Aussie Finch Forum

I keep a small collection of waxbills and am just coming to the close of not-so-successful first breeding season with some new pairs i purchased. i've found a few (presumably tossed) dead chicks on the ground and i'm wondering how i can improve things with diet. I work till after dark so each morning the breeding avairy (1 pair each of ruddies, OB's and cordons) gets the following:

quarter lebanese cucumber
tablespoon frozen sprouted seed
tablesppon frozen green seed
half tablesppon of passwells finch soft food
tablespoon of mealworms
finely chopped kale

of this, the birds will devour the mealworms and the cucumber and pretty much ignore the rest. I have to be honest have never had any of my birds show any interest in the passwells mix. i've tried all different consistencies and now generally just mix it up with the mealworms to hope they will eat some unintentionally with the mealies.

the sprouted seed i did following a hybrid of Mike Fiddler/Sam Davis' online tutorial. froze at the "chit" stage. goes mostly uneaten from what i can tell.

the green seed gets very little action also. this has me perplexed as my birds go nuts if i pick it fresh and peg to the wire. they eat some - but its hardly the voracious feeding i expected. I did notice the tub has a slight fermented odour - wondering if this is the reason its not taken so eagerly?

kale likewise gets not much reaction. i mostly just put it in there as i eat so much of it myself and always have some in the fridge.

anyone got any advice or comments? the cordons and ruddies are sitting and i'm still hoping for a chick or two before the cold really sets in and i switch to austerity mode.

Those 3 species have very similar preferences & are generally not big on greens of any kind apart from an occasional pick at green seed, chickweed or seed heads. More so a good dry diet comprising more red pannicum than other seeds, small livefood definitely gives best breeding results for all 3 (termites or maggots) & some crushed eggshells & cuttlebone. IMO maggots &/or termites would make a big difference between young being tossed vs reared.

Thanks Tiaris!

Thats good to know (might stop wasting all that green seed on them!). I do provide shellgrit, crushed baked eggshell and and cuttlebone at all times and i always get a few kg's of extra red pannicum and mix in with a finch mix i buy. I think that was probably a tip i'd read on your website back in the day thats stuck.

Actually one of my ruddies is a descendant of the birds i bought from you!

i've been breeding mealworms so i can start feeding them smaller specimens but i think i'll have to consider building fly breeding box. thanks again.

I agree with Tiaris,to me i think you are feeding far too much for 3 pr of waxbills. As for Paswells finch soft food,pre mix it with your sprouted seed before you freeze it,but not too much as will go gluggy when it defrosts.Just enough to lightly powder coat each seed,probably a desert spoon full to a 2ltr ice cream container of sprouted seed.
Unless you are feeding very small mealworms,they are a waste of time as they usually just bite their heads off and dispose of the rest.Termites if available or bushfly maggots will be be consumed whole and easily fed to the young.Imo,your livefood is letting you down if young are being thrown from the nest at an early stage. Craig

I also supply vinegar flys...bucket full of fruit cut into small bits...dry area of aviary and flys come to it...Cordons spend hours catching them.. plus a moth trap might work for you also..

Ruddies and O/B prefer fresh picked greens for the simple reason that there will be tiny insects amongst the leaves and roots that they can pick out and eat. I know mine love fresh picked greens, and I have watched them do this. Also if you can find some seed that is infested with beetles/weevils that will go down a treat as these tiny insects are a perfect size for the small waxbills. I also put fruit fly traps in the avairy, but can't honestly say that they are all that successful. But every easy option for live food is worth exploring.
LML

this morning i gave them a batch of mini mealworms coated in passwell's soft food supplement.

wow! what a difference. straight down the gullet whole - all coated in glorious soft food mixture. the ruddies in particular went wild. they loved them so much i got more and they lost all fear of me, tried to eat out of the feeder bowl as my hands were still putting them in. i have never seen anything like it. these "mini mealworms" were about half-grown and those in the colony i started up are almost the same size. hopefully i'm onto something and no more need for just nibbling off heads!