How can I give canaries a natural and balanced diet?
Mainly, canaries should be fed with a mixture of seeds (commercial or homemade), fruits, vegetables and plants as a supplement.
In commercial versions the proportions are already well calibrated to avoid the adverse effects caused by an excess of some seeds.
The seed mix must always be available.
Canary mix: main seeds and their properties
- Canary seed: This is the main base for canary mixtures, as it is the seed richest in proteins and lipids.
- Turnip greens: This is a seed rich in fats that promotes moulting by making the new plumage softer, although in large quantities it can cause obesity, stomach problems and liver problems.
- Linseed: during the moulting period it adds shine to the plumage. In addition, in small doses it aids digestion, as it is rich in proteins and fats.
- Hemp seed: A high-calorie and stimulating seed, very suitable for the moulting season and during the breeding season, although it is a little indigestible and in excess can cause liver problems.
- Black seed: a seed rich in fat and protein, stimulating but tending to make them fat. It promotes egg laying, feather renewal and defecation.
- Radish: seed that gives them vitality and stimulates heat.
- Thistle: It is an easy-to-digest seed that does not cause weight gain. It also regulates liver and intestinal functions.
- Chia: It is perfect for avoiding the appearance of coccidiosis and diarrhea problems, since it maintains blood sugar levels.
- Rapeseed: a seed that improves phonation in singing canaries, although in large quantities it causes obesity.
- Foniopaddy: a seed of African origin that helps prevent and treat coccidiosis.
To promote a good natural diet, the more variety of seeds the mixture has, the more the canary will benefit from the different properties of each one.
What fruits and vegetables can I give my canary?
Always in small doses and in a varied way, promoting vegetables more than fruit (since fruit contains more sugars).
- Apple: easy to digest and regulates liver functions.
- Water pear: ideal for combating constipation.
- Banana: Very nutritious and energetic because they contain vitamin E, vitamin A and phosphorus.
- Orange: improves the digestive system and although not all canaries like it, it provides them with a large amount of vitamin C.
- Spinach: one of the most complete vegetables, rich in vitamins (A, B2, B6, C and E), minerals (calcium, iron, sodium, potassium, and magnesium) as well as a large amount of folic acid.
- Cucumber: highly recommended during budding season.
- Broccoli: It has a lot of vitamin A.
- Carrot: It has a lot of vitamin A and contains natural coloring for red and orange birds.
Are plants doing well too?
Canaries in the wild also benefit from the properties of some plants. Therefore, if we want to give our canary a natural diet, we should occasionally provide it with the following plants:
- Purslane: ideal for reducing internal irritations such as those of the urinary tract.
- Nettle: it helps birds to enter into heat and is also good for many problems such as:
- Weak birds in general.
- Intestinal flora imbalances.
- Stimulate heat and laying.
- Red or swollen belly.
- Pigmentation during the moult of yellow and black-yellow canaries, siskins or wild canaries, giving them a bright and intense tone.
- To purge the intestine of canaries in case of internal parasites.
Water supplement!
Apple Cider Vinegar, whether in drinking water (1 or 2 times a week in a proportion of 15 ml per 1 liter of water) or in the bath or applied topically, is beneficial for:
- It provides them with enzymes, minerals and vitamins.
- Thanks to its acetic acid, it reduces fungal and bacterial growth in the digestive system.
- Beneficial for older canaries because it helps with arthritis, kidney conditions and dissolves calcium deposits.
- It lowers the pH of the digestive system, making it more acidic and therefore hindering the proliferation of intestinal bacteria and fungi.
- It helps eliminate both internal and external parasites.
- If you apply it topically on a wound, it will help healing, in addition to being anti-inflammatory and antibacterial.
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