Aussie Finch Forum

Last year during winter we had a small feeder with linseed, rape and niger seeds. I can't remember where we read about that and how much to include of each. Does anyone use this, and what guidelines do you follow?
Thanks.

equal parts of each of rape, maw, linseed, exrat part of niger. Use to use this for canaries, just limit the amount as they are all around 50% fat

Tend to just increase the canary and linseed and add some oats for the Lonchura.
LML

Got all of the above except for maw. Will get some of that too. I do increase the canary seed around breeding time or moulting time.

Have you tried the 5ml of cod liver oil to 1kg of seed. Worked for me a few years ago when I was heavily into gouldians, that way you know they get it.....pete

So you spread the oil among the seed? thanks will try that.

I find that most finches won't even touch linseed. I mix all my seed mixes myself & as I do so I add 10ml of oil per bucket of seed. This increases the amino acid content of the dry seed, makes it nice and clean & shiny, & settles any dust. I just make up a cocktail of any available seed oils including sunflower, wheatgerm, canola, sesame, flaxseed, rice bran, corn, hemp seed and a dash of aniseed oil. I believe this makes the seed mix far more nutritious and would be a good way of giving your birds a winter tonic with the seeds they are already eating. Some of the oilseeds are good for extra variety but their uptake varies greatly from bird to bird. By mixing oils with existing seeds which your bird are used to they all get the benefits of a tonic without knowing it.
Extra canary seed to Gouldians during winter & canary & hulled oats to Parrotfinches during winter are very useful winter warmers (extra fat content) but important to reduce them again when weather warms again to avoid any obesity issues.

I find the same with the linseed, and Ive got a big bag of the stuff! Im considering grinding it up and including it one of the bird bread mixes, get into them somehow.
Also find lots of the tiny black seed gets left too, poppy/maw?

From memory you rub the oil through the seed then give it overnight or 24 hours to absorb the oil before feeding . Works great but vaguely recall issues with it going rancid if left too long .

Thanks for those suggestions, food for thought. Have noticed some of the birds picking at the linseed/rape/niger combination but not sure what they are actually eating. I like the idea of adding oil to normal seed mix but good point about it going rancid. Maybe smaller quantities are the solution.