Food for pet and aviary CANARIES needs to be selected and offered with a number of principles and ideals in mind
The food needs to be fresh and nutritious, free from mould, contamination by mice, rats or other birds, and free from poisons.
The food needs to be offered in such a way and quantity that it will be consumed before it becomes spoiled.
We want the food offered AND eaten over a 24 hour period to be nutritionally balanced.
The food should be offered in such a way as to mimic the feeding habits of the birds in the wild. Canaries tend to eat a little of a wide variety of foods often.
The nutritional requirements of canaries may differ with the time of the year, the breeding and moulting cycles. Extra protein, eg. niger, should be offered during breeding and
moulting cycles.
Canaries are primarily seed eaters but also eat grasses, herbs and probably some insects in the wild. Many health problems are associated with the traditional feeding of just a
limited mixture of seed types or crumbled formulated diets and some greens.
Sometimes we will notice that a canary is selecting one type of seed in preference to all others. This COULD indicate that it has a sore throat or has "simply become addicted" to the particular type of seed. If you notice this behaviour discuss it with your bird vet.
