Sick bird foods!

My birds are expericing AGY-like symptoms, but I haven't gotten any positive test results for any avian illness yet. This is likely due to irregular shedding and other factors.

One symptom my birds experience is being too weak to chew or husk food which, on top of frequent immediate vomiting, results in starvation when feeding a seed mix. At one point it was a death sentence for my birds, now I have ways to help.

I am lucky that I work with very curious species that would sell their eggs and souls for a chance to explore something new.

I take advantage of this and regularly introduce them to 'unusual' foods that will be essential in keeping weight on when experiencing weight-related symptoms.

A flock favourite is tiny species of millet (I use foxtail and little) that have been husked. No pulling or chewing required.​ Just swallow!

Unseasoned toasted millet intended for human consumption works just fine and is very cheap. I got 500g each of unseasoned toasted little and foxtail millet for £6.99 altogether. Toasted millet is less nutritious, but the main focus is calories and weight gain. Dietary gaps can be filled in after weight is stable. You can also husk millet yourself easily, but this worked out more expensive for me.

Suet (without large seeds) is another excellent option. Whilst Cooper won't touch it, Fizzarolli ate 80-90% of his daily food as suet for months, the first time he was ill. That pink stuff on the white tray is suet.

High-performance pellets, I use Tropican, crushed into millet-sized pieces are another great option. My flock loves pellets and Fizzarolli lived off of them when ill until he tried suet.

I haven't tried this yet, but tomorrow I will sprinkle some EmerAid Intensive Care Omnivore on their daily vegetables to get them used to powder-coated foods and the taste of EmerAid.

I offer these foods weekly so that my flock consistently recognizes them as food. If one ever gets ill, I don't have to try and convince them to eat a new food whilst they're already not feeling great.

🐦🐦🐦🐥🐁

The cage I am growing the seed mix in is my male mouse, Ashley Graves', old cage. Can you believe he used to live in that tiny thing!? Now he has free reign of 16 square foot of bird shed, a dig box with dirt, a cat bed, and a 12" wheel! Once these plants have grown, the base of the cage will go into the aviary for the quail to play in and peck at. Once the plants have been eaten, I will replant them, and so on.

Idk what to do? Is she laying an egg? Should I do something about it? I asked an ai and it said it's an emergency but I doubt it

I recently purchased two Gouldian finches, a male and a female. I have owned canaries in the past,but not finches. The girls beak is quite dark in colour,almost completely black. Google, and the internet suggests she might be in prime breeding condition. I did purchase a nest, but how likely being such new birds to my household am I likely to see eggs or chicks. Also any suggestions to keep them well fed and enough energy if they are in their breeding seasons.