barries feeding and management changes

[allandean12]

hi barrie and guys i have read articles on your site barrie it contains a lot of knowledge and info for us all but i have also read a lot of othere articles of yours on feeding and management i would like to know if you would share with us your up to date feeding/supplements/etc all the best allan and thanks

[allandean12]

hi barrie sorry if i am being a nuisance and asking a lot of questions but i like your methods of doing things thay make sence because as we all go through different times people change things thay use this is why i ask the above questions so again thanka a lot allan

[barrieshutt]

just spotted this Allan.

We all have a management system but we not accept it for what it is , i always strive to improve, what you read this year may change the following year.

How do we define management?



To me it means the care and attention needed 24/7 to keep my birds fit,healthy and content in the best enviroment i can provide and fed with a varied diet.


In the wild state the small thin green budgies lived in flocks millions strong they migrated within the continent following the seasons foods,the food they found in the semi-tropical shrubland of australia was very varied and so different from todays diet,the main intake was seedling grasses,plants and supplemented by some varieties of tree leaves,small twigs and even insects and beetles.The budgie was well able to keep himself supplied with a healthy balanced diet,now he can only take what we give them.
A breeder would possibly buy canary and millet seeds and mix his own choice that he considers best,this is not as nutritious as in the wild so it needs a good deal of supplements,the birds need something extra.Pet owners buy a ready mixed seed with a built in supplement but the birds still need more.


In addition to the basic seed diet-even when supplemented - a budgie requires grit,to aid the digestive process and get the maximum benifits out of the hard seed kernels.Cuttle fish bone to supply extra calcium for promoting bone and feather growth,an iodine block to grind his beak and absorb several mineral salts contained in the block and of course fresh water daily,i would reccomend this is boiled and cooled before supplying it to the bird.

Feeding.



Give your budgerigars seed,water,grit and calcium and they will survive,we need a little more than survival.



We need to supply vitamins, A is necessary for young birds and vital for the health of the skin and feathers,B is the main source of the physical energy required and aids the nervous systems smooth running, deficiency of vitamin C causes skin diseases,D vital in the bone formation and vitamin E prevents sterility and increases fertility.



I supply Abidec a multi vitamin which must be blended in the correct proportion and not overdosed,two drops maximum to one litre of water,this will supply your birds with vitamins A,B,C and D. Vitamin E is found in high concentration in most grains.


Be warned you can overdose on vitamins.


My seed mix was Johnson & Jeffs expert budgie mix,tonic seed and groats.

now i mix my own and save the 20% vat added to ready mixed seeds. Versalage planin canary im mixed at 50 % of the mix, the other 50% is red, yellow, jap and panicum millets.

Groats are soaked overnight, rinsed and mixed with grated carrots, beet, eggfood,garlic, soaked mealworms and celery.

Johnson & jeffs Scotch tonic is also used to condition the birds prior to breeding.



Care must be taken in the storage of your seeds they must be kept dry and free from vermin.



You must have a system of feeding one for the non breeding season and one for the breeding season,keep a record if things go wrong you can refer back to your feeding programme and see if anything changed,you may have missed something out or added something new that affected your breeding season.

A wise breeder will periodically review his feeding programme .I added extra red millet , additional plain canary and plenty of celery in the build up to my 2012 breeding programme, early signs tell me it was a wise move.




The non breeding feeding programme.



My Versalage budgie mix containing plain canary and mixed millets are supplied to my birds during the non breeding season ,added to this mix are a small portion of dry groats ,a small feeder of J&J tonic seed and a few millet sprays once a week.



A treat is offered at least three times a week the favourite being corn on the cob.

All birds always have a finger drawer available of a cattle supplement called Thrivon Supacod which is high in protein and contains cod liver oil.

red and black minerals are also available along side osmonds ultimate.

The breeding season feeding programme.



On the build up to the breeding season and prior to pairing up my birds they will now receive the mixed versalage seed plus extra plain canary seed ,soaked groats three times per week,millet sprays every other day,egg food with added grated carrot three times per week , corn on the cob twice a week and celery at least four times per week.

Remember supply plenty of grit,charcoal,thrive on,iodine blocks ,cuttle fish bone and clean water.



Twice a day am and pm i walk the birds,take a good look at all your birds on your walk around the birdroom,have you any birds fluffed up,huddled in corners,check the cage floors can you see any green droppings if yes that bird needs heat,isolation and plenty of fluids.



Now we have the basic diet what should we not give them,tit bits from the table are forbidden,what is good for them is fruit now and again-apple pear or orange and of course a little greenfood daily.A little lettuce is okay as it is a gentle laxative, cabbage,cauliflower,broccoli,sprouts ,corn on the cob and celery will be enjoyed.
Any uneaten greens or soft food must be removed each night,it will cause harm if it becomes stale.
A pet budgie leads a very sedentary life compared with a wild bird or even one in an avairy and the lack of excercise from which they suffer can lead to our equivalant of middle age spread which may cause trouble with the digestion.The proper aid to efficient digestion apart from proper food and excercise is grit.
When we eat food we swallow it straight into our stomachs where very powerful liquids work on it until it is reduced to a condition where the stomach walls can absorb the nutriments and pass on the waste into the intestines-and of course our bodies are conditioned by this process,anything hard we cook first.
Our budgies are fed on hard dried seed without any previous softening process,the seeds are first de-husked in the beak and then hard kernels are swallowed into the crop,digestive juices not as strong as ours and a muscular motion grind the seed kernels into a paste,this is where the grit is valuable with a portion of grit in the crop the grinding process is accelerated before the food goes on its way.Always encourage a young bird to eat grit,put some on the cage floor and in a pot,once they develop the habit of eating grit it will continue forever.
THEY WILL ONLY EAT WHAT'S GOOD FOR THEM -don't believe it todays budgie is a product of over a century of domestication and they have forgotten the call of the wild and the need to survive the wild elements.
the responsibility of his welfare depends on you,get it right and you will reap the rewards tenfold,i do.
so that's the first requirements for positive health a natural diet with no frills and table tit bits.


Test your milletspays for fungi.

Place some milletsprays on top of a piece of white paper. If there are fungi on the sprays you will see a lot of "dust" on the paper in one or two days. You can remove the fungi by soaking the sprays overnight in a solution of vanadine or virkon s ,i always then rinse in clean cold water before feeding them to the birds.



F10SC Disinfectant



F10 SC would be ideal for soaking millet spray to help with the control of bugs, especially fungi and their spores.
Dilution and time are related the stronger the solution the less time is required to do the job. The more resistant the bugs, the longer the time/concentration that is required. For simple soaking I would suggest that a dilution of 1:500 ie 2ml litre would be sensible and a period of half an hour adequate time.
As F10SC is non-toxic (and is used as an oral treatment for some problems) there is no necessity to wash the sprays afterwards. Shake and allow to dry. Once you wash off, the moisture will once again encourage mould growth, spores arriving from the atmosphere. Allowing the SC to dry on the seed will provide an antimicrobial barrier.

[ianb]

A very interesting and informative read Barrie,thank you

[Deleted]

Thanks Barrie

[allandean12]

barrie thanks a lot for takeing the time to give us this great advice so again thanks allan

[barrieshutt]

thanks guys

[serz]

thanks barrie a very intresting read