The Energy And Protein For The Budgerigar

The Energy And Protein For The Budgerigar

Energy

The modern day budgerigar takes six weeks to fledge compared to four weeks for the wild bird. This means the modern day budgerigar is placed under an enormous physical burden and is one of the reasons of the many health problems experienced during the breeding season. In order to produce the best young birds, the fancier must provide the extra energy and protein in the diet. Below are some successful high-energy recipes.

A breeding budgerigar needs nine times the energy as a non-breeding bird, whilst young and ill birds need up to three times the energy of a non-breeding adult to remain healthy. More than anything else, a constant supply of energy is needed for good breeding results and continuing health in the aviary. The use of high quality food supplements (TurboBooster, Energy supplement and F-vite*) are by far the best method for maximizing the energy and balance the protein for breeding budgerigars.

The popular process of feeding soaked seed to the aviary budgerigar provides the chicks with an instant source of energy, but carries serious potential dangers. The process of safe soaking is laborious but if you learn, use and practice safe soaked seed techniques then your birds can enjoy the benefits of and avoid the dangers of soaked seed. Seed used for soaking must always be culture tested or be protected with seed cleansers (PEP*). At the end of soaking the seed must be cleaned and washed with a water cleanser.

Groats and sunflower are the best seeds for soaking, because they are high in energy, lysine and methionine.

Protein

The correct protein balance refers to the essential amino acids in the seed mix. For the best growth rate and breeding results it is necessary to provide every essential amino acids in the correct balance. Lysine is the most difficult amino acid to balance and a well designed protein enhanced seed mix fed to the breeding birds advantages the entire flock.

The breeding wild budgerigar attacks the bark of eucalypts searching for lysine and balances the protein by selecting many seed and herb types. For the aviary budgerigar at least six different seeds types must be eaten to balance the protein. Protein additives are popular and necessary for the big bodied, heavy feathered modern day budgerigar.

Basic Seed Mix
Recipe # 1

The following mix is suitable for breeding budgerigars, but there are countless other suitable blends.

• 50% millet seeds (French white, Panicum, Red and Japanese varieties) 30% canary seed 10% groats 5% wheat 4% Sunflower
• 1% rape

Soft Food
Recipe #2. Angela Martin

This recipe is especially useful for the birds in the aviary. The young birds reared on TurboBooster and Energy supplement readily accept this soft food mix.

Ingredients: Fresh multi-grained bread, grated carrot, TurboBooster*, Dufoplus*, Ioford NF*, Energy supplement and F-vite.*

Preparation: A slice of multi-grained bread is placed in a dish. Dufoplus (10 drops), Ioford (10 drops) are mixed into 100ml of water. The water is poured over a slice of multi-grained bread and TurboBooster (10 drops) is dripped evenly across it. 3 grams each (green spoon) of Energy supplement and F-vite are then sprinkled on top of the bread.

Hygiene: The dish is removed as soon as possible after 2 hours.

 http://budgerigarunivers.blogspot.com/