Canary Feeding:
Special Treats For Your Special Bird
Canary Feeding--
You are what you eat...
and so is your canary.
Treats are an important part of your canary feeding routine and an imperative part of a balanced diet.
Extra treats, in addition to the staples of seed, water, and cuttlebone, will help keep your canary convinced that you are his best friend.
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Yes...Your canary needs a well balanced diet just like you and I.
He will get bored to tears with nothing but canary seed or pellets all the time. Wild canaries enjoy a variety of canary foods including grasses, insects, fruit, and seeds.
I sure like to have a snack now and then--If I could stay away from the brownies and go for the carrots instead I'd be a lot better off...but bored.
I'd bet you like snacks too. Who doesn't? One thing I know for sure is your bird likes...
...Canary Treats
Occasionally offering the following canary foods as part of your canary feeding routine will keep your canary happy and healthy and SINGING!
Below are few treats that your canaries will love and are good for him too. Just BE CAREFUL, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing (think brownies).
I know a lot of people sometimes like to give their canary something sweet and tasty. I'll say it again...BE CAREFUL. Always be aware of your canaries body language so that if something ever makes him feel a little less than perfect you'll notice it right away.
If you offer a lot of bread, cookies, or cakes you just might end up with a fat canary on your hands...not good for him OR you.
Plus, some foods will KILL a canary or make him very sick.
One of the most important treats you can give your canary for proteins and healthy fats is...
Boiled Egg
Egg is a great provider of protein which wild canaries get from
insects.
Boiled egg is a huge part of canary feeding for canary breeders. The protein is super-important for canary egg production and as a soft food for baby canaries.
It's also important for canaries that are not breeding. Protein supplies the muscle with amino acids which keep the muscles strong and healthy.
Boil the egg for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the shell...or not...I like to offer the shell separately so the canary can choose which one he eats.
Mash it up and put about a teaspoon in his treat dish. (Let it cool down first.)
Don’t let the egg sit in the cage more than 4 or 5 hours. All kinds of nasty bacteria and such like to grow on eggs and can make your canary sick.
Boiled egg at least twice per week will give your canary a good
amount of protein in his canary feeding program.
In addition to boiled egg I like to offer a nice store-bought egg treat several times per week. Here is one of my favorites...
Next, remember what Mom always said...
"Eat Your Veggies"
- Broccoli
- Corn on the cob
- Yams
- Sprouts
- Romaine lettuce
- Zucchini
- Grated carrot
And believe it or not
- Jalapeno peppers make good canary food.
Some say the peppers will encourage your male canary to sing more…He's probably trying to cool off his tongue!
Canaries love fresh greens like broccoli, romaine, lettuce, and kale. One or two tablespoons per day is plenty. And any seed mixture that has a few bits of veggies is a great addition to your canary feeding routine.
Canary Feeding: Fruit
"An apple a day keeps the vet away."
- Apples
- Oranges
- Banana
- Melon
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- and most other fruits.
Fruit a few times a week is a nice treat and addition to your canary feeding plan.
Just offer a chunk and let them go at it. NO APPLE SEEDS... these are toxic to canaries.
Again, a seed mixture with fruit and fruit sticks will be much appreciated by your canary.
Other treats to add to your canary feeding regimen
are...
...MILLET SPRAYS, a very welcome treat for canaries.
You can clip them to the inside wall of the cage with a treat holder or use a clothes pin--or for a little entertainment attach it to the roof of the cage. Your canary bird will have a ball.
One canary feeding of millet per week is plenty.
Millet is a high fat canary food and most likely your canary seed
mixture has a little millet in it already. Natural unprocessed millet
is a treat that bird's love!
HONEY STICKS...
...are a great canary food. Canaries love'm. Limit his access to honey sticks to a few hours once or twice a week. Your canary will enjoy these so much he will ignore his normal canary food and seed.
Honey sticks are a fun, tasty, and nutritious treat stick that combines vitamin enriched seeds and delicious fruit but your pet bird needs his canary seed and greens for a balanced diet.
BEE POLLIN...is a healthy snack that many canary breeders like to offer in small quantities. You can find bee pollen in most grocery stores or health food stores.
CUTTLEBONES...
...are made from the skeletons of squid and as canary food are an absolute necessity for your pet canary.
NOTE:
Cuttlebones are really NOT a treat but a staple. Your
canary should always have access to a cuttlebone. They are high in
calcium and the eating routine will help keep your bird’s beak in good
shape. Leave a cuttlebone in the cage at all times with canary seed and
fresh water.
One snack food per day is plenty.
In other words...you can give him a piece of orange or broccoli or egg food today...but don't give him all three in one day. (Except cuttlebone. Leave it and the canary seed in the cage at all times.)
***Low Maintenance Tip***
Use a canary food clip or treat dish to attach the
canary food snack to the inside of the cage bars. This will prevent
your bird from slinging canary food around the cage in his enthusiasm
and creating a mess for you to clean up. Plus, it's not a good idea to
have canary food on the floor of the cage in the vicinity of his waste.
***End Low Maintenance Tip***
Bottom Line?
Your canary can get sick and tired of seed, seeds, and more seeds.
Give him a couple healthy treats every day to help keep him physically healthy, prevent any kind of illness, and to keep him emotionally healthy too :-)
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