Do you feed grit ?

[Cacoonkitty]

Hi guys, I have a pair of red faced parrots, a pair of stars and 2 pairs of Gouldians...and soon hopefully some cordon blurs too....I have two different types of grit...one is a plain fine counura she'll and the other .........is a fine mix of oyster grit, limestone grit, baked egg shells, charcoal, cuttlefish, and counura shell and sais it's for finches.......my question is I have read that it's not good to give finches grit because of compaction, however I thought they needed this to help grind down the seeds.....do you feed this stuff of not and why ???

[Lexuscash]

Hello

I used the medicated fine grit http://www.breederschoiceseeds.com.au/categories/Grits/
They seem to love it.

[E Orix]

Firstly seedeating birds such as Finches do require grit and in my opinion simple washed sand is as good as anything.
Infact even normal dirt washed to remove the smaller particles will do the job well.
I do not regard shellgrit to be any where near as good as a grinding agent for their crop. Good as a calcium supplement yes.
The shellgrit breaks down too quickly and to finer particles which is passed through without really doing it's required task.
I think the compaction theory came out of the USA and was based on fine calcium particles filling the creases in the crop
but sand particles tend to remain larger hence less problems.

[Tiaris]

Yes they do require grit & the fine mix you are already giving should be an excellent mineral supplement as well.

[E Orix]

I do not agree, while all the supplements you are feeding are very good for the birds well being non to my knowledge are an
actual grit as required for the gizzard area.
All are water soluable to a point where parts of sand are not.
Just my point of view.

[Cacoonkitty]

So the mixed grit I have seems good, it's very fine grade and has plenty of mixed stuff in it...I have yet to give it to them as I was concerned it may be of harm to them due to mixed reviews on what I have read....but as I have recently acquired a few more birds the are young gouldians and are going through a moly right now to get there Dult feathers so want to provide them with everything they need to supplie them with good nutrition to meet there needs......so yes I should put it in there ??????? ;-/ thank you all for your replying and mixed reviews are great.

[Cacoonkitty]

So just as a question is the limestone sand not a grit ?? Or the shell particles ? Should I add so etching else to this mix as well ? ...sand....from the beach ( washed well )

[Tiaris]

I do not agree, while all the supplements you are feeding are very good for the birds well being non to my knowledge are an
actual grit as required for the gizzard area.
All are water soluable to a point where parts of sand are not.
Just my point of view.

I'm not disagreeing with you at all David. I said that they (Finches) require grit & that the fine mix offered would be an excellent mineral supplement. I didn't state that the fine mix was ideal as an insoluble gizzard grit as would a coarse sand, but since you had already suggested something similar I was simply trying to suggest that the fine mineral mix would be very worthwhile to continue offering in its own right as an extremely beneficial mineral supplement.

[E Orix]

I must put hat in hand as I missed the limestone grit, this should be fine it's basically sand.
Sorry Tiaris, I was trying to stress that any form of crushed shells(shell grit!!!!)are not a substitute for
true sand grit which is needed to aide in seedeaters digestion.

[Cacoonkitty]

Yes it's made up of fine particles of limestone grit / sand ( I suppose you could call it ) crushed fine cuttle bone, fine charcoal bits, small particles of oyster shell , crushed baked egg shell bits, and small counura shells.....I also offer a whole cuttle bone, fresh greens, soaked seed (mixed finch and tonic) also dry seed, fresh hemp seed, egg biscuit food , added moult aid in their water, and added Vit D and calcium to there soaked seed a few times a week...they are kept outside if the weather permits under the shade of my veranda..... ...I have a big aviary on wheels that can be moved if needed...I only have 9 finches so this is possible for me....I would like to keep them outside on my undercover veranda all the time but worry about them getting cold....in in NSW and it has been getting quite windy recently and have read that Gouldians don't like the cold.