i have been told by a friend that budgies should have shellgrit every day because it helps with the digestion of food. Is that correct, i thought it was just birds that are breeding that need it.

I don't use use it

 

Shell grit is not the best form of Calcium supplementation for laying birds. Laying hens need more than twice the calcium of the aviary bird and a concentrated mineral supplement (F-vite) is the best and safest method of providing the Calcium, which is largely unavailable in shell grit. Far too much shell grit is eaten to satisfy their calcium needs. Laying hens fall ill, vomit and may die from gizzard obstruction after engorging on the shell grit

NO....a lot of people are being given bad advice re grit...because those advising have other kinds of birds that do use it, or are thinking along old schools of thought. Grit is used for birds that do NOT husk their seeds as an aid in digestion. Budgies do husk their seed.

One of my baby birds went to a home where a neighbour told her that I didnt know what I was talking about and the neighbour convinced her to put shellgrit in the bottom of the cage. This lovely healthy baby pied budgie died of impaction from eating the grit. My sad experience with it.

None of my birds get grit, but my husbands mixed avairy has grit supplied.

totally agree kaz totally agree!!!!!

 

 

i get told to use it too... and i don't !!!

The worst thing is that there are companies out there selling it with pics of BUDGIES ON IT - i guess this is where people get confused

Edited April 9, 200817 yr by Neat

Thanks for the advice, the friend who gave me the advice bought 2 of my handraised babies and she is feeding it to them.

Thanks for the advice, the friend who gave me the advice bought 2 of my handraised babies and she is feeding it to them.

Tell her to STOP !!

I'm gonna stay out of this one!!!

Thanks for the advice, the friend who gave me the advice bought 2 of my handraised babies and she is feeding it to them.

Tell her to STOP !!

 

She would not listen if i tried to tell her, i regret giving her my babies. She told me she knows all about birds because her husband breeds pigeons and races them and her brother breeds budgies but i do not think she does. She has them in a cage the size i used to have my birds in and then bought a 3 bird and put it in the cage and did not quarintine, when i tried to talk to her about it she would not listen to me.

I'm gonna stay out of this one!!!

I know show breeders use it Throwback....and on the whole it has been a practice that has been inherited from previous show breeders who have set a path of how things are done. Like a habit that continues. BUT we are now being advised that a bird that husks its seeds does not require it.

In saying this, BABY BUDGIES who fossick on the ground for their food can and will ingest far more grit than is good for their system and do, in fact, eat anything they find at ground level and seeking their food...they eat or try anything. In the case of baby budgies...supply of grit is a very bad idea. Esepcially after a very good pied baby died due to fillings its crop with shellgrit that was all over the base of its cage.

I have a large mineral block hanging near my seed trays in the aviary. Is that sufficient for breeding birds or should I be adding something to the seed or water?

I don't use gritt. I used to have some mixed in my Trill seed but the seed has gone down hill and i now buy seed from a feed place :hap:

 

It's great to know that the birds don't actually need the grit after all :hap:

 

Oh, and your friend with her highly "Skilled" pigeon breeding hubby - Pigeons dont hull seeds that is why they DO need grit - budgies don't!!! I hope you can convince her :hap:

Edited April 9, 200817 yr by **Liv**

I'm gonna stay out of this one!!! :hap:

 

Me too :hap:

Come on you guys, don't hold back as I am interested in your views.

 

Just read in Scobles book that shell grit should be given to budgies.

 

He also talks about budgies turning cannibal and needing a certain amount of meat and fat and he does this in the form of sheeps tails or suet.

 

I would actually like to see some scientific information on both subjects.

Come on you guys, don't hold back as I am interested in your views.

 

Just read in Scobles book that shell grit should be given to budgies.

 

He also talks about budgies turning cannibal and needing a certain amount of meat and fat and he does this in the form of sheeps tails or suet.

 

I would actually like to see some scientific information on both subjects.

 

Where is CHRYSOCOME when you want her ??? :hap:

I use Grit and another product from Dr Rob Marshall called F-Vite .

I think the problem with grit is that people think it gives the birds some form of nutritional extras , in actual fact grit has vertually no form of minerals at all . When I say I feed it , it is only in the mature bird flights and I see them picking at it from time to time as all budgies do when picking around on the ground as in the wild. The breeding birds get F-vite and the First year birds get F-vite also .

F-vite is bascially shell grit with minerals and trace elements added and baked till sterial .

I think birds over gorge on grit when they are lacking in something or are not ues to having the grit available to them .

So if using I believe caution at first.

Huh?? What? Me?

 

I'd love to hear everyone's arguments too. I think it would be great to have a healthy discussion and then make a list of for/against 'arguments' (the friendly kind), so we can put them up (faq maybe?) and let each person decide for themselves.

 

I've spoken to two esteemed bird vets on this. It seems the debate amongst them is just as heated as with owners and breeders.

 

One of them was a very highly known avian vet, and I noted from an older generation of vets and bird keepers, he said "yes, yes, of course yes!" because even though seed is hulled, the inside still needs to be digested! It's not as soft as you might think. Budgies like chickens have a grinding gizzard for digestion and providing soluble, solid material helps in that process - acting like teeth (otherwise the seed would still be absorbed but more slowly and perhaps less efficiently). They would swallow bits of sand and stuff in the wild even when they hull seeds - it is natural for them. He also spoke about the soluble minerals that are vital for birds. I asked about impaction and he said that in health they should be able to regulate their own needs. There should always be a small amount, not enough for damage if one obsessively swallows it.

 

The other vet is a more 'recent' (as in fifteen years) graduate and he said what a lot of you are saying - seeds are hulled and they're fairly digestible. There is a risk of engorgement and impaction that some of us aren't willing to take, especially when our birds are sick. We now have other ways of giving minerals. Their diets are getting heaps better these days.

 

I'm curious now and will see what other avian vets I can ask - I'm just about to organise more work experience at a second bird hospital, and she's extremely well known, I'll see what she says about it. I'll also poke around the bird pathologists I just met.

 

Myself - I have a tiny amount mixed in with the seed. Not much. I hate the seed mixes that come with those whole shells, as if they'd ever swallow that - bulk weight I say :fear I personally don't think there is a great need for it, especially my pet non-breeding budgies who I know eat their veggies/cuttle bone and so on. But that is my view. I think I'll go poke around some more about this.

 

Derek - I've never heard that, I'll see what I can dig up

Edited April 9, 200817 yr by Chrysocome

Come on you guys, don't hold back as I am interested in your views.

 

Just read in Scobles book that shell grit should be given to budgies.

 

He also talks about budgies turning cannibal and needing a certain amount of meat and fat and he does this in the form of sheeps tails or suet.

 

I would actually like to see some scientific information on both subjects.

On the subject of meat being given to budgies.....a few show breeders do indeed feed meat to their birds. I know of a very successful show breeder who will cook steak for his birds and watch them eat it and remove whats left. I hear of chicken carcasses being put out for birds to pick on, also chicken and mince fed to birds. Its about protein. I havent tried it yet, but I am not against the idea. A white corella cocky that has been in my family for 50 years still expects her chicken drumstick ( legbone ) every Sunday and will scream out "dance you bugger !! " until she gets it :fear

Edited April 9, 200817 yr by KAZ

On a recent search for training tips for my large parrots I noticed one of the suggestions as a favorite treat for cockies was a small piece of prawn! I was amazed at the time as it hadn't even occurred to me that one would feed meat to parrots, although I know there are a few species that feed on meat alot in the wild. That being said I come from a background in the aquarium industry and I know of a few people who swear by the occasional slice of orange thrown into the goldfish tanks as a treat to enhance colour - don't know how much truth there is in it though :shrug:

I have also always given my birds shell grit, I also give them a dish of river sand & they are always keen when I place new dishes in. As far as I know all grain eating birds need some form of grit whether they shell their seed or not. Like Chryoscome says birds don’t have teeth & use grit of some form to grind it in their gizzard. I have never had a problem with compaction, at least that I was aware of, I suspect that birds that had been deprived of grit may eat excessive amount when first given some.

 

I have often read that breeders give birds some form of meat or sheep fat, but so far I have never tried it.

I use shell grit even though you will find my posts here saying not to. I have converted to mineralised fine shell grit.

 

I am also trying a new meat meal called pig weaner. It high in protein and the birds can't get enough.... I will be worried if they start grunting .

A white corella cocky that has been in my family for 50 years still expects her chicken drumstick ( legbone ) every Sunday and will scream out "dance you bugger !! " until she gets it

 

 

:hap: :hap: :hap: :hap: :hap:

 

Personally I would never feed my naimals anything that had even the slightest chance of risking their health thats just me but!

 

♥Indz

I wouldn’t be that keen in feeding chicken bones to birds of any description, as I think they are too closely related to them & could spread some diseases, although if well cooked I guess most disease organisms would be sterilized.

Budgies love roast chicken. Especially the breast meat. It's good protein too.

I have a small dish of shellgrit hanging on the side of my aviary and I notice the odd bird picking at it now and then, so on advice from someone who belongs to my budgie club, I have included this in the aviary and they have to seek it out if they want it. My parrots love chewing on chicken bones (my indoor birds). They have also shared roast dinners with me and lasagne/spaghetti. They dont get it all the time, just on the odd occasion, but they really love it.

I wouldn't be that keen in feeding chicken bones to birds of any description, as I think they are too closely related to them & could spread some diseases, although if well cooked I guess most disease organisms would be sterilized.

 

 

Feeding birds to birds is just wrong! Don't care what benefits they get from meat.

 

 

They did this with cattle in Europe. They got great results!!

 

 

 

It's called Mad-cow Diseases!