finches not taking extra foods besides seed

[Jimbojunior]

hi all
i have been trying to feed my gouldians and cordons/ruddies something extra to get them into prime breeding condition

i have offereed them:
egg and biscuit
veggies and fruit of different varieties
mealworms

they dont seem to be keen on any of this (not unless they are only eating very small amounts of it). any suggestions on something else i can feed them to beef them up?
thanks
james

[gouldianpaul]

hi all
i have been trying to feed my gouldians and cordons/ruddies something extra to get them into prime breeding condition

i have offereed them:
egg and biscuit
veggies and fruit of different varieties
mealworms

they dont seem to be keen on any of this (not unless they are only eating very small amounts of it). any suggestions on something else i can feed them to beef them up?
thanks
james

Hi James,
Try seedling grass you collect from your garden. Also try sprouted, green seed, thistle and home grown silver beet. Unless your Gouldians are on a diet consisting of the foods you have tried it is often hard to convert them....but keep persisting. Personally I wouldn't be giving your gouldians any egg and biscuit at this time of the year....might put on a bit of extra weight you don't want when heading into the breeding season....but you could try the egg and biscuit again during the breeding season.


Cheers
Paul

[garyh]

If i want to try any new food to my birds i throw in a canary,after a couple of weeks all birds are trying something new,they are an eating machine,and the other birds will follow suit ,garyh

[finchbreeder]

Paul and Gary have nailed the secrets to success.
LML

[BluJay]

Yup, there you go! I mix 8 cups of greens and grains with two tablespoons of vitamin D3 powder and give each pair one teaspoon daily. I have an area that I won't mow or weed wack in the yard as it is nothing but chick weed, I pick and throw into birds daily. These two foods my birds always accept readily. There are day they will take other veggies and egg and biscuit. If not, I throw it out to the wild birds.

[matcho]

I think that of this time of year for the goulds you should look at a moulting food. Mine at the moment look terrible, but they will come good in a month or so. Breeding wise I dont put boxes in (for the goulds) until mid/late Feb. Get over the heat and give them a fair break.

Ken.

[Jimbojunior]

thanks to everyone for your recommendations. this will give me plenty of ideas to work with