Cider vinegar!?

[Cardinal94]

Hi guys, I'm new to all of this as I've just purchased my first bird Mr. Pickle who's is a gouldian finch, however when I bought him I was told to add the tiniest bit of cider vinegar into his water, by the shop owner, is this right and I. So why cider vinegar aha!! Thank you for all!!

[Sally]

Apple cider vinegar is an old-time remedy used by many breeders in the past. The acidic content is supposed to help keep the digestive system healthy. I do add it to my water, no longer on a daily basis, more like once a week. I have lots of birds, so I add 1 Tbs. to a gallon of water, which would probably work out to only a drop or two in your bird's drinking water. But if you have very acidic tap water to start with, you would not want to add ACV to it. My tap water is very alkaline. Be sure to use raw, unpasteurized, organic ACV--Bragg's is available many places these days, even my local grocery store.

Congrats on the new Gouldian! You may soon find that you will want another one to be company for Mr. Pickle--finches aren't very good solitary pets. Photos are always welcome.

And welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at the Finch Information Center, linked at left, and the members are always ready to help. If you put your general location in your profile, it helps when answering locale-specific questions later on.

[wellingtoncdm]

Welcome to the forum.

I also am a fan of Braggs raw apple cider vinegar.
I add it to water as well as soaked or chitted seed.
I ask so add it to hand feeding formula.

[Sally]

Welcome to the forum.

I also am a fan of Braggs raw apple cider vinegar.
I add it to water as well as soaked or chitted seed.
I ask so add it to hand feeding formula.

I have not thought to add it to hand feeding formula, Charlie, but when I suspect a yeast infection, I start adding baby apple sauce. Perhaps it would be better to add the ACV from the very beginning, never let yeast get started with enough acid present. How much ACV do you add to hand feeding formula?

[wellingtoncdm]

Truthfully I don't measure.
While we are talking hand feeding formula, off topic, sorry!
I also add a tiny amount of spirulina to it.

[Martie]

I have fortunately avoided hand feeding for some time, but always add ACV to the formula, too. Like Charlie, I don't measure, but make up about a half a bathroom dixie cup at a time (I normally am feeding just one or two at a time) and add a drop or two of ACV to that.

Now, as a moderator I must warn you and Charlie that you are way off topic on this thread!

[Sally]

Now, as a moderator I must warn you and Charlie that you are way off topic on this thread!

Yes, ma'am!

Sorry, Cardinal94, and here we are hijacking your very first post! on us!

[Cardinal94]

No no!! Thank you guys for helping me and Mr pickle, I'm just a bit confuzzled with everything everyone's saying aha!! The problem with being a newbie!! I have him on egg food but he doesn't seem to be intrested in it, and with the ACV should I add it to his water once a week do you reckon because at the moment I add a little drop everyone I give him frah water which is everyday? And help is welcome and appreciated x

[wellingtoncdm]

I use it almost daily. A big splash in a gallon jug. I've also used grapefruit seed extract in the water. There are many opinions and ways to raise birds.
The most important thing is clean drinking water. Some use bottled some tap.

[Sally]

I agree, it is confusing in the beginning, as you read so many different tips on here. Just remember that each member is simply telling what works for them. We have all developed our own programs through trial and error, so what works for me may not work for you at all. You will try many ideas, some you will keep and some you will discard. My philosophy is that my program has to not only work for my birds, but it has to work for me as well. If it doesn't fit into my budget, my time, my lifestyle, then I probably won't stick with it. And if it is too much like work, then I won't be happy either, this is supposed to be a fun hobby, not a job!

So go ahead and try out some of the ideas you find here on the forum. You'll soon figure out what you like to do, what makes your birds happy. Enjoy!

[Sally]

As far as Mr. Pickle not eating eggfood, Gouldians are notorious for being picky eaters. Sometimes you just have to keep offering it. One day he may surprise you and decide he likes it. IMO it is one of the best supplements you can offer your bird, but don't let it upset you if he won't eat it.

[lovezebs]

Cardinal94
Hello and welcome from Canada.
Congratulations on your new feathered friend. Love the name 'Mr Pickles.'
As to apple cider vinegar. I was just offered this advice as well by a Gouldian breeder who is on the Forum. It has to be the unfiltered unpesturised all natural type. I was told to add about four to six drops to about a cup of water (for measurement). The birds don't seem to mind it at all. I also add a drop of vita sol vitamins about twice a week as well not on the same days as the acv.
My guys love grated hard boiled egg and the egg shells. They eat them like potato chips. Also a good seed mix and lots of fruits and vegetables as well as cuttle bone, fotified grit and dry mealworms.
Enjoy your new bird, and consider a companion for him.

[cindy]

Welcome to the forum.

I also am a fan of Braggs raw apple cider vinegar.
I add it to water as well as soaked or chitted seed.
I ask so add it to hand feeding formula.

I use the same brand...add it to hand feeding formula for the first few days of hand feeding, only a drop or two.

I occasionally add it to the water tubes but some of my birds tend to drink less water when doing so.

[Cardinal94]

Thank you everyone for your lovely messages!! i am currently looking a a Mrs. Pickle but there so hard to find here in the uk, i have asked the bloke i bought my male off of to keep an eye out for a female, but i was going to send a picture of his cage and see if its big enough for two of them to live in there, if not then i would buy a new cage, i will send some pictures of Mr. Pickle, however he is malting according to the breeder so he isnt at his (prettiest) but hes my sexy little man aha!!, however im glad that i now know that hes picky about egg food, i thought i hadnt made it right!!

[Sally]

One tip on the eggfood: if I just mash up a hardboiled egg, my birds don't like it, it is too moist for them. I add things like dry commercial eggfood or nestling food to the eggs to dry them out. Also, if you will sprinkle some of his seed mix on top of the eggfood, that will often draw them over to try it out. Birds are funny, some of my birds will immediately try out/sample anything I put in the cage, but then you get the ones that are like little kids--they are not going to eat those veggies, no matter how much you bribe them!