Comparative Nutritional Analysis of Domestic and Imported Commercial Canary Egg Food and Mixed Seeds Based Diets

Abstract

In this study, the aim was to determine the nutritional content of specially formulated commercial soft/egg foods for canaries, preferred by professional breeders in Türkiye, and the nutritional and raw material content of seed mixtures, thereby providing insights into the general diet compositions and essential feeding regimens for canaries. The study examined 17 different seed types, eight mixed seed feeds, and 11 egg food formulations. Two main groups, "domestic" and "imported," were formed from these mixed seed feed and egg food products. The nutritional content ratios of each feed material were determined through chemical analyses, and the predicted metabolizable energy values were calculated and compared between group averages. According to the results, there were no significant differences (p>0.05) between the data of domestic and imported mixed seed feed groups in terms of parameters other than crude fiber (CF). However, the CF value was found to be statistically significantly lower in the imported group (p<0.05), and a decreasing trend in the crude ash (CA) value was also observed in the same group. It was determined that almost all parameters resulted in similar values between the domestic and imported egg food groups. However, when each feed product was evaluated separately, significant data differences and wide variation ranges were found within the groups, especially in terms of crude fat and starch parameters. As a result, it is understood that domestically produced commercial egg food formulations with basic nutritional content comparable to European imported products are available for use by canary breeders in Türkiye. However, it is apparent that imported products, particularly in mixed seed formulations, had raw materials with lower CF and CA contents.