The following is a summary of what I feed my Pekin Robins. It has worked well for me, but I am not suggesting that this is the only diet they could survive on. I am continually updating, changing this diet as I learn from others.
I phone order insects from Sunshine Mealworms, in Oregon? They are great to work with. 1800-322-1100. I feed unlimited crickets, while I limit waxworms/mealworms amounts when babies are being fed. I have found baby survival depends on the type of insects fed. During off-season, I feed much less on the insects, forgetting at times to feed insects for as long as a week. They don't seem to miss insects in the winter.
I "gut load" insects so that they have good food in their tummies for the
birds. This is the basic suppliments I use, but not limited to:
Fish flakes, LOTS of protein in this stuff!
Vit. A with carrots, or cantaloupe
calcium with broccoli and powdered milk
Vit. C, orange quarter cuts
hen or game bird scratch from a feed store.
for example,
I feed 1000 medium crickets in a large tub, in the garage:
approximately one cup hen scratch
1 cup fish flakes, LOTS
handful of carrots,
several orange slices
half cup powdered milk,
a small container of water with a paper towel for drinking.
avoid leaving molding stuff in the tub. If the crickets grow too big for the birds to feed to babies, they leave them in the feeding tubs. These bigger crickets can be frozen and used in the winter. Pekins will eat frozen crickets when needed.
250 Waxworms:
I put them in a shoebox size tub with like 1.5 cups of hen scratch, or game
scratch cut about half cup of honey. Maybe a pinch of powdered milk, if
I feel like it.... the mix should be like crumbly pie dough? not too sticky
or the worms get stuck!
5000 medium mealworms
big flat "under the bed" type tub I mix a 5 pound bag of hen/or game bird
scratch with ....? ....2 cups of powdered milk, handful of baby carrots, or
sliced carrots....maybe apple slices, cantalop rind or watermelon....just to
get them some water in my HOT garage. Maybe orange slices...they love those.
You can change this to whatever you might find to be good stuff! I try to
feed newly purchased insects for 12 hours or so before feeding to birds just to get some good nutrition in their guts.
I also occasionally feed a little cup of Kerns Guava nectar for the calcium. Also, I addcalcium during breeding season to water cups. I use "Calcivet" from Birds2grow.com. Birds also have baked ground eggshell, and cuttlebone. Can't get enough calcium! Ugh..
I feed a little tray everyday of pekin cake , a protein pound cake recipe I encluded, thawed frozen berries, eggfood, or soaked monkey chow depending on the time of the year. Maybe some frozen corn/peas.....they like fruits of different types, grapes, papya, etc. Birds don't seem too interested in this tray of goodies in the summer, perferring the insects. Off-season they love the goodies.
I also have available Pretty Bird softbill pellets, universal food in little
cups.
I feed insects to the birds in a tall plastic tub that crickets cannot escape from. I put food for the crickets in there also. I also have a ceramic bowl with worms somewhere else for hunting bugs variety. This way I can load a lot of insects at a time allowing me to go to the movies now and then without worrying about parents feeding running out of insects! When parents are feeding, I give them about 15 waxworms, 20 mealworms, and the rest crickets. To stimulate feeding, I will often throw a few more waxworms to parents in the middle of the day. They can't resist feeding a chubby waxworm! If allowed, parents would only feed waxworms which will lead to "failure to thrive" babies that die after a few days. Babies can't survive on a pure waxworm diet!
Ugh, it sounds like a lot, but it doesn't seem this bad once it is all set
up!
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