OR
A Mug’s Guide to all things Avian Edible!!
Over the past few years 'things' have certainly changed dramatically for the
better in regards the availability of foods for our finches. Fortunately, gone
are the days of a dry seed mix that abounded in 3-4 types of seeds and
supplements limited to a couple of brands of egg and biscuit mix - usually heavy
on biscuit and light on egg! The average finch keeper can now help themselves to
a huge selection of supplements, additives, medicines, wormers and seed
varieties. Companies such as Womboroo, Vetafarm, Avione, Mavlabs and Pretty Bird
- to name but a few - have given the aviculturist a wealth of products designed
to create the best 'lifestyle' for the bird species that we keep. One still
needs to be aware of the differing dietary requirements of the birds they keep
but the work being done by Debra MacDonald and others is making that easier. For
example the dietary requirements of Lorikeets and Finches would differ
considerably and we can now seek advise in creating an ‘ideal’ diet for either
species rather than relying on a ‘blanket’ diet hoping we supply their nutrients
in the correct levels!
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A Range of Products! |
Soaked/Sprouted Seed. |
Coop cups & Other Feeders. |
As an example the provision of countless brands of lorikeet food (both wet and
dry) has made the difficult dietary requirements of Lorikeets, Lories and Swift
parrots relatively stress free. Gone are 400 different products that we used to
mix together to provide the bare basics for these species! Admittedly a lot of
the products available are aimed at the 'hookbill' keepers but enough has
filtered through to keep the finch keepers happy too! In cahoots with a couple
of friends from the world of finches it has been possible to present as varied a
diet as possible to assist our finches during periods of movement and breeding
type stresses.
Having been a long time advocate of any work I could lay my hand on by renowned
English Aviculturist Mike Fidler I was interested, to say the least, when I
heard that he was moving to Australia and was set to produce his Herbal Seed and
Softfood Mixes and make them available to the local market. Suffice it to say I
was able to broker a deal with John Barrett of Birds R’ Us (who produces Mikes
mixes) and obtained a quantity of these mixes to trial. As much has been written
about the logic behind both products and their contents I shall leave that to
far more knowledgeable people and stick to my own observations where
appropriate!
However, it is great to see that some of the ‘hookbill’ keepers have ‘seen the
light’ and more are including Mikes Softfood Mix into their parrots diet-
couldn’t resist that one!
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Veldt Oats. | Milk Thistle. | Pit-Pit Grass. |
I would like to present a few thoughts to you on what we use with our finches in
the hope that it can help someone out there in maintaining their finch stocks.
But first a little background information. We are from a cold part of Australia
and much of our obsession with supplements and food mixes stems from the winter
hardships that our birds must endure. To this end I has an excellent
conversation with Mike Fidler on the return trip from The Canberra AFA
Conference in 2004 concerning the much debated austerity diet/period. I have
always felt loath to limit our finches’ access to many of the oilier and rich
softfood additives and livefoods during the long winter period lest they freeze
to death!! Despite this personal bias I have often pondered the need for an
austerity diet and have heard many arguments both for and against. I was soon
put straight that my obsession with an austerity ‘diet’ should have been more
focused on an austerity ‘period’ instead! Mike felt that the long winter and
cold conditions imposed a natural austerity period upon the birds whereby they
had a climatic separation from breeding to non-breeding conditions – sometimes
lacking from more temperate conditions where birds can be bred for 12 months of
the year. If you keep your birds in temperature and humidity controlled
conditions then by limiting their access to certain food items combined with
varying the photoperiod you possibly achieve the same results as Mother Nature
does for us down here! Guess I might have been 50% right then!!
Many breeders from 'warmer climes' will probably find some of this material
superfluous given their far more ‘temperate’ conditions. But, who knows, there
still may be something of use!
SEED:
During one of my trips through NSW I was astounded to see the variety of
birdseed mixes that were available. Where I come from I had the fattest Rosellas
in Tasmania given the amount of seed that I threw away that my finches would not
eat. No Red pannicum and no Siberian millet were in any of the mixes that were
commercially available here. After lusting over several mainland mixes we took
the punt and ordered a pallet load of finch mix. The results speak for
themselves. From emptying an ice-cream container of waste seed out of the hopper
catchers we now have less than half a cup of seed!! This tells us that the birds
MUST be finding the seed far more palatable. The Rosellas are not amused! Many
local commercial mixes are fine for Zebra finches and marginal for the larger
Australian finches but are severely lacking for the waxbills and allied smaller
Estrildid finches. To test this ‘hypothesis’ I conducted an experiment by
filling one half of a large hopper with Red pannicum and the other with finch
mix. The aviary contained mostly Cordon bleus and Orange breast waxbills. The
Red pannicum was depleted twice as often as the straight finch mix. But trying
to get the local seed suppliers to alter their seed mixes were to prove
impossible. Hence we now get a mix from NSW made up to suit the finches we keep
and our suppliers are such that they even send down bags of harder to get seeds
when they are available in NSW. This arrangement is of great benefit to our
finches and a sad comment on the merchants down here. Well worth the freight.
Our supplier is Pepper’s Seed & Bird Products at Quirindi.
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Range of Goodies! | Hopper & "Special' Seeds! | Pepper's Finest Mix! |
The mix that we prefer is roughly in these proportions:
20% PLAIN CANARY
30% RED PANNICUM
15% WHITE MILLET
10% PANORAMA MILLET
10% JAPANESE MILLET
15% YELLOW PANNICUM and/or SIBERIAN MILLET
Obviously not all of these seeds are available at the same time and we try to
maintain a balance between these in the mix that we feed all year round. Our
supplier is fantastic in catering to our wishes though, at times, I bet he
wishes we would go back to keeping Zebra finches! The only seed we strive to
maintain stocks of at all times is Red pannicum.
This is the 'normal' mix fed to our finches the year round. It would be great to
be able to present a finch mix specially designed for a particular finch species
but pressure of work and other matters determine otherwise, so what we have
striven to do is create a mix that will be palatable to all finches with minimum
waste.
If you keep any of the members of the Siskin family you will need to provide
them with Niger seed all year round to maintain them in their best condition.
There used to be only irradiated Niger seed available on the market but recently
there have been small quantities of domestically produced Niger about. If you
are fortunate enough to get hold of this local Niger you will notice the
difference in the way your birds consume it. When I obtained some I placed 2
bowls in the aviary - 1 with irradiated seed and the other with the 'fresh'
product. The birds literally emptied the fresh seed before they were even
interested in the irradiated seed. And we call them 'dumb' animals!! Best to
look at the extras we feed on the basis of the seasons - namely winter and the
breeding season!
WINTER -
During the colder months down here it is fairly (!) important to ensure that you
supply seeds that are richer in oil content to ensure your birds have sufficient
reserves to see them through the winter. We put out separate bowls containing
Hulled oats during the winter months. In a separate bowl is also fed a mixture
of cracked Sunflower seeds, Rape, Maw (poppy) Phalaris and Cracked oats that are
very popular with the Singers, Siskins and Greenfinches. Small quantities of
cracked sunflower and oats are fed during the breeding season as well.
BREEDING SEASON -
At the start of this we feed out a product called Greens n' Grains which
consists of a huge variety of grass seeds and bird seeds cut when they are still
not fully ripe. The gusto with which the more herbivorous finches attack this
has to be seen to be believed! I saw this product at the Gunnedah Bird Sale and
saw that most of the bigger finch breeders that I knew of only by name were
purchasing large amounts of this product. I purchased a small 'party pack' of
this product to test and soon put in an order for a pallet load!! Birds such as
Diamond sparrows, Emblemas, Bloods, Plumheads, Song sparrows, Blue-face
parrotfinches and Gouldian's live in this seed and many wait on the aviary bowls
for you to put it out for them. My Red strawberries love it but I know of other
breeders that have said the opposite. Dybowski twinspots and Orange-cheek
waxbills also appear to relish this mix. The more insectivorous species such as
Blue caps, Melbas and Pytilias appear to show little interest in these green
seeds. Perhaps, to me at least, the most interesting aspect of this seed mix is
how the grower came to recognize its potential importance. His farm is heavily
populated by wild Zebra finches and, as he explained to us, he noticed that when
the birdseed was ripe the Zebs headed not for it but rather to the patches of
wild seed that he had been trying to eradicate!! He shook his head and told us
how much he had spent trying to get rid of this wild grass and how that he now
had acres of it growing for his Greens n' Grains - thankfully for us he took
notice of the Zebs!!
With the recent arrival of Mikes Herbal Seed Mix we were able to combine the two
products and, if empty bowls are any indicator, then they are a double smash hit
with the finches. Now all I have to do is get the Pytilias and Blue-caps to eat
them – wish me luck!
SOAKED and SPROUTED SEED -
Throughout the year all the aviaries are supplied with soaked seed every
second day and every day during the breeding season. Any uneaten seed is
immediately trashed the following day or that evening. There is a huge debate
that ensues whenever soaking seed regimes are discussed and the closer to the
equator you get the more negative that people tend to become! Many of our
northern colleagues cite examples of fungus and bacterial growth and choose not
to use this seed for those reasons, which to me, seems a great pity based on the
relish that most finches show for soaked/sprouted seed. But if I'd lost birds to
fungal disease spread from this seed I would probably think differently! Suffice
it to say that here it is one of our staples and, to date, we have not suffered
any outbreaks of disease from it - but we are ever alert. Our climate does not
tend to have the humidity that northern climates have so I guess that is one
thing to be thankful for! Our mixes are served partly sprouted and partly soaked
so as to provide for all finch tastes.
Given the finches relish for this mix we often use it as a vehicle for
introducing the birds to new supplements. Firstly the new product is mixed with
the soaked seed and then, when they accept it, it is fed in a coffee lid by
itself to gauge their reaction. This was how we initially fed Mikes softfood mix
but now we are flat out keeping the coffee lids full! As a word of warning,
beware that adding anything to their soaked seed may cause some finches to avoid
it for a few days so be prepared to ‘wait them out" – give them time, keep
presenting it and they’ll come round just like ours did!
PREPARATION of SOAKED SEED:
1. Place required amount of seed in small ice-cream bucket and fill
container to top with water.
2. Add small amount of one of the many brands of chlorhexidine solutions
available to the water.
3. Leave on top of fridge or somewhere warmer for about 24 hours -or
basically until the seed has swelled with water.
4. At end of 24 hours wash through a sieve with clean water and place
sieve onto a sponge to draw the water through. Make sure that you DON'T take all
of the moisture from the seed.
5. Place somewhere warm (mine into the mealworm room at around 25 degrees
Celsius) until seed is beginning to sprout or is at the stage that you wish to
feed.
6. Place unused portion in fridge until required. Some may frown at this
last step but that is 'what works for me'.
7. Before serving place a multi-vitamin powder over the seed.
The seed used is the finch mix previously mentioned with extra Red pannicum added. During the breeding season we also supply soaked Grey sunflower which is relished by the cup nesting finches and, perhaps surprisingly, by a wide variety of 'normal' finches. This soaking is also reputed to lower the oil content of the seed if you have any such worries. The Sunflower seed is soaked using the same technique as outlined above. The only variation to this feeding regime is the supply of pine nuts to the Himalayan greenfinches - given the cost of these seeds it is to these ONLY!! They appear to love them especially when feeding young.
EXTRAS:
1.Winter warmers -
I was given a recipe for a substance that was called "German Paste" by someone I
once knew. His mother used to feed it to wild blue wrens when they were feeding
young on her property. It varies from the 'original' German Paste much favoured
by older canary breeders in the absence of hemp seeds from the recipe!! I feel
sure he won't mind my sharing the recipe with you. You need:
· 1 container of dripping.
· 2 cups of brose meal (chick pea flour)
· 2 cups of rolled oats
· 2 tablespoons of honey
Method:
Melt the container of dripping in a saucepan on moderate heat and stir in your
honey. When everything is liquid stir in your brose meal and rolled oats. Stir
well and pour into desired containers - ice cube moulds make excellent and
convenient sized portions. Make sure that you continue stirring until it begins
to set then place it in the fridge - but don't put in fridge too early as all
the oats will sink to the bottom. Can be stored in the freezer until needed.
Probably not going to be a winner in warmer climes as it has a real tendency to
run in hot weather. Cup nesters are quick to consume it with other finches
learning from their example.
2. Egg and Biscuit -
There is almost an unlimited supply of different brands available but the one we
use goes under the name of canary starter. This is fed all year round in the dry
form in small coop cups and mixed with hard-boiled eggs during the breeding
season. Eggs are simply hard-boiled, usually for 20 minutes, then mixed with
canary starter until a crumbly consistency is reached. The mix is stored in the
freezer and fed out when required. All leftovers are disposed of the next day -
usually to the quail!
3. Supplements -
At the commencement of the breeding season all aviaries are given a course of
water-soluble vitamins and vitamin B complexes for about 2 weeks. The solutions
are replaced daily. Just to 'fire them up' for the (hopefully!) big event. In a
number of large coop cups I place a mixture of a finch soft food, finch
crumbles, dry canary starter and an insectivore mix which finches relish as they
begin to contemplate breeding. Different aviaries show varying degrees of
consumption of this mix - from relish too completely ignoring it.
Experimentation with the ingredients of this mix will provide you with something
that your birds will enjoy.
We have found that most finches eagerly seek the Passwells Finch Soft Food of
all the pre-prepared foods we have come across.
In a separate coop cup a dry lorikeet mix is provided which the majority of
birds will eat. Be careful of these mixes if you have Song sparrows, as they
appear to be a prime site for 'dust bathing'! I was also using a product called
Bevo from Belgium but, unfortunately, customs in their wisdom have banned it
from entering Australia. It is supposedly very good for highly insectivorous
finches.
About twice a month we add Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) to the water as a cleansing
agent and this product is very popular in the United States and Europe. The
birds don't appear to relish the taste but it's good for them so what else would
you expect!!
The recommended dose rate is 5-10mls per litre depending upon whom you listen
to! We use the 10mls/litre rate. Yet another aside here, make sure you get the
non-pasteurised ACV and the thicker the colour the better!!
The only other non-medicinal agent that enters the water is lime - usually mixed
at the rate of a spoonful to a bucket of water. What sized spoon you ask? I'm
afraid that will depend on the purity of your water but only a small amount of
lime will dissolve in a bucket - trial and error! This has long been used as
part of a preventative program for egg binding.
We have also commenced mixing a number of softfood mixes that we feed to the
finches, which I feel sure we can share with you in a future edition of
Just
Finches & Softbills.
4. Vegetables and Fruit -
A friend in Gunnedah showed me a vegetable called the Lebanese cucumber that
he feeds to his birds on a regular basis. Knowing that everybody has their
'secret' tip for success I filed it away for future use - especially after I saw
the price of these in Hobart! Not long after this I was fortunate enough to hear
Mike Fidler address the local bird society and he began to extol the humble
cucumber as a powerful aphrodisiac. Out to the produce stall and a number were
purchased but they preferred the Lebanese variety - of course, being the
dearest! If you scoff at this try a piece with your Parrotfinches and you will
come back to a shrivelled piece of green skin, that is all that will be left!
Remains to be seen if it improves their 'prowess' but I feel that Blue-faced
parrotfinches require little prodding in that direction!
Apple and oranges are fed in some aviaries and, as a rule of thumb, if there are
cup nesters in the aviary they will eat some apple and the other finches will
follow as "monkey see, monkey do"! On this topic, if you can't get your birds to
eat something you feel they should try putting a Canary (or Red-faced
parrotfinch!) in with them to 'show the way". That is as long as you haven't got
a beautiful planted aviary - at least as for a Canary!
I know of a number of breeders that feed large amounts of broccoli to their birds and have witnessed them feasting on this, especially when the broccoli is put through a blender. But I have always remembered the amount of 'additives' that are used to grow broccoli in northern Tasmania and wondered whether these might not affect the finches. Silverbeet is supplied when available and is fed suspended on the aviary wire to avoid the birds feeding on the ground. A good stand bye when no seeding grasses are available or during winter. To be brutally honest I only use green vegetables when seeding grasses are not available. Many breeders favour Endive but its supply in Tasmania is highly erratic – from $2 a tonne to unavailable in the same month– which does make it a tad difficult to ensure a regular supply of. Doug in Sydney assures me, as he is often wont to do, that it is always $2 a sugar bag full there – yeah, right Doug! However, that does lead to the statement that it is pointless commencing feeding a product to your birds if its supply cannot be maintained when there are young in the nest!
5. Green Food (grasses, chickweed, thistles…etc) -
Again the feeding of seeding grass heads can be a contentious issue depending
upon where you live. Whilst recently in NSW I spoke to a number of breeders that
had horror stories of feeding seeding grasses in the wet, humid weather that
existed there last year. Fungal diseases where traced back to feeding green
grasses and many a grass patch was 'turned in'. Again personal preference and
common sense will dictate what and how you feed green grasses. I am aware that
an increasing number of aviculturists are now relying more and more on the dried
Greens n' Grains type products rather than feeding seeding grasses fresh.
However, in the more temperate zones there is a greater margin for error when
feeding green grasses as long as you avoid obvious signs of rust. A staple is
the Chickweed (Stellaria media), a prostrate spreading weed with little
white flowers that contain a number of tiny brown/golden seed (sold as Gold of
Pleasure I do believe!) that most finches relish. Most finch keepers will be
familiar with this plant. Be careful when picking your chickweed because another
nasty little weed enjoys lurking amongst it. This is poisonous milkweed which
resembles the former but has small yellow flowers and a more robust stem and
when snapped oozes a milky white sap which is a powerful neurotoxin and can be
fatal if eaten. We used to call it 'wart killer' when kids.
A couple of staple grasses are the small Veldt oats and green panic (Ehrharta
sp.), both of which originate from South Africa. The variety that
we have here is, usually, less than 500cms in height but I have seen similar
panic grass in Queensland that was way over my mere 183cms of height! Many
finches consume the seeds then construct the outer part of their nests from the
green stems. My birds also relish the small seeds from swamp grass (November
grass, blown grass) if you can supply it fresh. Another favourite that grows
throughout Australia is rye grass, Lolium perenne,
- your typical lawn seed grass. If you can afford the dried seeds you will find
them avidly consumed by most finches plus diamond sparrows, song sparrows and
the like love the green stems to build their nests with.
Coupled with these are the green seeds from any of the 'normal' bird seed
varieties, (pannicums, millets…etc) fed just as they start to turn brown and dry
off. Over here when you see the wild Goldfinches eating the heads of the
Phalaris (Phalaris sp. - wild-type grass related to canary seed) you give
it to your own birds.
If you are keeping siskins or other Cardueline finches then you will probably
be feeding them with the flowers and the seeds of the milk thistle. This plant
comes in a variety of species and forms, most of which are palatable. You can
tell that someone is using the milk thistle by the cloud of seed 'fluff' that
erupts from their cages every time they open the door! As a rule of thumb, if
the stem is 'hairy or covered in stiff bristles' then the finches are generally
not interested in it. If you are feeling particularly brave you might like to
cut some Scotch thistles and extract the large purple seeds from them as the
Cardueline species are really fond of them - greater devotion and all that!
I also feed Sunflower seed heads scavenged from anywhere I can and have helped
collect the small tree-like sunflower heads that are favoured by NSW breeders
that grow along the side of the road. Perhaps a final warning on picking grass
seed would be that 'if in doubt don't'! If you are picking it from the side of
the road it is critical to ensure that it has not been sprayed by the council,
or at least not by local canines! Most local councils will tell you where the
spraying is to take place and it is better to make the call to the council than
a call to the vet.
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Red, Siberian & Niger. | Fresh Water! | Winter Grass |
Hopefully that gives you some 'food for thought’ in regards to what some people are feeding their finches. An obvious omission is the feeding of live food but that would be a tome in its own right! Given that we are told that variety is the spice of life it must be important to ensure that the species under our care are presented with as diverse a diet as possible. Giving some thought to implementing a well-constructed dietary regime could well mean the difference between an average breeding season and an excellent one. Remember, next time you are visiting an aviculturist make sure you see how he feeds his birds as we can all learn from one another. So don't just sit there reading this and say "what a load of rubbish", get out there and get to work and flood Paul at Just Finches & Softbills with your thoughts!