Canary / Finch / Small Bird Diets

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SEED: Feeding your finches is easy. They will survive on just plain canary seed. They will survive but they won’t live up to there potential. For good health they, need a balanced and varying diet, which should include mixed seeds and greens. Please see below the seed mixes available for your canary. I like the Lafeber mix (first one) - and there is a nestling food for the breeding season.

GREENS: Greens such as dandelion, ChickWeed or Thistle, or salad greens, such as Buk Choy, Lettuce or Cabbage, should be fed daily if possible. Just a little - if you have a single bird as you don't want to upset their metabolism.

SPROUTS: An inexpensive and convenient method of feeding greens to your finches and canaries are sprouts - a very healthful addition to your birds' diet.

Don't want to go through the trouble of sprouting and would prefer an easier way to provide greens to your bird? Please refer to "Veggie Bites" as a convenient, yet healthful alternative or complementary food item to sprouts.

GRIT: Your finches and canaries need grit. It could be crushed stone or shell grit. The grit is used by the finch in the gut as part of the digestion. I use shell grit because of the calcium which is essential when breeding.

EGG and BISCUIT: During the breeding season you should feed "egg and biscuit" mix - which the parents need to feed the chicks with. I boil some eggs, mash the hard-boiled eggs, including their shells (which are a great source of calcium) with a potato smasher, add soaked wholewheat bread and mix it well. Canaries and finches absolutely LOVE it!. You can buy dry mixes at the store. But I enjoyed giving them the freshly made batches. Give first thing in the morning - before feeding anything else. Remove after 30 minutes or so - as it will go off fairly quickly, especially in the summer heat.

WATER: It is essential to have clean water available at all times ... Converting Seed Junkies

Canaries ... Finches or other Small Birds ... Spay Millet & Millet Accessories ... Finch Rearing Food (recipe)

Generic Diets & Additional Food Items: Healthy Bird Treats & Snacks ... Cooked Diets ... Splay Millet & Millet Accessories ... Mineral / Calcium Blocks & Accessories

Finch Food:

Lafeber Premium Daily Diet Finch Food 1 & 5 lb Product Description Providing your bird with proper nutrition is easy with Lafeber's pelleted diets. Vitamins, minerals and nutrients your bird needs are all here. Best of all, birds can't "pick and choose" what they eat with pelleted food. It's great nutrition!
Nutrition Plus Vitamin and Mineral Fortified Finch Food: Formulated to provide the proper nutrition that your bird requires. Tough barrier laminate film combined with CO2 flushing protects product from infestation damage. Nutrition Plus is vitamin and mineral fortified. We've blended the high grains together and topped it off with our colorful, vitamin-packed shapes. Especially designed seeds and grains used for finches.
Finch Food Product Description Red River Commodities 336 - 4Lb Finch Food, Designed to provide a nutritious year-round diet for a wide variety of smaller birds. Ingredients include: Canary grass seed, niger seed, rape seed, white millet, small yellow millet, red millet, flax seed, and
Sun Seed Vita Finch Food (25-lb Bag) Product Description These are the best vitamin-enriched mixes available. They have been speciall formulated to be a balanced diet. Using only the finest quality seeds and grains, these mixtures are fortified with vitamins, minerals and electrolytes.
Finch Food Product Description Kaytee Pet Products 50204 - 2Lb Finch Food, Kaytee Pro-Pet label. A blend of appetizing seeds and grains with added essential nutrients. A mix that provides the finch with the highest daily dietary requirements possible. Ingredients include: White millet		;
5LB Finch Bird Food Product Description Lyric, 5 LB, Finch Wild Bird Food, Contains Niger Seed, Fine Sunflower Kernel Pieces, Yellow Finch Millet, & Canary Seed, New Cube Design Stand Up Packaging.
8in1 Canary/Finch Nestling Food (Canister), 6-Ounce Product Features Provides essential nutrition for proper growth and development. With concentrated vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Also ideal for mother birds and chicks which need fortified nutrition.

Millet Birdhouse/Feeder: The birdhouses are constructed with yellow pine and blandex lumber. Therefore, after the seeds are gone, you are left with a durable, unique, and weathered looking birdhouse that will last for years. If you so desire, you can add honey or peanut butter along with sprinkled seeds to always have an edible item. This is one of my favorite bird items. Birds of ALL sizes love this "tasty house" -- but the larger parrots tear it up in no time, thus I wouldn't really recommend it for them. My small birds truly enjoy it -- and it lasts longer. Also -- it's a visually attractive item for any bird aviary / cage, and it's a fun thing indeed for small birds to "get into" ... A great item.


National Audubon Society Finch Festival: A mixture of three of our highest quality seeds - red millet, Nyjer seed and fine sunflower chips. Great for the smaller-beaked birds, including buntings, juncos, goldfinches and sparrows.
7 lbs:	14 lbs:	42 lbs:

Canaries

SEED: Feeding your canaries is easy. They will survive on just plain canary seed. They will survive but they won’t live up to there potential. For good health, Canaries like humans, need a balanced and varying diet, which should include mixed seeds and greens. Please see below the seed mixes available for your canary. I like the Hagen mix (first one) - and the second one for the moulting season.

GREENS: Greens such as dandelion, ChickWeed or Thistle, or salad greens, such as Buk Choy, Lettuce or Cabbage, should be fed daily if possible. Just a little - if you have a single bird as you don't want to upset their metabolism.

GRIT: Your canaries need grit. It could be crushed stone or shell grit. The grit is used by the Canary in the gut as part of the digestion. I use shell grit because of the calcium which is essential when breeding.



Living World Premium Canary Bird Food By Hagen 2 Lb #80360 Product Description 80360. A gourmet formula with a blend of delicious grains, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables and supplemented with Tropican egg granules. Palatable premium food for all canaries. Traditional mixes like Premium Food require the use of Prime Supplement. CONTAINS: Fruits: papaya, pineapple, coconut Seeds: canary seed, oat groats, white millet, flaxseed, rape seed, hemp seed, niger seed, sesame seed Vegetables: carrot, caraway seed Others: Tropican egg granules which contain egg protein with vitamins and minerals.Protein: 13.9%, Fat: 14.8%, Fiber: 8.2% (Fiber is mainly in the shells and husks, not eaten by birds)
Sun Seed Canary Moulting Food (7-oz resealable can) Product Description Recommended for all types of canaries. Using specially selected ingredients this mix was formulated to help strengthen your canary during stressful moulting periods.
Sun Seed Vita Canary Food (25-lb Bag> Product Description These are the best vitamin-enriched mixes available. They have been speciall formulated to be a balanced diet. Using only the finest quality seeds and grains, these mixtures are fortified with vitamins, minerals and electrolytes.
Kaylor-Made Rainforest Exotics Vitamin Enriched Canary & Finch Food (20-lb bag) Ingredients Canary Grass Seed, White Millet, Finch Millet, Oat Groats, Red Millet, Rape Seed, Sunflower Chips, Bird Pellet (Ground Corn, Wheat Millrun, Soybean Meal, Sugar, Mono DiCalcium Phosphate, Salt, Oystershell Flour, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, Phosphoric Acid, Zinc, Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Iron Carbonate, Niacin, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Mineral Oil, Copper Oxide, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Souium Selenite, DL-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetete, Ethylenediami
Kaytee Forti-Diet Canary Food (2-lb bag) Product Description Cater to your bird's discriminating palate with this mixture of fresh seeds and grains. It's a formula so wholesomely healthy, her smooth, colorful feathering will reflect its goodness. Convenient zip-top closure to maintain maximum freshness. Phase-in slowly for best results.
Forti-Diet Canary Food (50194) Product Description 2 lb. Resealable zipper bag helps preserve freshness. Bagged. Made in United States by Kaytee Products, Inc. Sold as each.
FM Browns Nutrition Plus Vitamin and Mineral Fortified Canary Food 2 lb Product Features Variety of Tummy Filling Ingredients Vitamin and Mineral Fortified Great Bird Food
Canary Food Product Description Kaytee Pet Products 50194 - 2Lb Canary Food, Kaytee Pro-Pet label. A blend of appetizing seeds and grains with added nutrients. A mix that provides the canary with the highest dietary requirements possible. Ingredients include: Canary grass seed, Niger seeds, etc. ;


Foods to Feed Only in Moderation:	Those veggies containing a high amount of oxalates. Some common examples include: spinach, chard, and bok choy. Fruits, which can provide too much sugar in the bird's diet. Diets that are based 100% on cooked beans/grains/pasta. These diets often have too much phosphorus and are very high in calories which can result in an obese bird. The diet should not be based on seeds. Seed diets contain too much fat and are deficient in many nutrients.

Foods to NEVER Feed:	Caffeine Chocolate The pits of most fruits Avocado High acid foods such as tomatoes and pineapple (uncooked)

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Canary / Finch / Small Bird Diets

Finch Information ... Finch Species ... Finch Photo Gallery ... Finch Diseases ... Finch Books