Post by barrieshutt on Oct 25, 2011 5:04:48 GMT
Calcium and egg binding
Calcium Carbonate and Calcium Gluconate are two very important things to ensure the good health of your budgerigars.
Most solid forms of Calcium are Calcium Carbonate and include Cuttle Bone, Egg Shells, Oyster Shell Grit and Plaster of Paris.
Calciumg Gluconate is a combination of calcium and glucose or blood sugar.
Calcium Gluconate or Liquid Calcium as we know it is the most soluble form of available Calcium we can buy for our birds. This is a must for your birdroom and no breeder should be without a bottle.
It is so rapidly absorbed by the intestines of the bird that it becomes a life saver for an egg bound hen.
I always have a container of Calcivet on my birdroom work surface, dont wait until you are faced with a fluffed up and potential death on your hands with an egg bound hen, order one now.
Most solid forms of Calcium are Calcium Carbonate and include Cuttle Bone, Egg Shells, Oyster Shell Grit and Plaster of Paris.
Calciumg Gluconate is a combination of calcium and glucose or blood sugar.
Calcium Gluconate or Liquid Calcium as we know it is the most soluble form of available Calcium we can buy for our birds. This is a must for your birdroom and no breeder should be without a bottle.
It is so rapidly absorbed by the intestines of the bird that it becomes a life saver for an egg bound hen.
I always have a container of Calcivet on my birdroom work surface, dont wait until you are faced with a fluffed up and potential death on your hands with an egg bound hen, order one now.
When purchasing Liquid Calcium make sure it contains D3 and if possible Magnesium as these two co factors are required for Calcium uptake.
Let us go back to Calcium Carbonate
Calcium Carbonate is an excellent source of Calcium for your birds, particularly laying hens but the problem with it is when you have an egg-bound hen.
It is impossible for a hen to absorb enough Calcium Carbonate if she ate it for twelve hours non stop she would still not have enough in her body to prevent her from becoming egg bound the following day.
This is why we should have Calcium Carbonate available to our birds every day.
My birds sources of available Calcium Carbonate are Cuttle Bone, Oyster shell grit and on occasions Egg shells.
You may ask where the wild budgerigar gets their Cuttle bone from , the answer is they dont .The wild budgerigar will choose a breeding area with immediate sources of calcium , it may be from the red earth soils, limestone and river beds containing mineral salts.
Exhibition Budgerigars produce larger eggs and bigger clutches of chicks than wild budgerigars and require greater quantities of calcium and minerals. Phosphorous, iron, zinc, iodine, sodium and chloride are very important minerals for todays budgerigar.
Back to Cuttle Bone; Cuttlebone is the internal shell of a cuttlefish that are related to squid and octopus. They have two tentacles and eight arms and when in danger they eject a black ink like fluid. You may notice the ink on the hard part of the bone you are serving to your budgies.
Let us go back to Calcium Carbonate
Calcium Carbonate is an excellent source of Calcium for your birds, particularly laying hens but the problem with it is when you have an egg-bound hen.
It is impossible for a hen to absorb enough Calcium Carbonate if she ate it for twelve hours non stop she would still not have enough in her body to prevent her from becoming egg bound the following day.
This is why we should have Calcium Carbonate available to our birds every day.
My birds sources of available Calcium Carbonate are Cuttle Bone, Oyster shell grit and on occasions Egg shells.
You may ask where the wild budgerigar gets their Cuttle bone from , the answer is they dont .The wild budgerigar will choose a breeding area with immediate sources of calcium , it may be from the red earth soils, limestone and river beds containing mineral salts.
Exhibition Budgerigars produce larger eggs and bigger clutches of chicks than wild budgerigars and require greater quantities of calcium and minerals. Phosphorous, iron, zinc, iodine, sodium and chloride are very important minerals for todays budgerigar.
Back to Cuttle Bone; Cuttlebone is the internal shell of a cuttlefish that are related to squid and octopus. They have two tentacles and eight arms and when in danger they eject a black ink like fluid. You may notice the ink on the hard part of the bone you are serving to your budgies.
Most countries eat cuttlefish and when they are cleaned in preparation for eating the only bone in their body is discarded, washed and then sun bleached ready for export.
It provides our birds with a source of calcium and other necessary minerals. I cannot stress enough how important it is to breeding hens.
The major component of cuttlebone is calcium carbonate (85 percent). This is also the major component in eggshells.
Calcium and Phosphorous.
These two minerals form a very important part of a birds diet. Calcium is used for the formation of bones and eggs. It is also needed for adequate nervous and muscle function.
Phosphorous is also important in bone and egg formation. The uptake of both of these minerals (from the birds intestine is dependant on vitamin D3).
Vitamin D3 is the sunshine vitamin and a bird requires at least 15 minutes sunshine per day which we in the UK know is not possible so we then turn to the full spectrum lighting in our birdrooms .My preference is the Arcadia range.
It provides our birds with a source of calcium and other necessary minerals. I cannot stress enough how important it is to breeding hens.
The major component of cuttlebone is calcium carbonate (85 percent). This is also the major component in eggshells.
Calcium and Phosphorous.
These two minerals form a very important part of a birds diet. Calcium is used for the formation of bones and eggs. It is also needed for adequate nervous and muscle function.
Phosphorous is also important in bone and egg formation. The uptake of both of these minerals (from the birds intestine is dependant on vitamin D3).
Vitamin D3 is the sunshine vitamin and a bird requires at least 15 minutes sunshine per day which we in the UK know is not possible so we then turn to the full spectrum lighting in our birdrooms .My preference is the Arcadia range.
©2006 barrieshuttbudgerigars S3872.