Bird Junky

Hi Don't want to appear a know all but have a couple of corrections.... The act of using a torch is called CANDLING, & the correct way to do it is. Hold the egg between forefinger & thumb & shine a small torch up through the egg....B.J.

Hi If your birds are indoors. No problem breeding in winter provided parents are fit & well...B.J.

Hi Just noticed a miss print in my "Thing you didn't want to know about seed" ...the canary is grown in Canada the Millet sprays & Niger are from china & Vietnam.....Sorry ..B.J. No edit button..

Hi Welcome. Any questions,,,,just ask...B.J.

What you didn't want to know about seed. As I mentioned before, I've spent some of my working life in the Grain, Seed & Animal Feed stuff business. So here I'm going to let you into a few secrets. They don't print on the pkt. The Market. The only seeds, at the time of writing, grown almost exclusively for birds are, canary, niger (nijer) & millet sprays, most of which are grown in Canada & by hill farmers in China & Vietnam as a cash crop. All the other seeds are grown for human consumption in one form or another. Usually under contract to buyers. After these markets have been satisfied. The remainder referred to in the trade as, the "Leftovers". Are sold on for animal feed. Add to this the mill & silo clean outs. Seeds with a low germination rate & anything that gets hulled in the transportation & sorting process is automatically considered unfit for human consumption. For instance, maize, peanuts, sunflower hearts, nuts, peas, rice etc, etc... These can later be dried & chipped to make them into seed size bits as fillers, by the big international animal feed suppliers who will mix to their customers, (the seed merchants) recipes, bag with their logo & even deliver direct to their customers, or point of sale shops. This drastically cuts down on overheads all round. Some of course, is sold on to smaller suppliers with their own bagging & packaging facilities. Usually with options for an extra polish & additives like aniseed & orange oil, & extra colour in the form of chipped chilli peppers for customer eye & nose appeal. Many bird keepers will happily pay extra for a colourful sweet smelling bag of seed. Virtually a big Pot-Pourri. WHAT'S NOT IN SEED Seed is rather short when it comes to protein & the fat content in some cases is quite high. as in sunflower, saffron & niger. (nijer) The little protein you do get is low in minerals like, sodium, iodine, copper, calcium, iron, magnesium, selenium & zinc among others. It's also low in amino acids & the vitamins A. B2. B12. E & K. The % of what seeds do & don't contain can be obtained from your countries Min of Ag. It's well known that a pet bird with nothing more strenuous to do than stare at his own reflection all day. Can live up to 10yrs or so on an all seed diet plus an occasional treat. THE NUTRITIONAL BIT. A poor diet of seed only, will leave a breeding bird susceptible to various diseases & health problems, like poor fertility, laying, egg eating, desertion, none hatching, dead chicks & sudden death due to gradual organ failure. A pair raising several chicks in two broods a year could be too physically exhausted to carry on, Any chicks raised on such a diet will appear quite healthy as they will have taken all the nutrients they need from their parents ever decreasing supply. An all seed diet no matter what the mix, even if its fortified with a squirt from a can of vitamin oil,or dusted with mineral powder, which will soon join the rest of the dust at the bottom of the bag. Is going to keep birds in a healthy condition for the whole of their normal breeding life.. Neither is it natural for a bird to receive its full compliment of nutrients on a daily basis in the form of additives. Some additives have been found to interfere with the birds natural way of extracting nutrients from its food & there is no way of ensuring that any bird isn't eating more or less of the additives than the others. Some additives added to drinking water, (Cal) have been known to deteriorate after a few hours.. Birds can function quite well on this system, their breeding life can be good, then gradually deteriorate as the years pass leading to early sudden death due to nutritional overload, along with all the ills of the under nutritional diet. This is a waste of money & a misconception of doing good. A bird will never fully recover from the organ damage caused by long term over or under nutritional diet. THE CONTAMINATED SEED.... Earlier this year 2012 in both the UK & USA. Two well known but unconnected bird seed suppliers were successfully prosecuted in their own countries for knowingly selling seed contaminated with a toxic substance. That's the ninth recall or prosecution this year That I know about. There could be more...... We're so lucky in the UK a, "DUTY OF CARE" was imposed under the Animal Welfare Act, way back in 2006. Unfortunately & typical all such governments not enough inspectors are employed to enforce this D.O.C. As for the US firm, as the worlds largest distributors of both bird seed & garden pesticides. Argued that they used the pesticide to try to protect the seed from an infestation of mice. They were fined a total of $6m. 7000000 units (pkts) were sold, luckily none of the US products were sold in the UK....... Remember You can buy single seed packs & mix your own...Why waste your money on fillers & nice smelling seed.. The fancy writing & the colour of the bag wont make your birds any healthier..B.J.

Hi A recall means they didn't test the stuff in the first place. Their claim to only use the best is c**p... Ground up Peanuts & lots of other items are used as fillers in seed mixes. Not named but sometimes referred to as healthy additives etc. Oz get there seed from the same sources every one else does. No seed merchant grows his own.....Accidents don't happen..They're allowed to happen in the name of Profit .....B.J.

Hi Yes they remember them & even if some have poor memories there shouldn't be any fighting just the odd argument....B.J.

Hi Don't see any pictures... When your birds have passed through their first moult. the cock birds cere will turn blue & a hens will turn brown. Why one is noisy, like people all birds are all different ...okay ...B.J.

HELLO. I wonder would I get as much stick if I posted my, "What you don't want to know about seed." as I did about my "PELLETS", post.????? This is the third seed supplier this year....see recall....B.J. http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-news/2012/10/26/wildwood-seed-recall.aspx

Hi Just give them the same stuff your budgies get.. That is a good mix of seeds, fruit & veg.& hard boiled egg mashed fine with the shell...B.J.

Hi An Aviary is where birds, eat sleep & play all in the same area...... A flight is the play area attached to separate eating & sleeping quarters....B.J.

Hi If your measuring in cms it is not big enough...B.J.

Hi. Welcome. Plenty of info on this site. Read & anything your not sue of, Just ask...B.J.

Hi Your other choice is to rear it yourself. You don't say if the budgie has her own chicks.....B.J.

Hi You only need to worm birds if they have worms. Check poo for evidence...B.J.

Hi. If You have a hen already in a cage it is usually better not to add more birds. Hens are very territorial & may kill a new bird. It's okay in an aviary. where there is plenty of room. Plus Jodie's advice

Hi No they enjoy looking for tasty insects etc, But no doubt some clean freaks might disagree. If normal soil was dangerous all the wild birds would be dead...B.J.

Hi Welcome to the site.....B.J.

Hi the more times you go in the aviary the sooner your birds will get used to your presence . Always take something nice in for them. Like a Dandylion plant or a clump of grass with dirt & roots on. Hang it from the roof then step back into safety porch, keep still & quiet & watch them enjoy it. Take a chair in if poss. As they get used to you, stand just inside the door. Don't expect to be able to handle them for weeks. It's very unusual for a bird to die of fright. So don't worry about the others..okay slow & quietly....B.J.

Hi It is possible to start as on hatch day. If your confident enough in your ability. BUT the earlier you start the harder the work you have to do to keep them alive. It is possible to allow the parents to do all the feeding while you handle them say twice a day for a few minutes & as they get older you can play with them for say 15 then on to 20 min at a time......B.J..

Hi Clickers, THE PRO'S & CON'S Clicker or noise maker training is nothing new, its been around in one form or another since animals/birds, were first kept in captivity. Pigeon fanciers calling down their racers by rattling a tin of grain or small pebbles may be the one most people are familiar with. The clicker itself was originally a rather annoying toy that small children found most amusing. After going out of fashion as a toy it was taken up by trainers as a valuable aid in training all manner of animals. It was especially helpful, for instance those with a speech impediment Or those unable to co-ordinate their body movements & speech. Personally I am not against clickers for those who need them but with one proviso. Never use one in the presence of any bird with the capacity to mimic. For reasons I'm sure I don't need to go into....B.J.

Hi Sorry your too late. to help....B.J.

Hi Who is giving you advice like...Licking their feet...... Putting feathers in so scent stops mice. Perhaps you could list all this advise & we could tell you what's true & what's not......B.J.

Hi Is he scratching a lot? Have you seen mites under his feathers? If yes you can get drops to put on him from the pet shop. & you should put it on both birds. Clean the cage & paint it over with a cheap bleach to kill any hiding in the cracks.... Please explain. "Licking his feet"......B.J.