Complete guide & plan to offer low cost Green food (vegies) & Soft Food with tips & tricks with weekly schedule to captive caged pet birds.
Soft food and green food (vegetables) are equally required for the pet birds health and their good breeding and chicks' feeding and growth. Along with regular grains mixture as feed, Green food and soft food provide essential minerals and vitamins for everyday balanced diet for healthy pet birds. Green food and Soft food are also important because the free birds in the wild eat what they need as per the deficiency of essential minerals and vitamins.
Pet birds are confined in the captivity of the cage, can't find or search their required food and not even can ask their owner, so, their master should manage to arrange health food from natural sources for a balanced and health diet.
Professional breeders must take care for maximum profitability from their aviary by maximizing eggs and chicks, to avoid dead in shell and infertility of birds or infertile eggs.
Following are the diet plans for summer and winter seasons to offer soft food and green food to pet birds for the healthy growth of your aviary.
Soft food serving schedule for all birds
Serve following food either soaked till well soften the grain or boil, lovebirds, finches, java, budgies, cockatiel, ring neck, canary etc.
Soft food for birds in Summer (March to October)
Monday: Egg food with Rice/Bread
Tuesday: Soaked Wheat
Wednesday: Rice
Thursday: Alasandalu ( Lobia /back eyed peas) or green lentil ( sabat sabz moong )
Friday: Egg food with Rice/Bread
Saturday: soaked black chickpeas
Sunday: Corn
Soft food for birds in Winter (November to February)
Monday: Egg food with Rice/Bread
Tuesday: Boiled Wheat
Wednesday: Egg food with Rice/Bread
Thursday: Alasandalu ( Lobia /back eyed peas) or green lentil ( Sabat sabz moong )
Friday: Egg food with Rice/Bread
Saturday: boiled black chickpeas
Sunday: boiled Rice
Green food (vegetables) serving weekly schedule for all birds (Lovebirds, finches, java sparrow, budgies, cockatiel, ring neck, canary etc.)
One tea spoon is enough for a pair of small birds (Finch, Java, Canary, Dove etc.). 1 Table spoon (1 tbsp) for lovebirds mutations, ring neck, Alexandrine etc. Two tbsp for macaw, cockatiel, cockatoo and African gray etc.
Green food for birds in Summer
Monday: Salad leaves
Tuesday: Cabbage or green bean ( phali kay beej )
Wednesday: Alfalfa/Mint leaves
Thursday: beetroot
Friday: Carrot or green bean ( phali kay beej )
Saturday: Cucumber
Sunday: China Kaddu/Loki or Round Gourd( tintda )
Green food (vegies) for birds in Winter
Monday: Spinach (leafy part only, remove the stems)
Tuesday: Cabbage
Wednesday: Mint leaves (pluck the leaf only, not stem)
Thursday: Alfalfa/beetroot
Friday: Fenugreek leaves
Saturday: Carrot/Peas
Sunday: China Kaddu or Loki or Round Gourd( tintda )
Tips for serving soft food & green food (vegies) to captive birds
Don't provide same soft food or green food more than one consecutive days.Don't provide same soft food or green food more than twice a week, with the difference of 2 days or more.Make sure the the grains are soft enough.Soak soft food grains for more than 12 hours.Add Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in the water to soak green food grains to avoid fungus development. Around 10ml to 20ml per liter.Don't through the water used to soak or boil the grains for soft food. This water also contains nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Use the water as drinking water for birds. Due to this reason, use clean and fresh water to soak and boil the grains.Wash the green food very well to remove pesticide and insecticidesCrush the soaked/boiled grains so that birds could eat comfortably.Pour a pinch of calcium source e.g. egg shells & cuttlefish bone powder.Do sprinkle a pinch of egg shell powder, cuttlefish bone and/or Oyster shell powder, whichever is available and cost effective. 1tsp (tea spoon) may work for ten pairs of birds.Pour some drops of lemon or apple cider vinegar, say 1 drop per pair, on the soft food. Number of drops depends on the size and weight of birds, 1 for small birds, 2 for medium size birds and 3-5 for large size birdsOffer the green food early in the morning or late in the evening i.e. when temperature is comparatively low than the rest of the day. Just after the sunrise and an hour before the sunset are the recommended timingsMake sure the birds are hungry when you are offering the soft food/green food so that they consume this timely mannerDo not over the amount of the soft food/green food. Provide the amount so that they could finish within an hour.Always use separate feeding pots for green food. avoid giving in the usual feed/grain pots.While soaking the grains for soft food, add water in double the amount of the grains. This let the grains absorb water and get soft enough.To be on safe side, provide green food one day and the soft food on the other days and so on.This is better to offer boiled grains in winter and just soaked grains in summer. Boiled grains has warm impact and socked grains has chilled impact on the bird's body.Excess amount of green food or soft food lead to diarrhea (loose motions) in birds. Be careful about the quality and the quantity while offering to the birds. Add mint leaves with green food for better digestion.
Note: The information given above is based on the experiences of pet birds breeders. Be careful about the quantity. In case of any confusion contact an expert. Use relatively low amount of green food and soft food if you are not clear about the quantity.
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