Safe Foods in Moderation
Because seeds should not comprise more than 20% of what a finch consumes on a daily basis, a total of 80-100% of the diet should be provided "from the kitchen. Birds tend to eat to meet their energy requirements, meaning that they vary their intake based on the caloric density present in foods. If a food is calorie-rich, finches will eat a modest amount of it. On the other hand, finches will ingest a great deal of a lower-calorie diet in order to meet their energy needs. Fruits and vegetables tend to have high water content as well as many trace nutrients, yet they are low in calories. Because of this, they can supplement the nutrients that are likely to be low in seed while not diluting the diet with excess energy
"Safe" fruit and vegetable sources include: spinach, broccoli leaves and florets, carrot tops, grated carrot, celery leaves, parsley, endive, Brussels sprouts, cooked peas, alfalfa, kale, dandelion, turnip greens, romaine lettuce, beets, spirulina, kelp, applesauce, winter squash, yams, pumpkin, apricots, citrus, and bananas. Fruits and vegetables should always be fresh, prepared hygienically, and removed from the enclosure within 4 hours to prevent spoilage. Increased urine from eating increasingly watery foods may result in polyuria, which should not be confused with diarrhea.
Because fruits and vegetables may not contain all of the nutrients that tend to be deficient in a typical seed mix, other sources are also available for supplementing your birds. These sources become particularly important during the breeding and molting seasons, as growing, egg-laying, and molting birds have a higher demand for nutrients such as protein. "Safe" animal protein sources include: canned tuna fish (packed in water), hard boiled or scrambled egg, cat and dog kibble, and grated cheese. Cheeses are safe to feed birds because they contain little or no lactose (a milk sugar which birds cannot digest); instead they extract the fat, protein, and some trace nutrients from the milk and leave the majority of the lactose in the whey Amino acids can also be provided from balancing vegetable sources such as mature legumes. Whole grain products are also a valuable source of nutrients; they include: dry cereals, cooked cereals, crumbled whole wheat breads (stale or toasted). Also, commercial products such as monkey/primate biscuits are recommended. Biscuits made by ZuPreem and Science Diet are quality, and surplus quantities can be frozen until needed.
"Safe" fruit and vegetable sources include: spinach, broccoli leaves and florets, carrot tops, grated carrot, celery leaves, parsley, endive, Brussels sprouts, cooked peas, alfalfa, kale, dandelion, turnip greens, romaine lettuce, beets, spirulina, kelp, applesauce, winter squash, yams, pumpkin, apricots, citrus, and bananas. Fruits and vegetables should always be fresh, prepared hygienically, and removed from the enclosure within 4 hours to prevent spoilage. Increased urine from eating increasingly watery foods may result in polyuria, which should not be confused with diarrhea.
Because fruits and vegetables may not contain all of the nutrients that tend to be deficient in a typical seed mix, other sources are also available for supplementing your birds. These sources become particularly important during the breeding and molting seasons, as growing, egg-laying, and molting birds have a higher demand for nutrients such as protein. "Safe" animal protein sources include: canned tuna fish (packed in water), hard boiled or scrambled egg, cat and dog kibble, and grated cheese. Cheeses are safe to feed birds because they contain little or no lactose (a milk sugar which birds cannot digest); instead they extract the fat, protein, and some trace nutrients from the milk and leave the majority of the lactose in the whey Amino acids can also be provided from balancing vegetable sources such as mature legumes. Whole grain products are also a valuable source of nutrients; they include: dry cereals, cooked cereals, crumbled whole wheat breads (stale or toasted). Also, commercial products such as monkey/primate biscuits are recommended. Biscuits made by ZuPreem and Science Diet are quality, and surplus quantities can be frozen until needed.
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| If providing any of these foods, do so in moderation:
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