What should I feed my ferals

[malfunctional]

Hi

I was just wondering what is the best thing to feed my birds. I have 6 ferals that visit my balcony. They seem to eat any seeds that I put out for them, but perhaps I should be watching their diet more, especially Mom and Dad who are feeding babies.

At the moment they get lots of corn. They love corn. It is probably because it is big and easy to pick up which is a must Dad pigeon will scare them away at any stage.

They also get millet and occasionally peanuts. They really love peanuts. Dad jumped off the nest to go and eat all the peanuts when I put them out.

I leave water for them but they don't often use it.

[spirit wings]

pigeon grain feed with at least 16% protein, with whole corn for the winter months.

[malfunctional]

It is summer here, but it feels like winter. Perhaps that is also why they like the corn. When you say whole corn do you mean the whole corn pieces rather than the ground up chips of corn.

What exactly is pigeon grain? They only have budgie seed and canary seed in my supermarket. Budgie seed has sharp poky seeds in it, so at the moment they get canary seed which is mostly millet. What makes up protein? Which seeds?

[Mindy]

Yes, whole corn is best. Also, sunflower seed, safflower, barley, lentils, split peas yellow and green. Glad your helping the ferals out with food. It definitely makes there life easier when they can find food. min

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by malfunctional

It is summer here, but it feels like winter. Perhaps that is also why they like the corn. When you say whole corn do you mean the whole corn pieces rather than the ground up chips of corn.

What exactly is pigeon grain? They only have budgie seed and canary seed in my supermarket. Budgie seed has sharp poky seeds in it, so at the moment they get canary seed which is mostly millet. What makes up protein? Which seeds?

pigeon grain is feed for pigeons which has alot of seeds and legumes in it. you can order it at your feed store where they sell livestock feed and supply, you just have to ask. if you order a grain mix with corn it will be whole, most of the time.

[Charis]

Originally Posted by spirit wings

pigeon grain is feed for pigeons which has alot of seeds and legumes in it. you can order it at your feed store where they sell livestock feed and supply, you just have to ask. if you order a grain mix with corn it will be whole, most of the time.

Maybe she can't oreder it at her feed store. She's in South Africa.

[malfunctional]

Thanks for all the help. I'll go and have a chat at the local feed store. For the moment as I said I just pick some stuff up from the super market.

I got some stuff from a health food shop today. They have some people that buy food for racing pigeon so they gave me that.

Another question. Can pigeons eat powdery things like oats. This mix that I have sort of has that kind of consistency. I'm just not sure how they would actually get it in their mouths. Does it have to be enough for them to dip their beaks into it?

Should I put some potting soil or something in their food dish so they get grit.

[John_D]

Think I would leave out the potting soil. Is there a store of any kind around that may have a general purpose bird grit or maybe the feed store would carry it? Not tiny stuff ground almost to powder, something a little larger. My balcony ferals have never touched the genuine pigeon grit I tried on them anyway, they just get whatever they need from some unknown source, maybe even off the roads.

They do prefer something they can readily pick up in the beak, be it seeds or grain or legumes. As a filler, well crumbled bread occasionally would probably go better than 'powdery' stuff - best is day old wholemeal if you do give them bread crumbs.

John