Over the years I have used a variety of finch foods and products in my aviary. I believe in providing the best possible diet and living conditions for my birds, so I try to keep abreast of new products and supplies which may improve the health and reproduction of my birds. The diet I am feeding my Gouldians has changed over time and I’m sure it will continue to do so. While people feed their finches a variety of diets, all finches need these things to be healthy, remain healthy, and to reproduce:

Seed
As grass finches, Lady Gouldians require a diet similar to other species in this category. My experience is that Gouldian finches prefer the larger white millet and when offered a finch seed mix will pick through it to seek out the white proso millet. I now offer a 60/40 mix of white proso millet and canary seed. I add millet spray for my breeding pairs and make it available to nestlings, as it is the first seed that most newly fledged birds can manage.

Protein
Gouldian finches require additional protein for conditioning and breeding. I feed my flock egg food daily, year round. My birds receive about one teaspoon of egg food daily per bird. Commercial egg food or nestling food is readily available but I prepare my own following a basic recipe of one hard boiled egg to one tablespoon of dry supplement. I find it most convenient to prepare and freeze a one month supply of egg food at a time. The egg food recipe I use includes a vitamin mineral supplement called Vionate, soy protein powder, ground eggshell and cuttlebone, trace mineral powder, Nekton E (vitamin E supplement), and Vitamin A and D3 supplement. Since egg food which has been frozen and then thawed is too wet to feed directly to the birds, I add game bird starter and a commercially prepared nestling food to form a coarse, almost dry, crumble. This is necessary because Gouldians do not like wet egg food, and it is unsafe to leave it in a cage for more than two to three hours. Wet egg food will spoil and make your birds sick.
Fresh grated carrots and broccoli or other veggies can be added to the egg food at serving time.

Calcium/Vitamins/Minerals
In addition to the elements provided in the form of egg food, I always offer egg shells free choice to my flock.

Fresh Clean Water
Open water dishes need to be changed daily in group cages. In the cages where I use a fountain type watering device. every other day is adequate. Nigel, my twelve year old son, cleans and changes all the water dishes in the aviary every other day. Liquid iodine supplement is added to the drinking water every one to two weeks. I have used several commercial products in the birds’ water to prevent proliferation of bacteria and harmful organisms between water changes. I have used Sanicleanse, Megamix, or just plain bleach in a ratio of 1 drop per liter of water.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 14th, 2007 at 7:29 pm and is filed under Finch Diet/Care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.