I have been experimenting and have come up with this recipe which I am going to try out on this round of nests. If anyone has any thoughts or things they think I should add that would be great. I am going to use it in addition to whole egg powder dry in finger drawers or for when I want to make up a wet mix.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup soup mix (lentils, chick peas, split peas, barley)

1 cup chicken starter

1 tblspn Vetafarm Neocare

1 tblspn Vetafarm budgie starter

2 microwaved or oven dried egg shells coarsely crushed

 

Place all together in a blender and whiz until it's a fine powder

 

I deliberately didn't worry about adding whole egg powder as I figured they would be getting that seperately anyway.

Edited December 5, 200816 yr by melbournebudgies

Sounds a good mix. Any reason why it has to be a fine powder though ?

 

PS I tried that chick crumble and non e of my birds will touch it. :bluebudgie:

Because I have found they don't like the larger pieces (a few will but most won't) so I am hoping if I make it very fine they'll be more inclined to eat it.

Is there a reason to add the neocare and Budgie starter? Is it the probotics in the neocare that you want?

 

Neocare has

Crude Protein 21%

Calcium 1%

Crude Fat 17%

Vitamin A 13,000 iu/Kg

Crude Fibre 3%

Vitamin E 170 mg/Kg

Lysine 1.0%

Methionine 0.5%

 

Budgie Starter has more protein 23% and the same or simalar components.

 

Ground cereals, bread crumbs, whey and soy proteins, hydrolysed casein, lysine, methionine, vegetable oils, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C, D3, E, K, nicotinamide, pantothenic acid, folic acid, choline, inositol, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, magnesium, zinc, iron, manganese, copper, iodine, selenium.

 

Min Crude Protein 23%

Min Crude Fat 10%

Max Fibre 6%

Max Salt 1%

 

 

I would leave out the neocare and use this in emergencies. I would substitute the neocare with a probotics eg Probac with added garlic extract and good multivitamin such as Pentivite that you can get from your chemist

 

Becareful on the salt content of the Soup mix, they are usually high with it.

 

I don't know the breakdown of the chicken starter so won't comment.

 

I would throw some parsley and spinach in to the blender with some carrots and beetroot and then mix the dry ingreadients in next.

 

 

A hint to those that want to breed good feather ... check out going from Budgie Start to Finch soft food.

 

http://www.wombaroo.com.au/finch_soft_food.htm

 

 

Ground wheat, barley and oats. Bread crumbs, whey and soy proteins, lysine, methionine, vegetable oils, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C, D3, E, K, nicotinamide, pantothenic acid, folic acid, choline, inositol, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, magnesium, zinc, iron, manganese, copper, iodine, selenium.

 

Min Crude Protein 30%

Min Crude Fat 12%

Max Fibre 7%

Max Salt 1%

 

Looks the same but with more protien

I just have lotsof Neocare at the moment as I got a big bag cheap so figured I'd throw some in but might change to a straight probiotic when I use it up. :bluebudgie:

 

What is the ideal amount of salt intake for budgies? Doing head maths, by the time I 'cut' it with the other things I've added it brings it down to about 4% salt, is that too high? Bearing in mind of course that this is only a supplement so it will only forma small portion of their diet, so in reality it's not adding a whole lot of salt.

 

If I make it up as a wet mix then I'll definately add those other things you suggested. Do you think I could add some home drie parsley to the mix I feed dry?

Edited December 6, 200816 yr by melbournebudgies

So have you gone to the finch soft food Daz because it's higher in protein?

The probac probotic well when I bought my last tub it has no added garlic the supplier said that don't put garlic in it anymore because it shortens the shelf life. :bluebudgie:

I haven't gone to the Finch soft food yet but might. The Egg powder i've been buying is going up and so need to find a cheaper alternative. My sources say the finch soft food and Budgie starter will be the same price. I go through a cup of budgie starter a day and at $42.65 for 5kgs plus the egg powder at $19.00 per kg it is geting to the stage where i am thinking of other supplies.

Great thread. Really informative. Must remember where to find this stuff later... :rofl:

The update is that I am feeding this mix wet to my pair with chicks at the moment and they are happily slurping it up :rofl: I had been giving a fairly similiar mix but in the solid form of each of the parts (ie. the peas, etc were still whole) and one major disadvantage was that it would take a couple of days for them to soften so lots of changing water, etc. This mix can be put in straight away as a fairly wet slurry and will thicken naturally over the next hour or so as the pea/lentil dust soaks up the water.