Finch Seed

I think one of the things that causes small finches to die more often than not is owners not giving their finches good seed or not enough of it.  I know it seems wasteful to pitch a dish of seed when it has hulls on top, but more often than not, most of what they are eating is what that particular species of finch needs.  Yes they do waste food, but that is the nature of birds.  I read somewhere that birds are what cause the populations of most plant species to move from the place of origin to new locations around the world.  Birds have a tendency to eat only half of what they take.  The parts (in the wild) that they drop helps to feed the other animals at the forest floor that would otherwise never taste the foods at the top of the canape.  They also drop seeds to the floor that help start new plants to continue the population of that same plant species.  So its not in their nature to be neat eaters, by design, they were created to be messy.

It is OK to blow the hulls off the top of the dish of food, but make sure you add more fresh seed to the dish as well.  Finches are not your kid that you can make him eat all the Brussel sprouts.  Finches will actually starve.  If you decide to remove the hulls rather than dumping the bowl out and starting fresh daily, make sure you add more food to the dish and every other day dump it out and start fresh.  As I have said before, the fat in the seed helps to maintain the metabolism of the finches.  They can starve to death in as little as 18 hours.

How to tell if you have "bad" seed.  First check the expiration date.  Yes many of the large pet stores sell old seed.  Just like your food when it is expired, most of the nutritional value is also gone.  So it is important to check the dates.  Also if you get your seed in a bag, pick up the bag and move it around slowly.  Do you see any webs or bugs in it?  If so, don't buy it, the bugs have eaten all the nutrition out of the seed.  Also if you open the bag in your home you are asking for an infestation of bugs in your house.

If you buy your food at a feed store, do you see flour moths flying around?  If so, its time to turn around and get your seed elsewhere.  Keep your food in a airtight container and if you buy more than you can use in 2 weeks, keeping the rest in the freezer is the best way to keep the nutritional value high and prevent bugs.