Fiedler's Sprouts & Soft food

[GregH]

I recently decided to simplify my sprouting regieme by swaping over to Mike's sprout mix (1/3 black +2/3 my own white mix) mixed with his soft-food concentrate. Previously my sprouts went on to 3 days and were more like a salad compared to Mike's "chitted seed". I'm not saying that he's wrong but my birds don't like it - even new ones that have never been exoposed to the old regieme. Has anyone else experience this and/or have a solution to help swap them over? Similuaneously they seem to have gone off egg and meal worms. Could they be getting a protein overdose?

[iaos]

I have found that my birds were not as near as keen on the chitted seed when I tried it with a tonic mix.

[E Orix]

GregH
What are you feeding on the mix.
It is scientific fact that seed just breaking is at its dietry best(by far)
I would be a little concerned if my birds went off a number of normal dietry items.
I am also of the opinion that people give there birds an over rich diet also they feed the same rich diet 12 months of the year.
This is wrong as you get no stimuli through diet and you end up with a choclate shop situation.
At some time of the year you should put your birds on a basic diet.
Softbills aside my collection has a 3 millet only period and even breeding season my diet is 3 millets and Canary Seed.
I also provide Pound Cake and Live Food but nothing else.With too much rich food birds become too fat and in many cases the male birds loose alot of fertility.
If your birds are not breeding(and not insectivorous) just give them dry seed and the chitted seed for 2 weeks and after that re introduce other items if you so wish

[GregH]

I'm in Australia every June_July so during that time is my "Austerity period and it coincides with the hottest time of the year here. During that time they are unlikely to get green seed. My normal mix depends on what is around usually 1:1:1:1:1:1 white millet: red panicum : yellow panicum : canary : Japanese millet : 0.25 red millet. I gave up using oil seeds (canola, linnseed and niger) as the birds never touched then and they were expensive but I hoped that the oil seeds in the Fiedler mix might compensate. So in addition to this they usually get quail egg (exruded through a garlic press) and my sprouted mix (whatever sprouts when I'm buying and it's precious little and I do put canola in this but only the stuff I bring from Australia as the stuff here is all dead). I do give green seed throughout the year except when I'm away (Panicum, is the major part and then whatever is around - Johnson's grass, palm grass, barn-yard grass & rice). The birds are seldom offered greens because they never eat them but the Javas eat mashed vegetables when they have babies. I do give mealworms which are relished by the cut-throats, diamond sparrows, Hecks', Stars and double bars but I've never seen them touched by any munias (Javas, Javan, Chestnut, Spice), Gouldians or Zebras.