Feather Fast and Calcium Plus

[slmackin]

I think I have an orange cheeked finch beginning to molt...looking a little rough, increase in soft feathers on the floor, behavior is good and so is eating. Is Feather Fast and Calcium Plus worthwhile?

Thank you.

[jamezyboo21]

I never tried calcium plus but i also give my finches featheriffic i guess the same as feather fast and they always have it in their eggfood mix. To make sure they always have it whenever they need it. I use cuttlebone for calcium and sometimes make it into a powder and sprinkle just a little in their food.

[nixity]

Anything that will add a bit of protein and a full complex of amino acids (which are the building blocks of protein) is a good choice when you have birds that are heavily molting.
Feathers are made of protein, afterall.

I, too, use Feather Fast in my juvenile aviary.
I sprinkle it onto their sprouts/veggies 3-4x a week.

Calcium plus is great because it contains Vitamin D3 and Magnesium as well as the Calcium which is imperative for the birds to actually be able to utilize the calcium to its fullest.

I am a bit lax when using this - sometimes I use it more than others. On average, I'd say I use it about once or twice a week for my juveniles, breeding birds and non breed hens - about once or twice every two weeks for my resting cocks, and this is mostly because if calcium is over fed to the males they tend to get calcifications on the tops of their beaks. (speaking about Gouldians in particular here, don't know if this happens with other species, too, or not)

[MLaRue]

I don't give my birds Calcium Plus on a regular basis at all if ever. I find if they have access to a good eggshell, mineral mix they do fine without it. This is for many species that I have right now. But I've heard that certain Waxbills do need a higher amount of calcium, D3, magnesium supplement when breeding.

[nixity]

How do you supplement the D3 Misty? You probably have told me and I just don't remember..

[L in Ontario]

I, too, use Feather Fast in my juvenile aviary.
I sprinkle it onto their sprouts/veggies 3-4x a week.

Doesn't the Feather Fast absorb the moisture from the sprouts/veggies? Once or twice I've sprinkled it on the fresh eggfood I put in and it gets damp and I find they won't touch the plate then.

Calcium plus is great because it contains Vitamin D3 and Magnesium as well as the Calcium which is imperative for the birds to actually be able to utilize the calcium to its fullest.

...about once or twice every two weeks for my resting cocks, and this is mostly because if calcium is over fed to the males they tend to get calcifications on the tops of their beaks. (speaking about Gouldians in particular here, don't know if this happens with other species, too, or not)

When breeding Gouldians, I provide Calcium Plus once a week (more often if a breeding hen is having any kind of difficulty). But this may explain my silver males' beak which appears very thick on top.

[nixity]

Well that's mainly the reason why I use it on the sprouts is so it sticks to the seed.
I just very lightly sprinkle it on, my birds don't have a problem with it :/

You could also sprinkle it onto fresh egg food if you offer that to your birds, but I wouldn't sprinkle it onto a commercial egg food because usually those are already fortified with vitamins and minerals, so you don't want to add another vitamin/mineral supplement on top of that.