Canaries and finches need different support at different times of year. A good seed mix or pellet covers the basics, and a few targeted supplements help through breeding, rearing and the moult. Here's what most keepers use, season by season.
Every day: grit, minerals and a good base diet
Start with a quality seed mixture such as Versele Laga Prestige for your species, or a complete pellet like NutriBird C15 for canaries and finches. Alongside it, most keepers offer grit and a mineral source all year:
- Grit and shell sand – for example Versele Laga Prestige Grit with Coral or Shell Sand Kristal White.
- Mineral and pick blocks – Orlux Pick Bloc and mineral blocs give birds something to work at as well as minerals.
Before breeding: vitamins and calcium
- Oropharma Ferti-Vit – a vitamin E, amino acid and trace element blend. Versele Laga recommends giving it daily for the 3–4 weeks before the first egg is laid, at 1g per 250ml of drinking water or per 100g of egg food.
- Oropharma Calci-Lux – a water-soluble calcium for egg shell formation and to help prevent egg binding. The label gives a higher daily dose before and during breeding and a lower preventive dose the rest of the year.
Rearing chicks: egg food and hand-rearing formula
Soft egg food is the usual rearing food once chicks hatch. Choose one made for your birds from our egg food range, such as NutriBird Gold Crumble for canaries or tropical finches. For chicks that need hand-rearing or extra feeding in the nest, NutriBird Handmix is a complete formula for canaries, finches and other small birds from hatching to weaning.
The moult: feather support
Growing new feathers takes a lot of protein. Oropharma Muta-Vit is high in sulphurous amino acids and biotin, which birds use to build feathers and skin, and is designed for use through the moult.
Quick reference
- All year: seed mix or pellets, grit, shell sand, pick block
- 3–4 weeks before breeding: Ferti-Vit daily, Calci-Lux
- Chicks: egg food; Handmix if hand-rearing
- Moult: Muta-Vit
Always follow the dose on the label, and speak to an avian vet if a bird is unwell. Browse the full caged bird health care and vitamins and minerals ranges.
Orders placed by 11am Monday to Friday are dispatched the same day, and mainland UK delivery is £4.99 per 30kg.