FINCHforum

I've heard the birds need additional iodine in their diet (given in the water) by a very reputable breeder in the area. Does everyone do this? And why do Gouldians need additional iodine in the first place?

I know some of the breeders near me give powdered kelp in herb mixes and in soft foods.

My birds have kelp available to them. There is a syndrome where Gouldians - mostly hens - go bald. At one time, it was felt that this was due to an Iodine deficiency. This logic is now questioned and many breeders no longer ascribe to it. However, many do provide kelp free choice so the birds can take it if they need it (and mine do take it regularly).

Many, many breeders add Iodine in the water, but this forces the bird to take in something they may or may not need just to get a drink of water. I prefer to offer kelp in powdered form free-choice in a separate dish.

Hmmm, the breeder I spoke with (Helen Hoffman) who puts it in their water. I think the powdered kelp might be easier in the egg food. Would it hurt to let everyone have it? And where would I get it?

All of my birds have it free choice in a separate dish - and all species take it - but some more than others. The liquid kelp is actually pretty easy - just a couple of drops in a liter if I remember correctly. It is clear and odorless. I get my powdered kelp from Mountain Rose Herbs https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/seaweed/seaweed.php. There are many places to get it and I believe it is also packaged for birds.

Bought my iodine from a local bird shop but it is also available on ladygouldian.com. I have a jug of water just for gouldians with the iodine and water mixed together.

Like Martie said breeders used to believe a lack of iodine was the cause for gouldians to go bald. They are now rethinking that theory. Your birds will get iodine from hard boiled eggs also. Be careful not to over supplement iodine, growth, egg production and hatchability can be affected if they are getting too much.

Here's a good article written by Laraine at ladygouldian
https://ladygouldian.com/content/why-my-gouldian-bald

The only gouldians I've seen go bald are ones that are older and stressed out. Kinda like us humans.

I do not regularly supplement kelp/iodine to them and have not had a bald gouldian. I do provide hard boiled eggs mix with nesting food a couple times a week. I really think its the magical food for all finches. I will tell you that I recently got a sample of kelp granules from Terri and ended up buying a one pound bag. Just this weeks I've started to add a little to the eggfood and the birds are going crazy for the stuff. They are not eating it in the treat cup on its own however...?

Well they are getting fresh egg food every day, so maybe that is enough for them. I'm not sure Helen could feasibly provide egg to as many birds as she has. She'd probably need her own chicken farm so maybe that why she provides liquid iodine in the water. I certainly don't want to overdo it which is why I asked for opinions on using it. Obviously it worked for her as she is very successfully breeding many species and mutations. I just wondered about other people's experiences and thoughts using it. And I wanted to be sure I wasn't depriving them of something they needed.

I like the ideas of kelp granules in the eggfood. If all finches eat the kelp, but don't need the iodine, are gouldians susceptible to other problems that are diet related?

I personally don't think gouldians are susceptible to any problems diet related then any other finch.