WELCOME TO THE RECIPE PAGE!
By Marcus Pollard – Clifton Finch Aviaries
Well, here are two to start off the proceedings and they are beauties I might add.
So, if you enjoy these then get busy and send us some more in so we can all
share them.
1. The McCrae Way!!
This a recipe that Gary McCrae from Kalgoorlie Western Australia gave me at
Gunnedah Bird Sale this year. I have made this one of my "must do's" as regards
the daily maintenance of my finches.
Ingredients:
- Soaked seed
- Cod liver & wheat germ oil
- Multivitamin preparation
- Passwells' Finch Soft Food
- Passwells' Finch Crumbles (or some form of finch crumble mix)
Method:
There are many ways of combining the ingredients but I will leave you with mine!
1. The required amount of soaked seed is placed in a container the night before
you need it and the Cod liver & wheat germ oil is added (at the rate of about 1/2 a
teaspoon per kilo of seed - you will soon calculate the correct amount for your
seed) and the multi-vitamin powder is sprinkled in. The seed is then thoroughly
mixed and left until morning.
2. Next morning, prior to feeding, 1 tablespoon of Finch Soft Food and 2
tablespoons of Finch Crumbles are added - again, you will need to vary this for
the amount of Soaked seed that you use. Thoroughly mix all ingredients together.
3. If you are more adventurous you can take some frozen peas and corn, cover
with boiling water then mash and mix into the soaked seed mix.
There you have it! Just a couple of points to remember is to grind up your finch
crumbles until they are fairly fine - some come in pellet form (I use an old electric
coffee grinder) and any multi-vitamin mix you are happy with will suffice ( I use
Golden Boost from the Australian Pigeon Company).
Took my birds about 3 days to take to it, and now they demolish it with a
vengeance!!
2. Bucko's Sure Fire Gouldian Tonic!
Tony Buxton is a finch breeders from Gunnedah in NSW - home of the famous
Gunnedah Bird Sale - and he breeds a number of Exotic and Australian finches.
He has had great success with the Tanimbar parrotfinch and the Orange-cheek
waxbill. Bucko has a great affinity with the Gouldian finch - especially the Blue
mutation(!!). He attributes his success with the Gouldian's to his use of two
products in their seed as a 'conditioning agent'.
Ingredients:
* Breeding Aid (Vetafarm).
* Cod liver & wheatgerm oil.
Method:
Add 20mls of Breeding Aid for every kilogram of seed to be used and the
recommended amount of Cod liver & wheatgerm oil - this is usually 5mls/400gms
of seed. The mix is then placed in seed hoppers and bowls. One point is that this
mix will often stick together if too much Cod liver & wheatgerm oil is used so
ensure that you check your hoppers and make sure the seed is flowing correctly.
A great winter seed treatment.