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A spray of millet is a simple, popular treat for finches. Many shop-bought treats are intended for larger birds such as budgies and parrots, so beware. Also, you need to avoid anything with added sugar or colouring. It may be a treat, but it still needs to be nutritionally sound.
Making treats is good fun, and the following simple recipe can be coated on sticks, put into greaseproof paper and rolled into bars or tubes, or pressed into small pots to make a seed bell (see instructions below). Vary the seed mix, bearing in mind the advice given in the Seed section of this guide:
Ingredients and materials:
- 150g seed mix
- 2 egg whites
- Rapeseed oil
- Greaseproof paper
- Small terracotta pots
- 20cm lengths of wire
Beat the egg whites until frothy. Mix the whites with the seed. Grease the paper with a little oil, and line the insides of the pots. Fill the pots with the seed mixture, and insert both ends of the wire, drawing them through the drainage hole in the base of the pot, so that a loop of wire sits inside the mixture. Bake the pots in a cool oven (80-90°C (175-200°F) for 90 minutes or until the mixture has set (check after the first hour). Any hotter and the mix will overcook. Once cooled, gently remove the seed bells from the pots and peel away the paper. Hang from the roof of the cage by looping the ends of the wires through and around the bars.
Seed bell - simple to make, popular with all types of finch
Finch Food Recipes
Pet finch treats don’t have to be limited to the gummed-together seed bars and millet sprays mentioned above, but can take the form of breads, cakes and salads. These should never form the basis of a bird’s diet, but can be introduced as ‘weekend treats’. As long as you use ingredients from the lists given in the food sections above, the only limitations are your imagination, and your bird’s openness to new food combinations! For some more concrete ideas on what to serve, have a look at the recipes section in the Omlet Budgie Guide (available in the Birds section of this website). These are all suitable for pet finches too.
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