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BIRD FOODS
Wombaroo and Passwell manufacture a wide
range of bird foods. These include:
USING PASSWELL BIRD FOODS
Egg & Biscuit,
Budgie Starter and
Finch Soft Food are granular
powders. They are prepared by adding sufficient warm water to the powder
and mixing to a moist, crumbly consistency. Prepare fresh food for each
feeding session. Introduce the food in small quantities until the product
is accepted. Fussy birds can be enticed by mixing small amounts of soaked
seed, meal worms or other treat with the food. Always keep utensils clean
and offer fresh water daily.
Complete Lorikeet
or Parrot Pellets may be fed ad
lib however it is better to establish your bird’s daily food
requirements. Birds in small cages tend to over eat so it is desirable to
monitor their food intake and body weight. Try to offer a variety of
fruit, vegetables and natural foods such as seeding grasses and native
blossom. Ensure that fresh water is always available.
WOMBAROO BIRD FOODS
Birds eat a diversity of food including
small mammals, reptiles, other birds, fish, insects, insect secretions,
plants, plant secretions, pollen and seeds. These foods present a spectrum
of nutrient compositions that can not be represented in a single
substitute food.
Birds can be broadly divided into two
groups based upon their requirement for either carbohydrate or protein as
the main source of energy.
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BIRDS THAT USE CARBOHYDRATE AS
THE MAJOR ENERGY SOURCE
Birds in this group get most of
their energy from dietary carbohydrate. This carbohydrate may occur
as large, complex, sugar molecules such as those found in seeds or
insect secretions, or as simple sugars like those in nectar and
fruit. These birds may be granivorous, nectivorous or omnivorous and
eat seeds, nectar, pollen, lerp, honeydew, fruit and insects. This
group includes parrots, lorikeets, honeyeaters, finches, pigeons,
doves, silvereyes and pardalotes.
GRANIVORE REARING MIX
A complete diet in powder form
that can be mixed with different amounts of water to produce a food
varying in consistency from a soft putty to a pourable slurry. The
prepared food may be fed through a syringe and tube, from a spoon or
as small pellets. The powder may also be mixed with mashed fruit or
egg and fed as a supplement to wild or captive birds.
LORIKEET & HONEYEATER
FOOD
A powder that forms a stable
suspension when mixed with water and is a balanced maintenance food
for lorikeets and honeyeaters. The food is made by adding 300g of
powder to 500ml of warm water, mixing well then making up to 1litre
with water. Prepared food may be stored frozen. BIRDS THAT USE PROTEIN AS A
MAJOR ENERGY SOURCE
These birds get much of their
energy from dietary protein by converting the carbon skeletons of
amino acid metabolism into glucose (Gluconeogenesis). They
are usually carnivorous or insectivorous with a diet consisting
mainly of whole animals. This group includes raptors, sea birds,
waders, kingfishers, magpies, currawongs and flycatchers.
INSECTIVORE REARING MIX
A complete diet in powder form
that can be mixed with different amounts of water to produce a food
varying in consistency from a soft putty to a pourable slurry. The
prepared food may be fed through an oesophageal tube, from a spoon
or as small pellets. The powder may also be mixed with mashed hard
boiled egg, coarse ground minced meat or fish and fed as a
supplement to wild or captive birds.
It is inappropriate here to
discuss detailed management techniques associated with rearing birds
so the novice is directed to those veterinarians and organisations
that specialise in bird care. |
THE ABOVE 3 FOODS ARE COMPLETE DIETS.
DO NOT USE ADDITIVES.
MIX ACCORDING TO DIRECTIONS.
FEEDING FEATHER COLOUR PROMOTERS
All Wombaroo bird foods contain
levels of colour promoters that should maintain feather colour in most
birds. However the requirement for these substances is not necessarily the
same for all species and some birds could become prone to loss of feather
colour with time. If colour loss occurs then supplement each kg of
prepared food with either 2 egg yolks or 50ml of a slurry made from equal
proportions of carrot, corn kernels and a green leaf vegetable.
Canthaxanthin, xanthophyll and
b-carotene can also be added to bird food
mixes as an alternative, however these substances are expensive and need
very sensitive scales to weigh the small amounts required. Suggested feed
rates for canthaxanthin and xanthophyll are respectively 40mg and 20mg per
kg of feed (dry basis).
b-carotene has vitamin A activity that will
become additive to the Vitamin A already in the substitute food. Do not
feed
b-carotene above 1mg per kg of feed (dry
basis).
FEEDING INSECTS
Birds that eat mature insects, such as
flies, moths and beetles, should not be fed large numbers of immature
insects like caterpillars, grubs and pupae. On a dry weight basis the
composition of mature insects is about 65% protein, 10% fat and 20%
carbohydrate. The protein contains all essential amino acids and the fat
is highly unsaturated. Captive birds are commonly fed the larval stage of
insects such as meal worms and fly pupae. These are not good food
substitutes for birds that eat mature insects. Larval stage insects can
contain up to 40% fat which can significantly dilute the ratio of
nutrients to energy in the diet.
Always attempt to feed the types of
food that your birds would eat in the wild.
ADULT BODY WEIGHTS OF SOME COMMON BIRD
SPECIES
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HONEYEATERS
Scarlet 8 to 10g
Eastern Spinebill 11 to 15g
Yellow-faced 15 to 20g
White-cheeked 18 to 22g
Crescent 20 to 25g
New Holland 20 to 25g
White-plumed 20 to 25g
Noisy Miner 60 to 70g
Little Wattle Bird 80 to 95g
Red Wattle Bird 105 to 125g
PARROTS
Red-rumped 55 to 70g
Cockatiel 85 to 95g
Eastern Rosella 100 to 120g
Crimson Rosella 130 to 180g
King 200 to 250g
Gang-gang 250 to 350g
Galah 300 to 380g
Sulphur-crest 650 to 800g |
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OTHERS
Thornbills 6 to 7g
Pardalotes 7 to 9g
Fairy-wrens 7 to 9g
Silvereyes & Fantails 9 to 13g
Scarlet Robin 12 to 15g
Eastern Yellow Robin 18 to 25g
Golden Whistler 20 to 30g
Wood Swallows 30 to 40g
Whip Birds 50 to 60g
Magpie Lark 85 to 100
Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike 120 to 140g
Kookaburra 300 to 350g
Magpie 300 to 380g
LORIKEETS
Little 40 to 50g
Purple-crowned 45 to 55g
Musk 70 to 80g
Scaly-breasted 75 to 90g
Rainbow 125 to 150g |
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