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I offer my aviary birds a couple different seed mixes, in addition to fresh food, pellets, and freeze dried veggies. Out of curiosity, I decided to do a side-by-side comparison to see if the birds showed a preference for a particular mix.
Here are the contestants, from left to right:
GoldenFeast Versele-Laga Australian Blend
Sleek and Sassy Garden Budgie
Glamourous Gouldian Millet Mix
Hagen Finch VME staple Mix
I put the seed dishes in the aviary ... and then I waited.
One week later, this is all that remained:
Let's get a closer look at these seed husks.
And here are some close-ups ...
GoldenFeast Australian Blend
Sleek and Sassy Budgie/Parakeet Mix
Glamourous Gouldian Millet Mix
Hagen Finch VME staple Mix
And here is a comparison between what was in these mixes before and after the birds got to them. I added fresh seeds at the bottom so you can see what is missing and what was left behind.
GoldenFeast Versele-Laga Australian Blend
Sleek and Sassy Garden Budgie
Glamourous Gouldian Millet Mix
Hagen Finch VME staple Mix
Summary of Results - This was an interesting test. I think I learned a few things.
I wish I had thought to weigh the bowls first, because I bet that would have been informative. Maybe next time.
Regardless, GoldenFeast Australian Blend was the clear loser. There was a TON of uneaten seed and other things in that bowl. Way more than any of the others. In fact, there is so much seed mix left behind, it is hard to tell where the fresh seed ends and the eaten seed begins in that last picture. I think part of the problem was piece size - lots of big chunks in this mix. Also, it has the most non-seed items - lots of nuts, dried veggies/fruit, and some dried herbs. Sounds good on paper, but obviously my birds did not agree.
This is the ingredient list for the mix I have. It has been reformulated a few times, so if you buy it, be sure to check the label:
Nuts are at the top of the list. Roasted soybeans must not be well-loved by my birds, since they just ignored them. Pretty sure they ate all the millet and canary seed, left almost everything else. Ah well. On to the next one!
The Sleek and Sassy budgie mix was more appreciated. All the seeds are gone, but the birds didn't eat the hard bits of dry carrot and sweet potato. Most of them got kicked out of the bowl. Also there are a lot of uneaten pellets and a decent amount of pellet dust. So most of the extra vitamins listed on the label didn't make it into my birds
Here's the full ingredient list:
The Glorious Gouldian Millet mix was a bit of a mixed bag. It has a lot of fun seeds in it that are not present in the other mixes, but it looks like at least some of those seeds are not being eaten. Most of the dark seeds still look intact. Even so, the birds did eat a lot of this mix.
I don't have a complete seed list, but according to the seller, the mix includes eight types of millet, seven different grass seeds, sterilized hemp, black lettuce, white lettuce, nyjer, white and red clover, caraway, anise, fennel, chia and oat groats.
Last but not least, we have Hagen's Finch VME staple mix. This one was the clear winner, in my opinion. Very little waste. It is pretty much just empty husks. Which I guess shouldn't come as a huge surprise, since it is almost entirely canary grass seed and five different flavors of millet, a budgie favorite.
And there we have it. Four seed mixes, budgie taste-tested and approved.
Here are the contestants, from left to right:
GoldenFeast Versele-Laga Australian Blend
Sleek and Sassy Garden Budgie
Glamourous Gouldian Millet Mix
Hagen Finch VME staple Mix
I put the seed dishes in the aviary ... and then I waited.
One week later, this is all that remained:
Let's get a closer look at these seed husks.
And here are some close-ups ...
GoldenFeast Australian Blend
Sleek and Sassy Budgie/Parakeet Mix
Glamourous Gouldian Millet Mix
Hagen Finch VME staple Mix
And here is a comparison between what was in these mixes before and after the birds got to them. I added fresh seeds at the bottom so you can see what is missing and what was left behind.
GoldenFeast Versele-Laga Australian Blend
Sleek and Sassy Garden Budgie
Glamourous Gouldian Millet Mix
Hagen Finch VME staple Mix
Summary of Results - This was an interesting test. I think I learned a few things.
I wish I had thought to weigh the bowls first, because I bet that would have been informative. Maybe next time.
Regardless, GoldenFeast Australian Blend was the clear loser. There was a TON of uneaten seed and other things in that bowl. Way more than any of the others. In fact, there is so much seed mix left behind, it is hard to tell where the fresh seed ends and the eaten seed begins in that last picture. I think part of the problem was piece size - lots of big chunks in this mix. Also, it has the most non-seed items - lots of nuts, dried veggies/fruit, and some dried herbs. Sounds good on paper, but obviously my birds did not agree.
This is the ingredient list for the mix I have. It has been reformulated a few times, so if you buy it, be sure to check the label:
Nuts are at the top of the list. Roasted soybeans must not be well-loved by my birds, since they just ignored them. Pretty sure they ate all the millet and canary seed, left almost everything else. Ah well. On to the next one!
The Sleek and Sassy budgie mix was more appreciated. All the seeds are gone, but the birds didn't eat the hard bits of dry carrot and sweet potato. Most of them got kicked out of the bowl. Also there are a lot of uneaten pellets and a decent amount of pellet dust. So most of the extra vitamins listed on the label didn't make it into my birds
Here's the full ingredient list:
The Glorious Gouldian Millet mix was a bit of a mixed bag. It has a lot of fun seeds in it that are not present in the other mixes, but it looks like at least some of those seeds are not being eaten. Most of the dark seeds still look intact. Even so, the birds did eat a lot of this mix.
I don't have a complete seed list, but according to the seller, the mix includes eight types of millet, seven different grass seeds, sterilized hemp, black lettuce, white lettuce, nyjer, white and red clover, caraway, anise, fennel, chia and oat groats.
Last but not least, we have Hagen's Finch VME staple mix. This one was the clear winner, in my opinion. Very little waste. It is pretty much just empty husks. Which I guess shouldn't come as a huge surprise, since it is almost entirely canary grass seed and five different flavors of millet, a budgie favorite.
And there we have it. Four seed mixes, budgie taste-tested and approved.