Gravel: How big is too big?

FinchNerd · Post by **FinchNerd** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 7:09 pm

Okay...so I swear to God I used to buy some kind of bird gravel that was fine almost like sand, maybe with slightly bigger grains. But now all the gravel I find has huge chunks of stuff in it and I'm scared to death I'm going to choke my finches.

The only kind I could find is labeled for all birds and it has big and little chunks in it. I actually use a strainer to filter out the big pieces. Am I just being paranoid?

Should I have more faith that my birds know better than to eat something too large or perhaps that it's not too large at all? Here's the link to the kind I bought. It says on the back of the canister that it's appropriate for all birds including finches. I got it at a grocery store, but I went to the pet store and all the bird gravel I could find looked just like this. I couldn't find anything with smaller grains. http://www.sergeants.com/products/Produ ... 43&pr=5532

ac12 · Post by **ac12** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 7:25 pm

I understand that finches do NOT need grit.
So I do not give my finches grit of any kind. I don't want them getting constipated by rocks in their gut.

For calcium they get egg shells or cuttle bone, along with an egg mix to provide the vitamin D to absorb the calcium.

Post by **Sally** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 11:25 pm

I don't give my birds anything that is labeled 'gravel', but they do get 'grit'. I use oystershell grit, which your product looks like it may be. Because I have a lot of birds, I buy mine at the feed store, 40lb. bag usually sold for chickens, I think, and it is fairly chunky. I grind it in a coffee grinder to make it more of a powder. I offer my birds a mineral cup which varies in what it contains, but usually is oystershell grit, or ABBA mineral mix, eggshells, trace minerals from Morning Bird, charcoal. This is free choice, and I top off the cups as needed.

ac12 · Post by **ac12** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:58 am

Following up on Sally
READ the label. The primary ingredient might be oyster shell (good) so they can label it "oyster shell grit," but there might be rock of some kind in the grit (not good). I got a bag of that before I learned finches do not need grit like pigeons and similar birds that swallow the seeds w/o hulling them.

FinchNerd · Post by **FinchNerd** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:06 am

I think it does have oyster shell in it. I'll check and see.

JohnBoy · Post by **JohnBoy** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:53 pm

ac12 wrote:I understand that finches do NOT need grit.
So I do not give my finches grit of any kind. I don't want them getting constipated by rocks in their gut.

For calcium they get egg shells or cuttle bone, along with an egg mix to provide the vitamin D to absorb the calcium.

This is correct. Finches remove the seed from the hull and do not need grit to grind & digest the seed . Birds like quail need grit to grind and digest the seed since they eat the seed without hulling.

I have read it it actually bad to give grit to finches.

FinchNerd · Post by **FinchNerd** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:44 pm

I've always been told that gravel is necessary for all birds. I never really thought to question it. So are they okay if I just give them a cuttle bone? Do I need to look for finely ground oyster shells or anything else? I keep a cuttle bone in their cage at all times.

ac12 · Post by **ac12** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 1:11 am

Cuttle bone should be fine.
I also give them smashed/broken small pieces of egg shell from when I make hard boiled egg mix for them.

Gawain1974 · Post by **Gawain1974** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 3:15 am

I put a mixture of mostly Hagen crushed oyster shell, some grated cuttlebone, and a little charcoal in a treat cup for my birds. The Hagen oyster shell is about the same consistency as seafloor grade sand you can buy for reef tanks.

A little trick I used with the Hagen gravel to check the calcium solubility is something we do in reefkeeping to see if the sand would be appropriate in a saltwater aquarium--drop a few grains into a vial of vinegar. If the grains start fizzing and dissolve completely, or almost completely, then you're good to go. If they don't fizz or if most of the grain is left behind, then you got other minerals in the gravel.

Post by **Sally** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 8:15 pm

I guess the terms grit and gravel are so confusing, they probably shouldn't be used when talking about the mineral mixes we give our birds. My birds get crushed oystershell, as it is a wonderful source of soluble calcium, and so I feel it is good for my birds, especially the breeders. The trace minerals, charcoal, eggshells, none of these would be considered grit either.

Gawain1974 · Post by **Gawain1974** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 3:47 pm

Sally, I offer my Gouldians a combo of crushed oyster shells with charcoal and grated cuttlebone mixed in. Do I need to bother adding the cuttlebone since they are getting the calcium from the oyster shells?

Post by **Sally** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 9:28 pm

I also have a bag of the powdered cuttlebone, so from time to time I add some of that to my mineral cups. I hang cuttlebone in most of my breeding cages, and some birds never touch it except to perch on it and poop on it, and others regularly chip away at it. For the most part, I just try to offer lots of variety--I figure if they need it, they will eat it.

jimlas43 · Post by **jimlas43** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 11:49 pm

You do not need any gravel/grit for finches.
A cuttlebone and crushed up eggs is fine.
I use F-Vite from LadyGouldian and that is suppose to cover all of your basis but I still mix in a little eggs shell and charcoal.

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