Grain mixtures

Grain mixtures

Basics

Composition

For budgies, unlike other parakeets, the grain food should contain mainly very small seeds, such as millet.

  • different types of millet (%-70%)
  • Glossy or pointed seed (%-30%)
  • Oat kernels (max. 5%)
  • Oilseeds (max. 5%)
  • other seeds (Dari, Milo, buckwheat, etc.)
  • Grass seed (%-20%)
  • Herb and lettuce seeds
  • (dried herbs)
  • (flowers)

Seed species

Since only very small seeds are interesting for budgies, the quite large protein-rich seeds, such as sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and mung beans, are not mentioned here.

Due to the high content of carbohydrates, these are very rich in energy, but have only a relatively low content of essential amino acids and minerals.

Therefore, grain mixtures containing cereals must not be fed exclusively, as this would lead to health problems sooner or later.

Examples include:

  • Millet
  • Glossy or pointed seed ( = canary seed)
  • Dari
  • Milo
  • Oat kernels
  • Buckwheat

Oilseeds are not too important for the diet of parakeets. However, due to their fat content, these may only make up a maximum of 5% of the grain mixture.

Examples include:

  • Hemp
  • Flaxseed / Chia
  • Kardi
  • Negro Seeds
  • Sesame

These are usually a low-calorie and healthy supplement to the high-carbohydrate and high-fat seeds.

Examples include:

  • Grass seed
  • Wild herb seeds
  • Herb and lettuce seeds

Grains and seeds

Unsuitable seeds

  • Sunflower seeds (too high in calories)
  • Nuts (not suitable for budgies)
  • Hemp (strong breeding instinct/possible aggressive behavior of roosters).
  • Turnip rape (impairs the utilization of iodine)

Undesirable ingredients

Bakery products are by-products and waste products that are generated during the production of bread, pastries, cookies or pasta and usually have a high sugar or fat content.

These can be, for example:

  • Dough scraps
  • Pasta (cooked/uncooked)
  • …..

Egg products are usually by-products or waste products from egg processing.

It is usually not possible to say exactly what is behind this.

Possible examples would be:

  • Eggshells
  • Egg powder of any kind
  • Food from eggs or egg components
  • …..

Animal proteins (e.g. eggs) should generally only be fed in special situations, such as brooding and rearing young. Otherwise, these often cause hens to become broody and roosters to awaken their “spring fever”.

Additional undefined and possibly also unhealthy oils and fats, which mostly only provide unnecessary calories.

Budgies should only get this, if at all, from the oilseeds in the feed.

Dairy products are usually by-products and waste products from cheese production.

These can be, for example:

  • Whey
  • Milk powder
  • Leftover cheese
  • …..

Dairy products contain lactose (= milk sugar), which cannot be broken down and utilised due to the lack of the enzyme lactase in parakeets and parrots. Too much lactose can thus lead to digestive disorders.

Vegetable protein extracts are products that are made from plants and have a protein content of at least 50%. These are mostly a residue from the production of vegetable oils (mostly soy products).

Plant by-products are generally waste products of the plant processing industries.

These can be, for example:

  • Peanut shells
  • Wheat bran
  • Beet pulp
  • Molasses
  • Sawdust
  • Straw
  • Roots
  • Awns
  • Vegetable Flours
  • Press residues from oil extraction
  • …..

Animal by-products are parts of animals slaughtered for food production or slaughter by-products.

These can be, for example:

  • Offal
  • Tongue
  • Poultry heads
  • Skins
  • Tendons
  • Feathers, pig bristles
  • Claws, horns, hooves
  • Blood
  • Parts of carcasses that may no longer be used for human consumption
  • ……

Additional sugar that only provides (worthless) calories.

These can be, for example:

  • Sucrose ( = granulated sugar)
  • Glucose ( = dextrose)
  • Dextrose ( = glucose)
  • Dextrin ( = carbohydrate mixture)
  • Fructose ( = fruit sugar)
  • Honey
  • ….

Grain mixtures

Grain mixtures without grass seeds (= “Welli fast food”), I have excluded from the outset, since these represent a malnutrition and have in the long run health problems to result and are thus for me indiscussable.

Here it is important to know that the ingredients must normally be listed according to quantity, i.e. what is in first place contains the most and what is in last place contains the least.

If only collective names, such as cereals or seeds, are given, one can usually assume that not necessarily the highest quality , but rather the cheapest ingredients were used.

Examples of declarations that are not very meaningful are:

  • Cereals
  • Seeds
  • Minerals

Examples of meaningful declarations:

  • Canary grass seed, La Plata millet, Silver millet, Manna millet, Japan millet, ….. (grain)
  • Sesame, fennel seed, amaranth, ….. (seeds)
  • Calcium, Phosphorus, Sodium, ….. (minerals)

My recommendations

Here, of course, I can only list grain mixtures that I have tested and fed myself.

This means that other grain mixtures can also be recommended, but I can’t pass judgment on them because I haven’t had a chance to look at them myself yet.

Primus Basis

I use this mixture as the main feed.

Körnermischung Primus Basis
  • 8 different types of millet (60%)
  • Grass seed percentage (10%)
  • Herbs (e.g. chickweed and dandelion)
  • no oilseeds

Composition:

Silver millet, La Plata millet, Japan millet, red millet, Senegal millet, green millet, mohair millet, manna millet, glossy seed, meadow fescue, Pagima Green and cocksfoot, oat kernels, herbs

Even though the mixture is not quite as varied as that of the grain shack, you can feed this to your budgies as their main food without hesitation. Another particularly positive aspect is the absence of oilseeds, which are rich in energy but rather insignificant in terms of nutrient content.

Welli – Fit with grass seed

I now also use this mixture as the main food to offer the budgies some variety.

Körnermischung Welli-Fit
  • 5 different types of millet (55%)
  • Grass seeds (20%)
  • No oilseeds

Composition:

Plata millet (25 %), grass seed (20 %), canary seed (20 %), silver millet (10 %), red millet (10 %), Senegal millet (5 %), green millet (5 %), oat kernels (5 %)

Even though Welli-Fit does not have quite as many different types of millet as Primus Basis by Claus and does not contain any herbs, it scores with a higher grass seed content and is therefore the perfect, low-priced everyday feed.

Welli-Topfit with herbs & minerals

I use this mixture as a supplement to the other grain mixtures, as it still offers a plus of herbs and minerals.

Körnermischung Welli-Topfit
  • 5 different types of millet (50%)
  • Grass seeds (15%)
  • Vegetables & lettuce seeds (5%)
  • Herbs & flowers (5%)
  • natural minerals
  • no oil seeds

Composition:

Plata millet (20%), canary seed (20%), grass seed (15%), silver millet (10%), red millet (10%), Senegal millet (5%), green millet (5%), herbs (5%), oat kernels (4.5%), spinach seed (2.5%), lettuce seed (2.5%), minerals (0.5%).

Apart from the number of different millet varieties, Welli-Topfit even surpasses Primus Basis with additional vegetable & lettuce seeds and a plus of herbs and natural minerals.

This makes the mixture particularly recommendable in times of moulting or simply as a supplement or change to the daily main feed.

  • Undesirable ingredients
  • Superfluous, unnecessary or questionable ingredients
  • Not meaningful collective terms for possibly cheap ingredients
  • High fat seeds (oilseeds)
  • H.-J. Kühne: “Die Ernährung der Papageien und Sittiche”, p. 117 / p. 132ff.
  • D. Quinten: “Ziervogelkrankheiten”, p. 29ff.