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General Finch Feeding:

Most finches being small seed eating birds tend to feed on ripe and half ripe grass seed heads; these grasses are usually millet of some kind or a kind of grass (canary grasses etc.)
So a basic diet of mixed millets of a good quality is their usual preference, something like say a good quality foreign finch mix.

My birds are supplied a mixed millet 'foreign finch' seed mix at all times along with ground, powdered and flaked cuttlefish bone, oyster shell grit, fine charcoal granules and iodised minerals (pigeon minerals or salts).

They do of course have fresh clean water supplied at all times and my preference is to first boil this and then filter it to remove heavy metals and other forms of contamination generic to household water supplies. Alternatively bottled water or a derivative thereof is also a sensible hydration method.

Green Foods:

Birds in the wild don't survive on just dry seed; they have access to many other forms of food, half ripe seed heads, leaf and other vegetable matter and soil particles (which can contain a variety of minerals and elements).

Things like dandelion, kale, spinach and other dark leafy greens are taken and devoured quite greedily by my birds; dandelion is also a good source of 'liquid calcium', which with only dry seed birds may lack.
Greens provide many things such as vitamins (especially vitamin A) which dry seed provides little of. Vitamin A deficiency is a major problem of 'dry seed fed' birds and this is one of the elements required for reproduction and should be supplied by any means possible during breeding periods.

Alternatives are to use in water or in food supplementation, these can go a long way to easing any potential problems a 'dry' diet may introduce.

Live Foods:

Breeding birds need protein to feed to their chicks, without it chicks will suffer, they won't grow fast and may even die.
Live food provides this protein and may be the only thing that allows chick rearing to be accomplished or even attempted; birds that have little or no protein may not even attempt to breed, this is especially true of recently captive bred or wild caught waxbills and other small finches.
Having access to live food is usually a precursor to attempts at reproduction. In the wild when the rains come (which is often a signal to the start of a breeding period) many insects will hatch and grow and provide the impetus to a breeding time, plenty of 'protein on the wing or leg'. Birds know this and know it's time to take the chance to reproduce and rear their future generations.

Live foods come in many forms but the aviculturalists choice is usually mealworms (mini-mealworms for smaller birds), fruit flies, white worm and American wax moths larvae and pupae.
Small arachnids (spiders) and termites in those countries where they are available are treasured sources as well.
Waxbills especially like spiders, they spend a lot of time hunting them down, and if you culture fruit flies then the spiders follow automatically.
A wide as variety as possible is recommended with species that become almost totally insectivorous during rearing of their chicks, some waxbills won't even try to build a nest until their protein needs are met, while some will build nests, lay eggs but neglect or even remove chicks from their nests and abandon them.

Supplements:

A wide variety of supplements are available for many things.
Providing calcium is another prerequisite to health breeding birds and strong chicks, things like powdered cuttle fish, oyster shell minerals (this provides calcium, it isn't an aid to digestion), dandelion leaves and various in-water supplements is a must. This not only helps growing birds develop strong bones but also hens in producing good egg shells and regulates breeding hormones and natural balance.

Charcoal: Charcoal is an aid to removing gut toxins but also provides various minerals, Gouldian Finches especially seem to eat a substantial amount of this but the other birds will also eat some form time to time (occasionally after having eaten something a bit rich).

Vitamin supplements are worthwhile to use too, dry seed can lack a number of elements in a high enough amount to satisfy birds needs and is especially low in vitamin A which in deficiency can cause quite a few problems, not least of which is poor reproduction.

Other supplements: More information very soon