Crushed or powdered? Offerings in their menu...

[metinemre]

After reading a lot at the forum.

I purchased the following from finchniche

Spirulina powder
f-vite powder
charcoal crushed
hatched egg shells crushed
herb salad
egg meal powder
liquid calcium
tonic seed
breeding and molting season seeds
miracle meal soft food
ER formula

Should i turn crushed egg shells and crushed charcoal to powder?
Should i offer spirulina, f-vite, charcoal, egg shells, egg meal powder, tonic seed in seperate cups or mixed and should keep them in the cage everyday?

We change their water twice a day and seed cup once a day. They have cuttlebone which we replace in every 2 weeks and spray millet all the time that we change in every 2-3 days. Should we change the other stuff everyday or how often?

We also add liquid calcium to their daily water.

What amount should we offer this other stuff? finger cup full? One small stainless steel cup mixed?
We have 2x ob waxbills in one cage and 2x green singers in the other cage; and gs eggs are about to hatch in a few days.

[Sally]

Everyone has to work out their own program, what works for them. I have a LOT of cages, so I have to keep it as simple as possible. I have a cup/dish in each cage that is for minerals, and all minerals that I offer go into the same cup. The crushed charcoal and crushed eggshells should be fine as they are, they should not need further crushing. I offer herb salad in a separate cup/dish. These two cups hang in each cage all the time, and I only refill when they get low or someone poops in them. A third dish will hold my eggfood/veggies/commercial dry eggfood. A friend adds spirulina to her eggfood.

I personally do not put liquid calcium in their water, unless I have a suspected eggbound hen, or if I have a hen that has laid an excessive number of eggs (and then I will just do this once a week at most). If you are offering eggshells/mineral mix/fresh veggies, they should be getting plenty of calcium naturally and not need the liquid calcium. Calcium is one of those things that it is possible to overdose. But it is a must, in my opinion, to keep liquid calcium on hand in case of eggbinding, it can be a lifesaver.

[cindy]

I agree with Sally, the liquid calcium is not needed on a daily basis and is more important to give if you know a hen has had egg binging issues or soft eggs in the past, add it to the water prior to them going to nest, once she is done laying remove it from the water.

You are also feeding foods that have calcium in it so overdoing it can cause issues.

[Martie]

I agree on the liquid calcium - and most things that go in the water. It's because they don't have a choice. I believe my birds know better than I do what they need on a given day (unless of course they are having problems and need intervention) and my job is to make it available to them.

I do much the same as Sally does as far as dishes are concerned. My mineral offerings are a constant supply of cuttlebone, charcoal, eggshell, oyster shell and ABBA Mineral Grit. I vary vitamins offered and feed egg and soft foods along with veggies.

An idea would be to start with small amounts and adjust to see what your birds will consume in a few days' time. This will help you to know your own particular birds - and to spot problems that may crop up later on because you know what they normally consume and will note changes.

You can tell a lot about your birds by watching how much of what foods they are eating. This will help you especially with the waxbills and GS's - both species that don't take kindly to nest checks. By watching the food consumption alone, you can tell when the hen is ready to lay - when she is laying - and when the babies are born.

[DanteD716]

Since some of my bird will not eat birdie bread from the shape of the squares i cut them in, is it OK to crumble it up? I have made mine into crumbles and still have it in the freezer.. Will the birds still eat it?

[DanteD716]

I meant to click new topic, not post reply!! Sorry!!