egg and biscuit

[jusdeb]

Ive been mixing egg and biscuit ready made with boiled eggs to add protein to the diet , the commercial egg and biscuit has gotten so expensive I was wondering since its the egg that has the most protein content what would be a good substitute for the egg/biscuit mix ?
I beleive there may be an issue with yeast if using bread crumbs as a substitute.

[GregH]

Hi Deb. I'm afraid it takes a range of proteins to make or grow a bird or any other animal and the most complete package if you're not a carivore (no loss in conversion meat to meat) is an egg or milk based diet. If you only look at crude protein then your birds may be still missing out on essential amino acids. You could dig around on the USDA food database(http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Pl ... 22a203.pdf) to find high preotein foods but unless you look further into the amino acids that they provide you aren't going to necessarily save yourself money or provide a complete diet. It takes a careful analysis and judgement if you intend to feed a diet that contains only pure vegetable protein - this is why granivorous birds like Estrilidad finches feed insects to their young. There are product like whey powder, soy grits or spirilina that look good initially but you could never use them by themselves. As for bread-crumbs they are a good source of carbohydrate not protein. Perhaps some of the dry kitten or puppyfoods could be used but I'm not certain it will be cheaper than eggs but it will be complete.

[E Orix]

While people are happy feeding Egg and Biscuit mix to their birds that is their choice. If your birds are in an outside aviary I for one will not feed it.If you give your birds a good Millet mix PLUS Canary Seed(high in protien)soaked seed(or just showing the bud)You are well on the way.I also feed live food during the breeding season. The only fatty thing I give is pound cake during the actual breeding season. E/B mix started with cage breeding Canaries and it flowed on.
We breed a reasonable number of birds that require a very high protien diet to raise their chics and I can't be bothered as I feel their diet is quite adequate.Remember E/B mix left in the summer heat could turn toxic.
If your birds want it and they do not get too fat it is your decision. Green seeding heads are better though.

[jusdeb]

Found this to be interesting , further research suggested using rice crumbs or corn crumbs to avoid yeast issues .


Found in the pages of the National Cockatiel Society


EGG FOOD MADE EASY


by Kenneth S. Karsten, Ph.D.

I feed egg food all the time, not just when the birds are nesting. They need it for help with molting and staying fit. Most of the time, I serve it with frozen peas and corn to supply fresh vegetables. I also give romaine lettuce up to two or three times a week. Hard-boiled eggs are well known for their value in supplying what breeding and growing finches, canaries and other birds need. Seeds are not enough. You can find many articles on egg food for birds in magazines and books. Some say to crumble the hardboiled egg and offer them to the birds. Others include many other ingredients. The main problem in feeding hard-boiled eggs to finches and other small birds is presenting it in a form they can eat. Birds with small beaks do not readily pick up chunks of food. The food must be in a fine enough form to allow them to eat it. My birds eat thawed frozen peas and corn. Society finches will pick up peas and corn, then take them to a perch, hold one piece with their feet and eat it. Others, such as Gouldian finches, usually eat it from the dish without taking it anywhere To make a batch of egg food, all the ingredients you need are two hard-boiled eggs and a 15-ounce container of bread crumbs. The only equipment needed is a pan in which to boil the eggs, a stainless-steel bowl for preparing the mix and a hand-held dough blender. What could be simpler than that?

Preparing the Mix

Preparation of the egg food is quite simple. Boil two eggs for at least 20 minutes. Cool the eggs and remove the shells. Dry the shells in a microwave or toaster oven. That makes the shells brittle. Place the dry shells in a 2-quart stainless steel mixing bowl. Grind the shells into small flakes with the dough blender, then place the eggs in the bowl and chop them. The eggs will be somewhat sticky, so add breadcrumbs and mix with the dough blender. Continue adding the rest of the breadcrumbs and blend completely. Put the mixture in a closed container and keep in the refrigerator.

Most small birds eat this egg food recipe quickly but may not eat all of it immediately. The food will dry out within an hour when served in a shallow dish. From then on the food will not spoil, since it is completely dry. My birds eat the dry food for 24 to 36 hours when I have been away. I find it is insurance that the birds will not run out of food. They do not scatter the mix and blow it out of the dish when flying away from it. The calcium from the egg and from the eggshells is sufficient for my birds. I do not find it necessary to supply cuttlebone or mineral blocks as calcium supplements. You can add other ingredients, such as soy protein, vitamins, minerals, etc. I find that the plain, easy-to-make formula does just fine.

The Benefits of Bread Crumbs

It is easier and practically as cheap to buy breadcrumbs as it is to make them yourself from bread. The contents of a can of crumbs and a loaf of bread are very similar. The analysis is different, as can be seen in Table 1. You will find this type of information on the packages.

Table 1

Bread Crumbs Compared With Fresh Bread Ingredients

Bread Crumbs Fresh Bread

15-oz. can 20-oz. loaf

Ingredient Weight (Grams) Weight (Grams)

Total Fat 16.16 88

Carbohydrates 297.49 176

Sugars 28.33 44

Protein 70.80 44



Table 2 lists the abundant vitamin content of eggs, seven amino acids,

plus six foodstuff materials.



Table 2

Nutrient Analysis of One Large Hard-Boiled Egg (50 grams)

Vitamins

Vitamin A 260 International Units

Vitamin B-1 0.04 milligrams

Vitamin B-2 0.14 milligrams

Vitamin B-6 0.06 milligrams

Vitamin B-12 0.66 micrograms

Vitamin C 0 (Birds make their own from glucose)

Vitamin D 27 International Units

Vitamin E 0.88 milligrams

Vitamin K 25 micrograms

Folate 24 micrograms

Pantothenic Acid 0.86 milligrams



Nutrition Content

Carbohydrates 0.6 grams (1.2 %)

Cholesterol 274 milligrams (0.005 %)

Fat 5.6 (11.2 %)

Protein 6.1 grams (12.2 %)

Polyunsaturated

Fatty Acids 0.7 grams (1.4 %)

Saturated

Fatty Acids 1.7 grams (34 %)

Water 37.3 grams (74.6 %)



Amino Acids

Arginine 388 milligrams

Cystine 145 milligrams

Histidine 147 milligrams

Isoleucine 380 milligrams

Leucine 533 milligrams

Lysine 410 milligrams

Methonine 196 milligrams

Threonine 298 milligrams

Tryptophane 97 milligrams

If egg is so good, why mix it with bread crumbs? Egg by itself is difficult to prepare in a form that small birds will eat. Crumbled hard-boiled egg particles tend to stick together and are unwieldy. Bread crumbs not only condition the egg so that it s free flowing but also keep it finely divided so that small birds can pick it up and eat it. Table 3 lists the nutrition breakdown of a large, hard-boiled egg listing calcium, iodine, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc. So, you can see that adding egg to bread crumbs greatly improves mineral nutrition values.

Table 3

Mineral Content of One Large Hard-Boiled Egg (50 Grams)

Calcium 28 milligrams

Iodine 26 micrograms

Iron 1.04 milligrams

Magnesium 6 milligrams

Phosphorus 90 milligrams

Potassium 65 milligrams

Sodium 69 milligrams

Zinc 0.72 milligrams



Table 4 gives a simple ingredients statement for bread crumbs, two hard-boiled eggs

and the mixture of one 15-ounce can of bread crumbs mixed with two hard-boiled eggs.



Table 4

Ingredients--Bread Crumbs,

Eggs and Egg/Crumbs Mixture



Bread Crumbs Two Hard-Boiled Eggs Bread Crumb

15 0z Can (100gm ) Egg Mixture



Weight Weight Weight

Ingrediant Grams Grams Grams Percent

Total Fat 14.16 11.2 25.36 4.83

Carbohydrates 297.49 1.2 298.69 56.88

Sugars 28.33 0 28.33 5.39

Protein 70.80 12.2 83 15.80

Formerly a research chemist, Kenneth Karsten, Ph.D. has been breeding birds for the past five years, focusing on Gouldian and society finches, and canaries.