Baby-Blue, my 4th and final budgie, came from a rescue center. The woman who ran it feed them mostly whole foods and took phenomenal care of them. He was just an egg when she took in his parents. Was it his super healthy diet and loving environment that made him bigger, more vibrant and softer with more dense feathers than the 3 I got from a pet store? Or is it just his genes? I can never get over how soft he is. He flies super fast. He's just strong. He's the only one that gets really excited about his veggies.

 

I've tried to get them all on a better diet. They get veggies and Harrison's organic pellets but they mostly eat seeds. I got three of them off seeds but the 4th just wouldn't do it. Offered the choice the others eat the seed of course. But I do mix in crushed hard-boiled eggs and grated apple or carrot.

 

Summer

Why do you want to put them on a pellet diet? Budgerigars are granivores. They eat grain. It is better to give them a good diet of seed plus vegetables and clean water than this pellet stuff. Good diet of seed has Canary, a selection of millets and a small selection of hulled oats.

 

Budgerigars will tell you what they want.. he seems to be doing it with asking for seed and vegetables.

 

It is like the diet food... "Should be taken with a Calorie control diet and exercises" .... it's the calorie control diet and exercises that gives weight loss.. the diet food give money loss..

A well balanced diet is all you can ask for in budgies you are doing a great job. I live in the US too so pellets are advised as the main course of food vs seeds. I know there is an article here on the site that talks about the pros and cons of seeds vs pellets you can read.

 

Continue to do what you are doing it is working for you :hooray: and they are doing well. I would add some good quality seed though into the diet it is good for them to continue to husk seeds and there is benefits to seed as well as there are to pellets. You already have them on a good quality pellet that is what my avian vet recommended too.

 

As for the feathers and size of the bird that is probably due to breeding and genetics. There are 2 types of budgies there is the pet type which are the smaller budgies that you often see in the pet shops and then there are the show budgies or here in American they are referred to "English" budgies they are a larger variety and have longer feathers. Pet and show budgies can be combined to have 1/2 pet and 1/2 show variation too.

 

I hope that answers your questions :hooray:.

Thanks. This brings me to my next question. What makes a good quality seed? I can't tell the % of the seeds from the labeling. The rescue woman feed them Lafeber's NutriBerries and Avi-cakes. I got those for a while to help BB adapt. The other birds liked the nutri-berries but they are so expensive. When you read the ingredients they have the same stuff as any other seed mix. And I was always crushing berries because that's how they liked them.

 

Is there a brand of seed you recommend?

 

Thanks,

 

Summer

I mix my own which is 20kg Canary, 10kg White French, 10kg Jap Millet, 5 kg Panacum and a hand for of Nigar.

 

There are many good mixes on the market. Golden Cob is very good here.

Contact a place that will make up a seed and see what they recommend.

 

I am one of those people that had no idea, so I spoke with the people from Elenbee Bird Seed. They supply a lot of seed for different people in my club.

 

In the end, I went with a recommendation of a combination they supply to the Head of the NSW Budgie Society.

 

I figure that if it is good enough for him, it is good enough for my birds.

 

What is the breakdown, not sure, I will have to find out.

You can add to normal seed mix as well. Henry George add an additional bag of canary to every 6 bags of Golden Cob mix to increase the percentage of canary.

 

I have been thinking of going to a golden cob mix. I might have a talk with Henry regarding it.

When you get your seeds, if you have a small section of land, you could sprinkle a handful in the soil and grow your own fresh seeds and harvest them for your birds, if your seasonal environment permits.

i use 20 k breeders mix budgie

20 k breeders mix canary and 10 k breeders mix finch

i also started adding hulled otes resently as its molting time at my place

also some small parrot mix 10 each of the last two mentioned

and mix it all together

once a month i add linseed and altenate it with cod liver oil one tabble spoon to 5 k leave sit for 15 minits before feeding

then remove next morn any uneatten seed as it goes sour

and vegies every day breed dayly

Why do you want to put them on a pellet diet? Budgerigars are granivores. They eat grain. It is better to give them a good diet of seed plus vegetables and clean water than this pellet stuff. Good diet of seed has Canary, a selection of millets and a small selection of hulled oats.

 

Budgerigars will tell you what they want.. he seems to be doing it with asking for seed and vegetables.

 

It is like the diet food... "Should be taken with a Calorie control diet and exercises" .... it's the calorie control diet and exercises that gives weight loss.. the diet food give money loss..

I totally agree with this post. Here is a link to an article about seed verses pellets: http://www.abbaseed.com/INFO/Tips/Tips_2/tips_2.html

Very good Article, Neville.

 

I am sure, like many breeders, you have seen Cocks and hens picking through the seed containers while in the breeding cabinets or holding cages.

 

Have you notised at time through the seasons that they will eat a large amount of canary and at other times it's millet?? This is because they arte looking for that type of seed that has what they need at that time in their cycle. Deprive this by puting them on a pellit diet and they can't get the additional requirements that they need.

 

Some breeders go to the extent of haveing four or five dishes in their flight. One for each type of seed. This way they can see what the birds want and give it easier to them.

 

Many will say that the birds only pick out what they like. This is correct at the time. I have one cock that throws all the canary out and only eats millet. But he will only do this when there is chicks in the nest. Before they hatch and after they leave the nest he goes back to a variety of seed. I have another that is opersite. He can't get enough canary while the chicks are feeding.

 

So I would suggest that we give them what nature has designed them to have.. Good fresh seed.

i agree totally fresh picked home grown baged or dry millet the more range the better and you do learn what they need and like at certain times which helps with the coct factor as you can rotaite the seeds the eat more and add others when apropriate

dont forget the cooked chicken carcus they love that and its really good for them

just don't leave it in to long...