The Mineral and Trace Elements for the Budgerigar

 

The minerals and trace elements are the most neglected part of good nutrition for budgerigars.

Seeds are a very poor source of minerals and trace elements. Fanciers do not pay enough attention to the role and necessity of the minerals and trace elements for breeding and show performance, believing that the grit they use provides their flock with all the minerals and trace elements required for good health.

However, this is not so. The regular grits contain calcium but are deficient in iodine, iron and most trace elements. The wild budgerigar forages the dirt and river edges in search of minerals and trace elements.

Shell grit provides the budgerigar with a source of digestive stones and contains calcium, but is a poor source of mineral salts and trace elements. Cuttlefish Bone is a source of calcium, but is lacking in other minerals. Budgerigars love searching through the soil on the roots of grass clumps for minerals and trace elements. The soil contains minerals especially iron, magnesium and other field elements, for which the budgerigar craves when feeding of young. Soil, however, is a potent source of bacterial and fungal infections to budgerigars and must be avoided.

 

Minerals

 

Shell grit is not the best form of Calcium supplementation for laying birds. Laying hens need more than twice the calcium of the aviary bird and a concentrated mineral supplement (F-vite) is the best and safest method of providing the Calcium, which is largely unavailable in shell grit. Far too much shell grit is eaten to satisfy their calcium needs. Laying hens fall ill, vomit and may die from gizzard obstruction after engorging on the shell grit.

 

An abnormally high incidence of egg binding, cloacal prolapse, leg problems in the babies or poor eggshell quality points towards a low level of calcium in the diet or a poor absorption of calcium into the bird.

Wet grit creates a major health hazard to budgerigars, because the moisture in the grit promotes harmful bacterial growth and contamination. E.coli and related bacteria are commonly found in wet grits originating from the dead and decaying molluscs, which inhabit the grit shells. Some of the bacteria produced by these decaying marine animals are toxic. Wet and contaminated grit is a common cause of enteritis, wet nests and poor breeding performance in budgerigars.

 

Budgies search for minerals and trace elements when the levels in the body are depleted. Depletion of minerals occurs mostly when the hens are laying eggs and when the parents are heavily feeding young. The budgerigars become agitated, and chew on anything in search of minerals. Depleted birds over-engorging on grit or Cuttlefish bone causing vomiting and occasionally death from a blocked gizzard. Hen birds feather pick their young and cock birds kill fully feather chicks between five and six weeks of age.

 

Trace Elements

 

The most important trace elements for breeding budgerigars Iodine, Iron, Copper and Zinc.

A deficiency of any trace element will decrease breeding performance. Iodine is the most important trace element for breeding. Trace element supplementation is best given in the water or soft food mix during the breeding season.

 

Iodine activates the metabolism of budgerigars and is used to stimulate the aviary into breeding condition, to accelerate the moult of young birds and to "peak" the birds for the show. An audible whistling or squeak indicates iodine deficiency. Iodine deficiency tends to be a regional problem. Several reliable iodine supplements (Ioford NF) are available.

 

Vitamins for the Budgerigar

 

The modern day exhibition budgerigar is much larger and has a greater feather mass, grows more slowly and requires more energy and nutrients to develop. When the vitamins and minerals are not provided, the breeding birds tire easily becoming more susceptible to illnesses and the babies weaken. Although budgerigars can survive on grain and grit alone, they cannot reach the level of health required to withstand the pressures of breeding and eventually their breeding performance and health fails.

The vitamins lacking in the seed must at some stage be given to the birds in some form or other. Vitamins are a necessary part of budgerigar life and nowadays vitamins are given in the soft food mix or water. All of the B vitamins, especially Thiamine, accelerate the recovery of ill birds by reducing stress. The signs of a vitamin deficiency in the budgerigar are subtle. Often the vitamin deficiency relates to a bowel infection and can be confused with an illness.

 

Vitamin A is particularly important vitamin for the budgerigar.

 

Seeds are particularly low in vitamin A. vitamin A promotes appetite, digestion and also increases resistance to infection and to some parasites. The signs of a deficiency are subtle, but look carefully at the feather colour intensity, the cere colour and condition. The feathers are pale, rough and lack lustre, the cere roughened not smooth, and there may be an accumulation of a yellow dry scale on the sides of the mouth in budgerigars with a vitamin A deficiency. Look for signs of bumble foot and scaly face mite, which are both thought to be associated with vitamin A deficiency. The most obvious sign of a vitamin A deficiency is a feather stain above the cere. The staining of the feathers above the nostrils reflects a discharge from the nostrils. As with all of the other vitamin deficiencies birds with a vitamin A problem respond quickly to the supplementation of the vitamin in the water (DufoPlus). Within three days the feathers colour up and shine again and the birds become erect and alert. Vitamin A supplements are helpful in stimulating the appetite of overcrowded young and breeding birds.

 

Vitamin D3 is produced by natural sunlight.

 

Vitamin D3 has an intimate relationship with the calcium metabolism. Calcium is vital to fitness and vitality through its role in muscle and bone health. Vitamin D3 is incredibly important for egg laying, strong babies and vitality in the young birds and breeding flock but an excess of vitamin D causes kidney damage and retards growth. Vitamin D is naturally formed by the action of direct sunlight on the bird and breeding birds do better when the aviary is flooded with natural light. Egg binding and soft shell eggs are rarely encountered in sunlit aviaries. Bent keels, splayed legs and beaks abnormality are the most common signs of a vitamin D3 deficiency. It is almost impossible to reverse these abnormalities.

 

Vitamin E promotes natural health and vitality.

 

Vitamin E functions as a biological anti-oxidant that may be important during the stress of overcrowding and during breeding when the formation of free radicals is increased. Vitamin E also has a positive effect on the immune function and any improvement in immune function must potentially benefit the breeding budgerigar and stressed young bird in the overcrowded aviary.

 

Vitamin E deficiency may occur when rancid oils are fed excessively to the breeding pairs. All oil preparations must be refrigerated and tightly sealed. The signs of deficiency in budgerigars include twisting of the neck, stiff legs and leg weakness.

 

The B vitamins are energy vitamins used against stress.

 

The B vitamins are all involved in the energy metabolism as cofactors in enzymatic reactions. They are extremely beneficial when the energy expenditure increase nine fold during the heavy feeding of the chicks. They aid in the continuing vitality of the feeding parents and maximise the growth of the chicks. Thiamine (vitamin B12) is an extremely important vitamin. Although seeds are a rich source of Thiamine, it is destroyed in budgerigars with enteritis. Thiamine supplements are given to accelerate the recovery of budgerigars during an enteritis outbreak.

 

A cultured yeast byproduct (Energy supplement) is anexcellent source of Thiamine and B vitamins and is recommended for all breeding budgerigars on a daily basis.

 

Eucalypts have a special place in the life of the budgerigar.

 

The wild budgerigar has evolved alongside the Eucalypt tree and over a million years has developed an intimate bond with the tree and its leaves. Wet eucalypt leaves excite and invigorate both the wild and aviary budgerigar into a frenzy of joy. They love to bath in the wet leaves and breeding hens destructively chew the bark searching for trace elements and lysine, the breeding protein. The eucalyptus oil from the leaves has medicinal properties that stimulate the immune system and promote a strong natural resistance to disease.