Introducing the breeding diet

[Jayburd]

Thanks guys I'll try and get some charcoal for them.
Stephstar, the greens I feed them depends on what the family buys (and what I can nick without them noticing ) so mainly baby spinach, or salad mix. we do grow some spinach too, so I nab some leaves off that when we don't have any in the house. I shred or chop it up really fine, so the birds dont have to pull it apart.

Termites you collect from the wild, Mattymeischke and I are going hunting hopefully next weekend, so I'll post some photos
you can feed them live of frozen, frozen is better for me as I have limited time some mornings and also mum isn't to keen on live termites around the house!!

My soft food mixes are a commercial egg and biscuit mix (Passwell) and the other one I make myself, I posted a topic around here somewhere I think it was in this section under the topic "new recipe"

[stephstar]

Thanks. Jayburd . I feed them mine meal worms. i tried spinach they didn't seem interested. the egg mixture ill look into i want them to b happy..i pick a lot of wild seed when my partner and i go bird watching . Ill look up this egg mixture...
Stephstar

[Jayburd]

wild green seed is the best stuff for birds after termites I reckon sadly I don't have much time to be out collecting it.
The recipe is pretty easy to make, and the birds love it
found the link:
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=11309

[stephstar]

Ill give it a go. Ill get some cous cous. Today, my partner and i have spent a lot of money these last two weeks but its so worth it when we watch them in the arvos...spoil our bird kids rotten !!!

[finchbreeder]

I let the birds and the season decide when its breeding season. The seeding grasses (weeds with seeds) sprout and take over the garden. So start feeding them as soon as they are 3/4cm, and constantly from then. Roots and all, as the birds pick the small insects from the soil. And any insects/daddy longlegs spiders from the garden and verandahs, are not killed, but relocated to the avairys. My egg and biscut mix is just that, boiled egg and arrowroot biscuit, mixed together and fed as a rearing mix. Depending on time constraints. I believe the natural foods are the most important. PS charcol is not too hard to get, just raid the wood fire. (yours or anyone you know who has one)
LML

[stephstar]

Will introduce egg mixture this arvo .....picking up new aviary weds.
we been picking veldt grass and wild rye they def go crazy over wild seed wh
en we put it in aviary ..

[Jayburd]

sounds like a good way of doing it FB
I thought you had to do a special procedure for charcoal or something? because we have a wood fire....

[finchbreeder]

I usually just dust it off, and wash it off, sort of so its like as if it had come from a bush fire that was put out by rain. Simulating nature, cause that's how they would get it in nature.
LML

[murf]

Should explain guys, my "pebbles" are actually "buckshot" stones. I have that type of topsoil. Drop a magnet and stones will be attracted. No, BHP haven't shown an interest. From my observations, the emblemas using this type of nest collect "dark" colors- bark, twigs, old, dry grass stems, seldom anything light in colour. I doubt whether white pebbles would work.

[Greg41]

I do a lot of bush camping and when leaving rake up the ash/burnt wood and bring it home for the birds.I don't think it is charcoal, just burnt wood.

Cheers Greg.