What do I feed my budgie?

 50% of your budgie’s diet should consist of vegetables, ideally served as a finely chopped “chop” mix to provide a wide variety of nutrients and help prevent picky eating. While whole vegetables can still be offered for enrichment and foraging, relying on them alone may limit the range of vitamins and minerals your bird consumes over time. 

We use 5-8 types of vegetables in each serve of daily chop - made fresh every 3 days. For smaller flocks, freezing in ice cube trays can make perfect portions.

We recommend including pellets as approximately 20% of your budgie’s diet to help ensure they receive balanced nutrition, especially for birds that are selective eaters and may pick around certain vegetables. 

At LLRS, we use Passwell Crumbles, though other options include Harrison's Super Fine, TOP's Mini Pellets, and Vetafarm Crumbles. Some brands have a finer, more powdery texture, which can be mixed through vegetable chop to improve acceptance and palatability.

 A high quality seed mix is important for your budgie’s health. As granivores, budgies do require seed in their daily diet (most pellets also contain grains and seeds).

Mass-produced seed mixes sold at supermarkets (and some petstores) are not recommended, as seed loses nutritional value over time as it dries out. Seed stored on shelves for long periods is also at higher risk of weevils, which damage the seed and can encourage bacterial and fungal growth. 

We recommend buying local, either from stockfeed stores, brands such as Green Valley Grains, Peter Gribbs or Avigrain or from small businesses who bag up the grain themselves. 

Read the ingredients - all that needs to be in the bag are seeds, budgies do not need grit or random extras. Example of a good seed mix may include:  Panorama, Canary seed, Range of Millets, Panicum, Hulled Oats 

We use 'chop toppers' or 'mix-ins' to help our chop from becoming mushy and encourage foraging. There is approximately 1/8th cup of this per cup of chop. 

We use: 

Chia | Linseeds | Hemp | Quinoa | Dried Flowers | Dried Herbs | Milk Thistle | Puffed Grains | Spices Fennel | Dried Goji | Rolled Oats

and occasionally on the day we mix in cooked lentils or chickpeas. In winter, during moulting or while stressed, you can add in Egg & Biscuit or Budgie Starter to the chop. 

Sprouted seed and microgreens can be added in, either purchased or self-sprouted.

Budgies enjoy treats (about 5%) such as:

Corn on cob | Millet Spray | Hemp Seeds |  Fruit | Boiled Egg White | Seeding Grass | Native foliage | Small pieces of honey sticks or Nutriberries (occasional)

 Leafy & Asian Greens:
Silverbeet | Kale | Red Oak Lettuce | Endive | Rocket | Bok choy | Choy Sum | Carrot Tops | Celery Tops | Spinach | Watercress

Colourful Veggies:
Carrot | Cooked Sweet Potato | Beetroot | Radish | Parsnip | Capsicum | Chilli | Pumpkin 

Goitrogens:
Cauliflower | Brussels sprouts | Cabbage & Brussel Sprouts (occasional) | Broccoli

And more:
Green beans | Snow peas | Cucumber | Zucchini Squash | Okra | Turnip | Artichoke

Feed sparingly:
Eggplant | Peas | Corn 

Fruit should be fed sparingly, they are high in sugar.

Budgies like crunchy, juicy fruits (e.g., apple) and picking out safe tiny seeds (e.g., dragonfruit). 

Safe fruits include:

Apple | Banana | Kiwi Fruit | Berries| Passionfruit | Melons | Grapes | Pear| Pineapple | Pomegranate | Lychee | Peaches | Plum | Guava | Dragon fruit | Coconut | Mandarin | Oranges | Papaya | Cherry | Fig | Cantaloupe

Avoid feeding the pits and stones.

Limit acidic and citrus fruits

Peashoots, Mung Bean Shoots & Alfalfa are usually available pre-sprouted at supermarkets (ensure to follow expiry dates carefuly). 

You can also sprout your own microgreens with bird seed or other bird safe vegetable seeds. Or pre-packed sprouting mixes

You can even sprout millet spray as a fun foraging activity!

It is important to follow the instructions when sprouting, as during the process dangerous bacteria and fungus can grow if not done properly.