To care for my birds I use a number of products which I will address each.
Water: All my birds get clean drinking water daily, and drinking tubes are disinfected every week with bleach.
Every two days they get bathwater.
Seed: The zebra finch is a sound basis for good seed mix, Witte Molen years I have used these seeds were of good quality for a reasonable price. My zebra finches were APV of White Mill. Late 2008 early 2009 greatly increased food prices and the quality was inadequate White Mill of APV increased in a few months time with 10 to 15 percent in the price. My regular supplier looking for an alternative and found this in the mark KING.
Since early 2009 my birds also get Premium for KING-tropics. This constant is a good mix for a good price. I pay about 24 euro for 25 kg. I use this 25 kg 100 birds in about 5 weeks indicating that I well feed.
Concentrated feed: In the breeding season birds get my daily egg-food supplemented with amino acids from White Mill, BEAFAR condition of powder and a little bit weed seeds. I make this mixture with Rose Vice loose. It is updated daily with warm days and several times a day. When the birds sit on eggs to concentrate until I stop the young are hatched, then get them back full.
Outside the breeding birds get twice a week the same mixture but without the rearing condition powder.
I never buy in large quantities of concentrate, usually a kilo, in order to ensure that I always have a fresh product available.
Condition Powder BEHAPHAR: Condition Powder vitamins and minerals as ingredients that promote growth of the young birds and old birds in breeding condition.
Spray Millet: The birds get weekly spray millet good quality, if these young birds are given plenty of spray millet when the parents are divorced.
Herbage: Zebra finches love to eat greens, I give it limited to prevent intestinal problems. Also dragging the birds like to nest in them. If I give green food is usually chickweed.
Grit and gravel stomach: All birds have continuous access to a bowl of grit and gravel stomach. Many growers forget the stomach silica assuming sufficient grit, but should not the grit grinding of bird seed in the stomach but only a calcium supplement. For the grinding of seeds in the stomach has a bird's stomach silica, otherwise you can wait for them to get bowel.
Vitamins: Every 3 months, all birds a vitamin cure. For this I use the vitamins of Witte Molen WIMOFIT. These are very soluble in water, the birds get in this period bath.
Ground cover: If I use ground cover in the breeding cages of white shell sand mill, it is richly provided by the grit and no small amount of anise smells nice and fresh. Sand Shells by me weekly.
The flights I use wood chips as ground cover. The chips come in different sizes. I use the finest kind. A big advantage is that many chips absorb moisture. To prevent fungal excuse I fly every two weeks.
Hans de Boer
July 2009
