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Calcium and Vitamin D3 supplement frequency

Posted: 20 Apr 2019, 18:34
by Shane Gowland
A lot of people on the forum have mentioned they use a water-soluble calcium and vitamin D3 supplement to help finches with breeding, and to make egg binding less common.

I decided to pick up a bottle of Passwell Liquid Gold and give it a shot, but it doesn't have any info about how often it should be provided. I was thinking weekly. Is this too often? Not often enough?

Any thoughts?

Re: Calcium and Vitamin D3 supplement frequency

Posted: 21 Apr 2019, 10:10
by Craig52
If your birds receive enough direct sunshine then you don't need to feed D3 at all. D3 helps with the absorption of calcium so this is why it is sold as a combination of the two.
Imo, if you feed a rich calcium diet in an aviary that receives a few hours of direct sunshine then that is all you need. I think these products can be used in all indoor cage/aviary situations at least once a week but more so just for the D3 so as calcium can be absorbed if that makes sense.

Re: Calcium and Vitamin D3 supplement frequency

Posted: 21 Apr 2019, 10:17
by BrettB
As you say Shane, I can not see any information about frequency on the product information.
It does say not to add it to any other Vit D fortified products as toxicity is a potential problem
My presumption would be that it is intended for daily use, but personally I would use it less often

Some research on chickens demonstrated that 20 minutes direct sunlight daily resulted in adequate Vit D
My preference for calcium / magnesium / phosphate supplement is crushed egg shells. The composition of all birds eggs is almost identical
Lutein is an interesting additive, I presume it is what makes it the lovely yellow color.

Cheers
Brett

:wtf: :wtf: :wtf: I am starting to think like Craig :thumbup:

Re: Calcium and Vitamin D3 supplement frequency

Posted: 21 Apr 2019, 12:31
by arthur
So am I . . or I am continuing to do so :thumbup:




“A healthy diet still seems superior to taking a multivitamin, and if
you already eat a healthy diet, there may be less overall benefit from taking the extra vitamins,” Dr. Kormos
says. You’ll hear similar advice from the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association.
In considering the pros and cons of multivitamins, stop for a moment and ask what you expect to gain and
why you think you need a supplement to begin with. “If people ask me if they should take a multivitamin, I
usually ask, Why do you think you need one?” Dr. Kormos says. “They say, well, I don’t eat this, I don’t eat
that. But a multivitamin is not going to replace the things missing from your diet. Whatever money you are
spending on your multivitamin, it’s probably better to spend it at the farmer’s market or the grocery store on
healthy foods.”

Found this somewhere, a long time ago . . and I expect that the same logic would apply to mineral supplements

No doubt the multi-million dollar 'vitamin industry' could provide 'expert testimony' to refute the above . . but I can remember, and it doesn't seem so long ago, when scientific 'experts' could 'prove' that smoking didn't cause lung cancer :silent:

Re: Calcium and Vitamin D3 supplement frequency

Posted: 21 Apr 2019, 18:54
by JustPerching
My supplement regime is:

Every other day = Broad spectrum Avian liquid multi vitamin drops or normal tap water
Every Two weeks = Calcium and Vitamin D3 liquid drops (weekly when breeding)
Oyster shell grit - always available
Cuttlebone - always available
Granulated carbon - always available

My birds live indoors with no access to natural light, just LED lighting for the past 10 years & I have no problem with egg binding.

Re: Calcium and Vitamin D3 supplement frequency

Posted: 23 Apr 2019, 10:12
by finchbreeder
I am another that subscribes to the - greens, sunshine and grit = the best of everything. If however you have an egg bound hen then, apart from the obvious remove her from the breeding situation. I would give this hen and all others a dose at this time. As either a. she is too stupid to do what is good for her or b. one of the essential ingrediants to good health has been a bit short in recent times, so a dose to top everyone up is warranted.
LML