WELCOME TO THE RECIPE PAGE!

 Well, here are a few to start off the proceedings and they are beauties I might add. So, if you enjoy these then get busy and send us some more in so we can all share them.

1. The McCrae Way!!

This a recipe that Gary McCrae from Kalgoorlie Western Australia gave me at Gunnedah Bird Sale this year. I have made this one of my "must do's" as regards the daily maintenance of my finches.

   Ingredients:
- Soaked seed
- Cod liver & wheat germ oil
- Multivitamin preparation
- Passwells' Finch Soft Food
- Passwells' Finch Crumbles (or some form of finch crumble mix)

Method:
There are many ways of combining the ingredients but I will leave you with mine! 

1. The required amount of soaked seed is placed in a container the night before you need it and the Cod liver & wheat germ oil is added (at the rate of about 1/2 a teaspoon per kilo of seed - you will soon calculate the correct amount for your seed) and the multi-vitamin powder is sprinkled in.   The seed is then thoroughly mixed and left until morning.
2.  Next morning, prior to feeding, 1 tablespoon of Finch Soft Food and 2 tablespoons of Finch Crumbles are added - again, you will need to vary this for the amount of Soaked seed that you use. Thoroughly mix all ingredients together.
3. If you are more adventurous you can take some frozen peas and corn, cover with boiling water then mash and mix into the soaked seed mix.

There you have it! Just a couple of points to remember is to grind up your finch crumbles until they are fairly fine - some come in pellet form (I use an old electric coffee grinder) and any multi-vitamin mix you are happy with will suffice ( I use Golden Boost from the Australian Pigeon Company).
Took my birds about 3 days to take to it, and now they demolish it with a vengeance!!

2. John Alers' Soft Food Mix.

John is a very well known and respected finch breeder from Perth, Western Australia and his recipe is used by a number of great finch breeders Australia wide.

    Ingredients:
- 1kg Finch Crumbles
- 1 Plain Sponge Cake
- 250 gms Mature Cheese
- 2 Tablespoons Honey
- 2 Tablespoons Peanut Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Calcivet
- 1 or 2 Tablespoons Wheatgerm oil
- 1 Tablespoon Rock Salt Lick with Molasses
- 1 Teaspoon Multi-vitamins
- 1 Teaspoon Red Factor Canary Colour Food
- 24 Boiled Egg Yolks (boiled for 15 mins)
- 1 Cup boiling water

     Method:
1) Crumble the cake very finely (use a blender if possible).
2) Grate the egg yolks up finely.
3) Grate the cheese very finely (no lumps!!).
4) Break up the Salt Lick as finely as possible (use a hammer!!).
5) Into a cup of boiling water add Honey, Calcivet, Wheatgerm oil and mix well.
6) Put the Finch Crumbles into a large container and add the boiled water mix, Peanut Oil
    and blend well.
7) Add the grated egg yolks, cheese and crumbled cake and again blend well.
8) Finally, add the Multi-vitamins, colour food and salt and further blend well.
9) To store the mixture - place in small freezer bags (enough for 2-3 days). If
    frozen it will keep for months.

To feed this mixture thaw out and feed daily a teaspoon or so in a dish (obviously depends upon the number of birds in your aviary!!). Remove and discard unused mix.

3. Winter Seed Preparation.

Living where we do in 'Temperate' Tasmania the risk of egg-binding and associated complications is always a big worry - winter AND spring!!  To try to overcome this we had a number of conversations with Dr Colin Walker at the Australian Pigeon Company and he suggested the use of two of his pigeon products.

  Ingredients:
- Polyseed Oil
- Nutribloom powder

A simple preparation this one! Add 1ml of Polyseed oil for every kilogram of seed and the recommended amount of Nutribloom ( I use 1 teaspoon to 3kg of seed). Simply mix the two thoroughly and leave over night, remix next morning and feed to your birds.

4. Finch Cake Recipe.

This one hails from sunny Queensland and was sent to us by Jill McLeod.

   Ingredients:
* 250 grams melted butter
* 6-8 eggs and shells included
* 250-300 grams raw sugar
* 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil (40ml)
* 750 grams self-raising flour
* 2 desert spoons baking soda
* 500 grams cottage cheese

    Method:
1. Mix melted butter, eggs, raw sugar and sunflower oil together in a blender.
2. Dry mix the self-raising flour, baking soda and cottage cheese together.
3. Mix together all ingredients and bake in an oven for about 1 hour or more at 300 deg F or 150 deg C. Cut into slices and wrap in alfoil and store in a sealed container. Store in freezer, removing required quantity the night before. Crumble before feeding.

                                                  
                5. Bucko's Sure Fire Gouldian Tonic!

Tony Buxton is a finch breeders from Gunnedah in NSW - home of the famous Gunnedah Bird Sale - and he breeds a number of Exotic and Australian finches. He has had great success with the Tanimbar parrotfinch and the Orange-cheek waxbill. Bucko has a great affinity with the Gouldian finch - especially the Blue mutation(!!). He attributes his success with the Gouldian's to his use of two products in their seed as a 'conditioning agent'.

   Ingredients:
* Breeding Aid (Vetafarm).
* Cod liver & wheatgerm oil.

 Method:
Add 20mls of Breeding Aid for every kilogram of seed to be used and the recommended amount of Cod liver & wheatgerm oil  - this is usually 5mls/400gms of seed. The mix is then placed in seed hoppers and bowls. One point is that this mix will often stick together if too much Cod liver & wheatgerm oil is used so ensure that you check your hoppers and male sure the seed is flowing correctly.
A great winter seed treatment.