Hi all,

 

my budgies are looking quite skinny at the moment and i weighed them

 

alfalfa is 32g

mortimer is 35g

 

is this a bad weight for a budgie should i be worried

they just look really skinny at the moment skinnier than usual

 

so i was wondering what foods i can feed them to make them gain some weight???

other then the usual seed mix i feed them.

Edited July 10, 201015 yr by KAZ

Sounds pretty normal for the average budgie to me. But in winter they seem to burn through their food to keep them warm. I add extra oats and sunflower during winter and give them more seed than normal.

okay cool, thanks Kaz

 

so just sunflower seeds, and rolled oats?

okay cool, thanks Kaz

 

so just sunflower seeds, and rolled oats?

Not rolled oats.....whole oats or hulled oats

good news !

 

i fed my budgies a buffet of foods and they today finally ate more then just corn

i seen them both tucking into the broccoli, lettuce, and sunflower seeds...

which they found hard to ull, so im not sure they actually ate any of them, but the point is

 

they were interested in it all and willing to try!! yay!

The black sunflowers seeds seem harder hulls, so serve the grey striped ones. You can get hilled oats at any stockfeed or bird supply place

Edited July 10, 201015 yr by KAZ

Sounds good but dith the lettuce! It's full of water an provide no nutrition.

Cookied whole grain rice and cous cous are full of carbohydrate and pack the weight on. Green lentils, mung beans and quinoa are low GI foods and are nutrient rich. These three things need to be soaked. Sweet corn is very nutritious. Don't overdo it, though. Budgies can get fat quickly with too much of these things in their diet. I would want to see my budgies weighing around the 40 gram mark or a bit over.

oooh thanks catherine!

 

i will try the rice and cous cous, what are green lentils

is that a family of veg or the name of a specific one?

 

so i just cook both to make soft?

Cook the rice in the ordinary way (no salt). A cooked teaspoonful in a day would be heaps. Don't give any of the other things on the same day - it would all be too much.

 

Pour boiling water on cous cous, leave it on for about 4 minutes and drain it in a very, very fine strainer and it is ready. (A nylon tea strainer is good). For three budgies, a level teaspoon would be fine and make it last 2 days. Then change to something else.

 

Soak a teaspoon of green lentils over night. You find them in the supermarket with all the split peas and stuff you need for soup. Sometimes they are just called lentils. They are cheap as chips. The day you give these, don't give the other things I mentioned. Dry them on a paper towel before serving.

 

Quinoa - again, soak over night. They will sprout in that time. Allow plenty of time for them to dry/drain. A paper towel held under the strainer will help this process. About a teaspoonful would be heaps. Quinoa costs about $6.50 in Australian supermarkets for 350 grams. The health food shops charge much more. You will find it in the supermarkets with the health foods. It is the 'in' thing at the moment because of the TV cooking competition.

 

Mung beans usually need a 12 hour soak and a 12 hours over a strainer with a couple of rinses will do in summer - and a bit longer in winter. Start them off in warm water. Feed when the sprouts are just showing.

 

Keep a close eye on your birds' weight while you are feeding these things because they put weight on fast, as I found to my cost. Your birds will probably go for the quinoa easily because they are seeds.

Edited July 10, 201015 yr by Catherine