Aussie Finch Forum

ok thanks what seeds are good in proteins

shanny i am sorry to say but theres your problem with buying the seed from woolworths is rubbish most off the time its been sitting in the warehouse for a good 2-3years and with seed its pretty much lost its nutrional value nd is then no good for the birs soo my advice is to go to your local bird dealer or seed stockist and buy some good quality finch mix and you should see more healthy looking birds with in a week or 2

thanks chris

A good quality seed is a necessity , ring around your local produce stores , pet shops etc it really isnt much difference in price to the woolies stuff . Do the boiled egg thing to get some protein into them .
You may find that they will eat less if they have a better quality food as they wont be starving for protein .
Always make sure they have heaps of food , one feeder may not be enough . Other seeds you can add are . Panicum red and yellow , millets , linseed , lettuce seed, rape seed the list goes on and on.
This is also why they are huddling together they dont have any defense against the cold because they arent eating right .
Go forth and gather what you need lol and as said 2 weeks and your birds will be healthy and much happier.

what about millet sprays

There ok as a treat but most have no feed value because they to are packed and stored for a long time.Unless you can get them fresh as half ripe seed heads.

If you've got a produce/rural store near you they should have straight seed you can make your own mix, as Jusdeb said. If so, go there and ask them to make up a mix of the following, based on volume not weight:

2 parts Canary Seed
2 parts Jap Millet
2 Parts Red Millet
1 part White Millet
1 Part Yellow Panicum

Then ask them for 1kg Rape Seed, 1kg Linseed, 1kg Maw seed, 1kg Niger Seed. This 'Black Seed' mix is given at about 2 tablespoons in about 1 kg of the Finch Mix above. It can be increased over the winter or when they are breeding, but be careful not to over feed the Black Seed as is high in fat as well as protein, it's also fairly expensive.

On the boiled egg front, I use a metal kitchen strainer and push the egg through with a spoon. I then add a handfull of Egg & Biscuit Mix from the pet shop/ produce store, brand doesn't matter, but I use Sheps because he's only 1/2 hour away and I buy direct from him.

Bit overwhelming hey shanny but it is vitally important to feed a good seed mix . Most produce stores dont care how much you buy so if your on a budget ( I know your still a youngin) you can just get small amounts as you need them .
All the black seeds may not be available especially this time of year so get what you can , Im doing with just Linseed as the other seeds are unavailable and I have to travel to Orange to get fresh seed , a pain in the bum but worth it.

I had the strangest thing happen to me too yesterday - I should have realised after reading this thread a few times. My finches were more interested in their platter of goodies (green seed, sprouted seed & mashed egg) than I've ever seen and I didn't think twice about it. I did notice that a cock star was on the automatic feeder and I thought he didn't look great. I then cleaned out the auto feeder in another aviary and spent the rest of the day preparing for our election night BBQ. Today I went out and found the star dead (he had almost independant young) and a nest of hecks hatchlings tossed. Guess what? the front plate of the auto feeder had slid down and shut off the seed! The star flegdeling should be fine but I'm damned annoyed at myself for not listening to my birds when they were screaming at me.

Lessons learned:
1) If finches are friendly they are hungry so investigate
2) Don't let nesting birds ever run out of food even for a short time
3) If I get somone to repair an auto feeder (only last week I changed the broken glass to perspex) make sure that they haven't taken the front-plate stops out

One of those " if only situations " hey . Sadly we overlook simple things , its normal . Sorry for your loss , I bet it never happens again.

You know I forgot to feed the sugar gliders last night - got distracted doing kids homework before a work dinner. Lucky they had some dry lorikeet food and plenty of water as a back-up. They were't too impressed with tonight's peace offering as perhaps they were cheesed off with me!