TRACE ELEMENTS.......................BUDGERIGARS TURN TO WOOD

The argument about the importance of green food in a budgerigar’s diet is often a topic during Club meetings. Some are adamant that it

is essential whilst others claim it is not. Those FOR say our budgerigars need additional minerals/ proteins and vitamins – all of which

are to be found in green food. If you have a garden or a small area around your home you can grow greens such as silverbeet, broccoli etc

from packets of seed obtainable in every garden shop, garden centre or supermarket. The list is extensive.

Could our healthy eating programmes, extended into our birdrooms, be the answer to our birds enjoying a healthier

and longer life?

THOSE AGAINST

Those who are AGAINST feeding green food to their budgerigars contend that most of what you see on sale is in

one way or another contaminated. The growers, so they claim, spray their crops to keep insects and diseases at bay.

And then you have the problem of not knowing how much green food to give your birds!

The argument is there from both sides and quite valid. But what should you do to ensure your birds, who are

entirely dependant upon you for everything they eat? Do you grow your own and feed what you grow to your birds

or do you stay with seed as supplied by seed merchants adding factory prepared stimulants and other products to

help them from day to day?

IN THE WILD

There is however another side to the story and that is hardly ever mentioned.

What do budgies thrive on in the wild?

In their native environment budgerigars live primarily on grass seeds. They do not eat dry grass seed like the

standard Canary seed which is their staple diet in the Birdroom. The seed they eat in the wild is moist and either

half ripe or fully ripe. Seed in this form contains valuable elements which unfortunately are lost once it is dried and

harvested. Our birds do not eat the husk of the dried seed we supply. This is discarded leaving only the kernel

which lacks the essential elements of the moist seed. To counterbalance this lack of essential elements we feed

green food but due to the arid desert type climate where the wild budgerigar exists, green food is not readily

available. So the budgerigar has, for years, turned to bark and trees.

We are all aware of the damage our budgerigars do to wood in our flights, breeding cabinets and show cages. This

is blamed on boredom, but that is not what prompts budgerigars to attack wood. The birds are chewing wood

because it contains trace elements. Budgerigars need a lot of cellulose and this is found in wood, bark and fibrous

parts of plants. Unfortunately the volume of cellulose found in green food is insufficient to maintain the needs of

our budgerigar – but it is there in wood and bark. The digestive system of the budgerigar contains a variety of

micro-organisms which can turn cellulose into essential nutritive elements such as valuable amino acids, fatty acids

and vitamins. Without these the health of the budgerigar is at risk and in an attempt to supply those elements they

will eat wood as referred to and anything like paper on the floor of the cage.

It is not generally known that wood and bark also contain other minerals, especially lime. If a fancier provides

sufficient fresh wood and bark to his birds it will be found that there is less demand by the birds for either grit or

calcium. They will get enough lime from the wood and bark to meet their needs for conditioning and egg

production. The lack of micro-organisms through insufficient cellulose can cause many problems in the Birdroom

especially when it comes to breeding time. Chicks which die in the nest could be the result of poor quality crop

milk in the parents which can be blamed on lack of proteins leading back to insufficient cellulose. Over breeding in

birdrooms which do not supply fresh wood or bark can lead to an overall drop in stud performance and poor

breeding results.

Courtesy `Budgerigar World’ & BRASEA Bulletin

Hibiscus, Bottlebrush and Eucalyptus are just a few examples of branches that budgies love to demolish!

Very interesting read Kaz.

*** RUNS TO PARK TO GET MORE FRESH BRANCHES***

 

Great article Kaz! Now we know why they completely distroy every fresh branch they get - I always thought they did it becuase it was fun - now i know better and will give more fresh branched - Thanks :rip:

VERY interesting reading, Kaz. When Sunny gets a new twig he takes days removing all the bits of bark, but he also eats them. I figured it was good roughage for him, but never thought about trace elements.

 

I wish Sunny was a bit more sensible about other foods. The only greens he will eat are the little leaf you pinch (in my case literally, cos I nick them whenever I'm in a place that sells veggies though nobody seems to mind) off the thick stem of broccoli ... well washed, of course. Other than that he will take exactly one bite out of a baby spinach leaf then ignore it. He won't even look at any other veg or fruit. My previous budgie, who was middle-aged when he came to live with me and had never had any green feed whatever, was crazy about young tender thistle plants. He could smell them at 20 paces, and would eat the entire baby plant, leaves, stem and roots.

 

Pin Needham, our avian vet, recommended exactly what you talked about - fresh live native seed plants. He said to pull the plant up and put it in the cage, roots and all. Trouble is I'd already tried that many times with Sunny, but his invariable response was to avoid that part of his cage until the plant was removed.

 

I once read an article on the internet which said that budgies in the wild also ate eucalyptus leaves, but they chose the topmost leaves from only a few species. and were as picky as koalas. But I think that was for moisture rather than nutrition.

Liz