One of my earliest memories was riding on the back of my Fathers bicycle
to his allotment to tend his vegetables and gather the seeding heads of the
weeds that grew there and as much chickweed as he could carry, his passion
was Canaries and Native British Finches and their diet comprised of as much
natural food as he could find. He used plants to brew tonics and cures, I
never discovered what he knew, he died when I was 8 years old and I at the
time beyond listening to canaries and mules singing had no real interest in
keeping birds myself, although a few things he told me I still recall, he
said "there is a difference between surviving and thriving" he understood
the importance of nutrition in preparing his birds to breed, the management
needed at different seasons of the year in order to have his birds fit and
ready for the task ahead for when he paired them up. I recall looking
at canaries brooding their clutches each cage covered with seeding heads of
weeds and chickweed, him making rearing food from sausage rusk and hard
boiled egg daily, after his death my Mother disposed of his birds and
equipment but some cages built into a small shed remained and after life had
returned to some semblance of normality my interest turned to using them for
bird-keeping.
Diet can turn a bird into a fit and healthy specimen that lives up to our
hopes in the breeding cage and on the show bench.The Bengalese Finch is a
seedeater that shows a marked preference for certain seeds, White Millet,
Plain Canary and Panicum Millet along with Paddy Rice are the preferred
seeds for the majority of birds. A diet comprising of a good Budgie mix with
a low percentage of Plain Canary supplemented with additional White Millet
in the mix and Paddy Rice, (this is best supplied in a separate dish) will
provide a good maintenance diet.Heading towards and during the breeding
season your birds will need a softfood to condition them for breeding and
assist in rearing their young.Another useful aid in this process used by
many fanciers is soaked or sprouted seed.
There are many types of softfood available from plain bread and milk to
complicated formulas from bird food companys. It is perhaps best to choose a
ready formulated softfood that contains the vitamins and minerals that are
needed by growing chicks.
Always provide a supply of mineralised and oystershell grit to your birds.
Water is the most important component in yours bird's environment both for
drinking and bathing, and a clean fresh supply for both purposes should be
provided daily, more often were possible.
Most birds will eagerly consume Greenfood that is fresh and clean and
gathered were you are 100% certain there is no contamination, Chickweed
appearing to find the most favour.
Supplements in the form of, Vitamins, Minerals, Liquid Calcium,Probiotics,
etc, are appearing more and more and the best of them can assist in a
properly formulated diet plan, but care should be taken and advice sought on
their proper use.
As you gain more experience with your birds and read and talk to other
fanciers you will find the system that suits you and your birds, that brings
you the breeding and show successes you are looking for. When you reach this
happy stage remember “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”.
Cleanliness around the birdroom is of paramount importance, due to our
bird's confinement they are constantly in contact with their droppings stale
eggfood etc, and illness in these conditions is lurking around the corner.
We don’t need an operating theatre environment but the cleaner we can keep
our cages the less chance we have of trouble flaring.
It would be impossible to give even a brief outline of health problems in
this small article, but I would advise a good book on keeping birds, if
possible one specific to finches be obtained, as the advice in these books
concerning illness and injury will apply equally to the Bengalese.
Opposite is dry softfood before mixing, and softfood packed with peas, I use frozen peas in my softfood, I blend them and add to the softfood most times this means I never need to add any liquid other than that which is in the peas, my birds consume the peas with relish and stuff the youngsters full of peas and softfood, peas are in my opinion a great addition to your birds diet when feeding youngsters.
CHICKWEED