How much does a finch drink per day?

11 Oct 2013, 17:29

I'm trying to find out exactly how much average sized active finches drink in a typical day. Can't find any info on it. Does anyone know?

Or does anyone have several finches in a big cage with a drinker but no bath? I'm hoping someone can measure the total volume of water 'before' and 'after 48 hours', so I can work out the volume drunk per finch!

Ta

11 Oct 2013, 18:13

You have finches ,so why not do some home work for your self ,do what everybody else does,study your birds ,easy to just sit back and ask questions,do the home work, and i would be interested to hear your results and your observations garyh,

11 Oct 2013, 18:22

I suppose it will depend on finches you keep and the climate your in....I have a pair of painteds and a pair of RFPF, in a cage with Glass Drinkers with the ball in the end...on hot day like today they drank just over 34ml...on normal spring day it is approx 25ml...thats just my observations, more then likely differs in your area and types of finches kept etc..

11 Oct 2013, 18:28

It will vary from species to species as well as diet. Pretty sure wild zebs can get enough moist from their food in dry times. 2mL comes to mind as a standard figure.

I'll do a literature search and see what I can find.

Cheers Ian

11 Oct 2013, 19:39

Please don't take this the wrong way but....

why?

It would need to be done scientifically for your results to be valid.

As mentioned above it depends on the finch, aviary conditions and health of the birds.

Now I am curious. . . . .

11 Oct 2013, 21:38

Thanks so much Vettepilot, that's a great start! Exactly the kind of thing I'm after.

Elf, that's OK, and yes everything needs to be measured by the scientific method if we want a scientifically valid result. That level of precision is not needed in this case though. A 'close enough' intake range measured semi-formally under usual conditions is sufficient. Then again, it's a good 'science lesson 101' kind of experiment for kids - measure volume before and after. Doesn't get much simpler than that! Then vary temperature, etc. Not needed though.

The reason? I want to broadly check dosage calculations for a particular medication - 'g of drug per kg body weight'...calculate upper/lower dosages...build in estimates of water intake for delivery...adjust for reduced intake due to taste, etc, blah blah. Wasn't going to bore anyone with the detail!

Thanks for looking into it Ian! I had a quite a hunt but oddly could not find any data. Hopefully you will do better.

11 Oct 2013, 21:52

When conducting a test, I would have a control drinker that is full but not available to drink from. This can be compared to the aviary drinkers so evaporation can also be assessed. It's a tough call. Climate, age, gender, stage of breeding cycle, time of day, species and more can all play a factor..... Just like with us (although I think we are all the same species,right?!!)

11 Oct 2013, 22:10

Ah, I've attracted the thorough folk

.

Uraeginthus wrote: I think we are all the same species,right?!!

I'm not convinced.

12 Oct 2013, 06:35

Going to play the bad guy here,just because you have me confused,in your other posts you state that you dont medicate your birds because you want them to be strong

,garyh

12 Oct 2013, 07:13

Gary, I do use anti-parasitic/protozoal meds preventatively and if symptoms arise, because the birds are outdoors in an uncovered aviary with a mulch floor. It's one of those meds I want to check and satisfy myself about dosage being in the right ballpark.

It's antibiotics that I don't use routinely because those drugs in particular seem to throw immune systems off for the long haul. I try to be pretty mercenary about it and only use them when extremely necessary, which almost never happens. That's probably what you were thinking of.