within three days ?

thanks in advance for your kindness

[Sally]

great ideas
@sally I have some questions please
1. how long time can I keep the container in the freezer ?
2. how long time can I keep the container in the refrigerator after removing them from the freezez
3. Is it possible to remove the container at night so It will be ready to serve early morning, and can I put remaining material back to the refrigerator in order to use within three days ?

thanks in advance for your kindness

1. Not sure, as I go through it fairly quickly, but I would think it could keep in the freezer for several months.

2. I think three days would be the limit to keep the container in the refrigerator. After that, the egg might spoil.

3. Yes, that is actually the best way to do this I think. I take one container out of the freezer at night and put it in the refrigerator. By morning, it is ready to serve. I usually use about 1/2 of the container for one day, so I put the container back in the refrigerator for the next day.

I actually have changed my egg food recipe once again, and I now use a variation of a recipe I got from a friend. I'm always changing up how I do things!

SALLY'S EGG FOOD RECIPE:

2 cups Vionate vitamin powder
1 tsp. spirulina (2tsp) (Avigreens?)
1 Tbs. powdered calcium
1 Tbs. powdered probiotics (2Tbs.)
¼ cup flaxseed meal
¼ cup wheat germ meal
1 cup freeze-dried mealworms (chop/grind fine)

Mix all these ingredients very well. I put them in a closed container and shake until I am sure it is well-mixed. This is my vitamin mixture for my eggfood.

Hard-boil eggs and let cool. Can put in fridge overnight so they are really cold.

To make eggfood:

Place 4 h/b eggs in food processor, shell and all. Add 1 to 1 1/3 cup dry commercial eggfood such as Volkman’s or any good nestling food. Add 1 heaping tablespoon of the vitamin mix. Pulse several times till well-mixed and crumbly. Do not over process.

This egg food can be mixed with chopped veggies. It can be frozen, and then thawed overnight in the refrigerator.

This recipe is a variation of Roy Beckham’s eggfood recipe and the eggfood recipe of my friend Helen Hoffman. Everyone should experiment to find the recipe that works best for them and for their birds.
http://www.efinch.com – Roy Beckham

[Spreckles]

Sally
Do you give your birds any bird seed? I am finding that if I don't leave bird seed in my cages they eat the birdie buffet. I make a baked egg bread from the forum info center. I changed that recipe too. I use my good cornmeal not jiffy, and add flax seed, millet seed, and take the powdered milk out. I think I will add your suggestions for oils. I have some borage oil I was using up. I read that birds don't digest lactose. I pulse chop in my little food processor organic baby greens & kale. They won't eat broccoli. They are getting fat every one of them. I can't get over how much they have grown. My Society birds are young so am guessing they were not at their full size anyway. I am trying to introduce fruits but they don't go for it much. Do yours eat fruit?

Karen

[Sally]

Spreckles My birds have free choice finch mix seed, I use the gravity-type seed hoppers. My birds have never been fruit eaters, but they do like veggies.