Aussie Finch Forum

So Ive been having fun reading these old volume 2 ABK mags and this recipe keeps popping up called insectivore cake .
Its recommended for finches and parrots so I thought Id run it by you all ...

250 g margarine
300gms raw sugar
6 raw eggs
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
750g self raising flour
2 dessertspoons baking powder
500g cottage cheese

Combine , mix and bake at 175 for an hour .

Any one have some input on this cake ie. dietary value etc .

Dunno about the dietary value but after reading the ingredients sounds like a slice or two would be good with a cuppa

Calcium and protein. Would be OK as yet one more supplement. Improve it by boiling egg shells for 20 mins and then crushing and adding to the mix.

Yes the recipe said to add egshells ...it looks very rich indeed .

I used this recipe for many years as part of a homemade softbill mix I fed to wrens with some success.

No longer use it as I am too lazy to make it anymore, but the birds did take it.

My parents canaries loved it instead of egg & biscuit when breeding and my Black cockatoos devoured it when feeding chicks.

I baked the egg shells then ground them to powder in a coffee grinder and added them with the flour, no waste?

No idea of dietary value but certainly didn't hurt.

Thanks Alf , Ill give it a go on finches , parrots and lorikeets .

Yeah, dad and i used to make it for the finches. They would go to town on it. FUNNY STORY. Mum made a heap for dad puts it in the freezer pulls some out one day for dad forgot what it was and had a slice with a cup of tea and found egg shell thinking she had make a cake and some egg shell had fallen in not remembering it was for the birds. Still ate the slice of cake. Yum Yum

I have searched my old memory banks and doing a Jamie Oliver impression on how I made it in the past, here goes.

This recipe is also called the "Doug Bailey Insectivore Cake" and can use 6 - 8 eggs.

I would melt the cooking margarine in the microwave and add the raw sugar followed by the eggs and oil. Mix in the sifted flour, baking powder and ground baked egg shells. Lastly mix in the Cottage Cheese.

It made enough for two "loaf" tins. It is a heavy mix and it takes a while to bake. Turn out the end product and when it cools cut into slices and freeze for later use.

Worth a try

jusdeb wrote:Thanks Alf , Ill give it a go on finches , parrots and lorikeets .

Hi Deb,

I'd only use it very sparingly with the lorikeets- when they've got chicks for example as the high fat content would be disastrous to them if fed on a regular basis.
Even for the smaller parrots I'd use it sparingly, for example when moulting & when chicks have hatched.

Thanks Myzo Ive been thinking along the same lines . It is a very calorie loaded mix.
Im thinking Ill stick with what Im feeding them now , if this breeding season is an indicator then their current diet agrees with them as is .