FREE FOOD

[laurab]

It's not too late to go gathering FREE food for your birds. With the rain we have had this year there is a bumper crop of chickweed and dandelions to be had and will be a big favorite for your birds. Grab a paper bag and go for a walk along the river, there are plenty of seeding teasels/thistles - don't forget your gloves though as the stems to these plants are prickly! I recently collected teasel seeds and also got a lot of bugs into the bargain, which really pleased my quail!

PLEASE DO NOT COLLECT FROM THE ROADSIDE OR FIELDS THAT MAY HAVE BEEN SPRAYED WITH PESTICIDES.

[PAUL HEARN]

Good Point there Laura!

We all want a free supply of Greenfood, but we all could do without the pollutants that go with this.
Please check your source before collecting for your Birds!

Paul :)

[chris]

why not collect the seeds and grow your own in tubs, that way you can be sure they are safe and it will only really cost you compost and tubs to start with, everything else is free :D

[laurab]

Good idea Chris, I need to collect some chickweed next year as it appears to be the only weed that doesn't grow in my garden!

[chris]

earlier on in the year i let a few rape seeds grow up the outside of my avairy, the canaries were always picking at it but it came very much in handy when they nested as it provided lots of cover and a never ending supply of greenfoods for the chicks, i'd simply push the new shoots through the mesh and let them eat it (they like the flowers and buds especcially). i have also grew some of my own millets and the birds loved those aswell, only thing was they weren't japanese millet so didn't grow those lovely sprays and didsn't have as much seed but i am planning on doing the same next year with a bit more variety.

the other thing i am planning is sowing a tray of bird seed every day when i get my first canary egg, that way by the time the first egg hatches there will be a good supply of fresh food for the chicks.

also going to be looking into herbs to find out medicinal properties, then i can grow some to help prevent diseases in my birds (not that i've had anything other than the occassional mite yet...)

nearly forgot, got my first ever issue of bird keeper magazine today! great article about the weavers :D

[laurab]

Thanks Chris, I am obviously very pleased with the article but I think I have driven my family around the bend!

I have given my birds herbs, I have mint in the aviary and have seen the birds nibble at it occasionally. My canaries went bonkers over Lemon Balm. I have also heard that Fennel is really good for the birds. I grew linseed purely by accident this year, it has a very pretty blue flower and I also intended on having a go at growing some of the bird seeds. It is so good to see the birds enjoy what we provide for them.

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Laura,

Please could you post on here the full details of the diet you provide for your Birds?
I'm sure we are all missing something as you seem to have babies popping out of nests on a weekly basis.

Paul. :D

[laurab]

I feed them on foreign finch mix, millet sprays, soaked seed, grated broccoli stems, lots of mealworms and waxworms. In the summer they get a lot of extras such as herbs and plenty of dandelion leaves. :D

[PAUL HEARN]

Hello all,

I can also add another free food tip, my age old favourite Fruit Flies!! :lol:

Whether at Work or School scrounge your colleages Apple & Pear cores, Banana skins etc & add them to your Fruit Flie cultures (avoid Citrus Fruits such as Oranges etc because they go mouldy).
A huge variety of Bird Species love to feed on Fruit Flies including, Waxbills, Mannikins, Buntings, Seedeaters, Finches, Sparrows, Zosterops, Robins, Fly-Catchers, Sunbirds, Hummingbirds, Sugarbirds & even Starling sized Birds will feed their young with Fruit Flies.

Although Banana is the best Fruit to culture Fruit Flies other fruits are useful, you can buy whole trays of over-ripe Bananas at your local Market for around one or two pounds to get your cultures started & from then on it is all free! :)

Paul. :wink:

[laurab]

Hi Paul

I have stopped breeding the flies, is it still possible this time of year??

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi all,

It is possible to keep a cutlture of Fruit Flies going in your mildly heated Birdroom over the Winter Months, they may become slightly torpid but they can be prevented from dying out completely given a little heat over the Winter Months.

Paul.