Hi Dazzab,
I also supply cuttlefish bone, baked egg shell and crushed oyster shell.
winter diets
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gomer
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- Joined: 23 Nov 2008, 17:41
- Location: Victoria
- Location: Victoria Australia
Winter/cooler months additions are a mix of oils being codliver, omega ,canola and raw linseed. Live food is only taken when required anyway but available most of the year.
Where I live climate has a very large part of the breeding cycle.The bird will breed when it is ready at the right time of the year. Somewhere further north maybe diet would be a large part. I have tried a Austerity diet and found it no different to other years. If you live in a really cold area would your bird need either a reasonable diet to get through the winter as its burning up energy keeping warm. Or do you wrap it up in cotton wool to keep it alive ?
Where I live climate has a very large part of the breeding cycle.The bird will breed when it is ready at the right time of the year. Somewhere further north maybe diet would be a large part. I have tried a Austerity diet and found it no different to other years. If you live in a really cold area would your bird need either a reasonable diet to get through the winter as its burning up energy keeping warm. Or do you wrap it up in cotton wool to keep it alive ?
Keeper of Australian Grass Finches
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nicko
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- Location: Perth SoR
gomer a silly question - how do you supply the oils.
I've a large aviary & a hopper type feeder that lasts 3 weeks a fill - not sure how oil mixed with seed would go with that setup, other than supplying a smaller amount of food every week.
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E Orix
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- Joined: 29 May 2009, 23:30
- Location: Howlong on NSW/Vic Border 30km from Albury
- Location: Howlong NSW
In your area the need for extra oils in the birds diet is not so critical. If you are concerned just add some canola(rape) and maybe Linseed
to your mix. I personally use Pound Cake which is high in oil, a block is left in the aviary and replaced when all is eaten.
I am not sure when your breeding season is but over here I want my young birds to start fledging after the third week of September that is when
or hopefully our drier and warmer weather has begun. So I am now about to go to full on breeding season diet.
It is worked out such, 14 days to condition and build, 14 days to incubate and 16+ days to fledge brings them into October.
Any earlier here and too many chicks get lost in the colder wet weather.
There are varied opinions just try as many as you wish and pick the one that is best for your birds and possibly helps you.
to your mix. I personally use Pound Cake which is high in oil, a block is left in the aviary and replaced when all is eaten.
I am not sure when your breeding season is but over here I want my young birds to start fledging after the third week of September that is when
or hopefully our drier and warmer weather has begun. So I am now about to go to full on breeding season diet.
It is worked out such, 14 days to condition and build, 14 days to incubate and 16+ days to fledge brings them into October.
Any earlier here and too many chicks get lost in the colder wet weather.
There are varied opinions just try as many as you wish and pick the one that is best for your birds and possibly helps you.
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GP Finches
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- Posts: 49
- Joined: 11 Jul 2011, 18:01
- Location: Gorokan, NSW
Interesting comments on this page.
Before I comment on oils/diet lets examine the question why do finches breed and when? Whilst there are different stressors and conditions our captive birds are exposed to compared to wild birds, our captive birds still have the same physiology and innate ability to react to triggers
Breeding is not a chance event or luck. The main factors is food and photoperiod. These are linked to precipitation, humidity, and temperature. Please read the publications of Fidler and Kingston then the white papers at Finches 17 published by Hofmann and myself. Then go to the scientific literature and read some more.
If you come to the logical scientific conclusion that finches can be triggered to breed by diet and photoperiod, why wouldn't you modulate or cycle your birds. The advantages are huge in terms of health and breeding results when done correctly with a balanced diet. I have replaced the austerity period for a period of low calories with a balanced diet and separating the sexes. That is what my birds are undergoing now. Hence why I use the term cycling.
I modulate the breeding of all my finches with some certainty. This includes breeding Gouldians in September to March.
Bringing the hens and cocks into breeding condition together improves the occurrence of breeding greatly!
Give logic and science a go.
Before I comment on oils/diet lets examine the question why do finches breed and when? Whilst there are different stressors and conditions our captive birds are exposed to compared to wild birds, our captive birds still have the same physiology and innate ability to react to triggers
Breeding is not a chance event or luck. The main factors is food and photoperiod. These are linked to precipitation, humidity, and temperature. Please read the publications of Fidler and Kingston then the white papers at Finches 17 published by Hofmann and myself. Then go to the scientific literature and read some more.
If you come to the logical scientific conclusion that finches can be triggered to breed by diet and photoperiod, why wouldn't you modulate or cycle your birds. The advantages are huge in terms of health and breeding results when done correctly with a balanced diet. I have replaced the austerity period for a period of low calories with a balanced diet and separating the sexes. That is what my birds are undergoing now. Hence why I use the term cycling.
I modulate the breeding of all my finches with some certainty. This includes breeding Gouldians in September to March.
Bringing the hens and cocks into breeding condition together improves the occurrence of breeding greatly!
Give logic and science a go.
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GP Finches
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- Posts: 49
- Joined: 11 Jul 2011, 18:01
- Location: Gorokan, NSW
The whole question as to why you may need to feed oil/oil seed in winter raises a few questions about finch diets in general.
Are you using oil/oil seeds as extra energy when it is cold? ie birds will burn more energy in winter to keep warm or....?
What is the importance of oils in finch physiology throughout the year? If the oils are beneficial in winter then they have to more beneficial during the breeding season when the hen is laying. What kind of diet are we feeding out finches throughout the year? Is the diet imbalanced in the first place?
Have logical think about why and what we are feeding our birds.
Are you using oil/oil seeds as extra energy when it is cold? ie birds will burn more energy in winter to keep warm or....?
What is the importance of oils in finch physiology throughout the year? If the oils are beneficial in winter then they have to more beneficial during the breeding season when the hen is laying. What kind of diet are we feeding out finches throughout the year? Is the diet imbalanced in the first place?
Have logical think about why and what we are feeding our birds.
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gomer
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- Joined: 23 Nov 2008, 17:41
- Location: Victoria
- Location: Victoria Australia
Nicko I coat the seed in a cement mixer then put it in the hoppers. A container or such by hand would be fine aswell.
Keeper of Australian Grass Finches