Sunday, May 31, 2015

Breaking News Perle Morbide Available in US

Laraine of www.ladygouldian.com is expecting to have Perle Morbide available in 8# and 20# bags about mid June.

I have been putting it in my basic nestling food recipe and both parents and chicks enthusiastically eat it. They actually pick it out first along with the peas! It is a great addition because of its nutrients and relatively low protein level which is so critical to preventing neurological symptoms especially in Borders and other canaries.  I ordered 40# and look forward to continuing it through molting.

Determining the amount to order is always a challenge so please let Laraine know how many lbs you are interested in.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Feeding More Wheat and Wheat Products Part 2



Whole Wheat Cornbread

Recipe

2 cups Cornmeal
2 cups 100% Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. Baking Powder
4 Tbsp. Sugar
4 Whole Eggs With Shell
2 cups Milk
1/2 cup oil

Combine dry ingredients and add wet ingredients. Do not overbeat. Bake in greased 10 inch pan for approximately 35 minutes. Cool and process in food processor. This will grind up egg shell and get it ready to add to nestling food.



My basic nestling food recipe now has additional processed wheat with polenta or cornmeal and processed Whole Wheat Cornbread.

I still am using all the ingredients in the nestling food recipe but in addition I often offer a separate dish of the golden cous cous and quinoa.

Whatever bread or cake  etc. is leftover is processed in the food processor and fed either in a separate dish or mixed in the nestling food. Recently my daughter Kellie, made a strawberry sponge cake complete with icing and fresh raw strawberries on top (since she made it for me, it was splenda instead of sugar).

At least a half cake was left over so after a couple of days, I put the cake, frosting, raw strawberries in the food processor. It was too wet when I processed it so I added dry cornmeal till it was a crumbly moist consistency. It smelled so good that I offered it in a separate dish and the birds quickly cleaned up every bite!

Wheat is also included in my soak seed/sprouting mix purchased from Abba.


Healthy nest of four German Roller chicks. Note the rose pink color and the fat deposit on the rump of the chick on your left. This means you are getting the right portions of carbohydrate to protein.

Friday, May 29, 2015

Feeding More Wheat and Wheat Products Part 1

This time of year when hens are laying their last round and chicks are weaning, I like to greatly increase the wheat products in the diet.

Farmers or health food store sell whole wheat. I soak the wheat 8 hours and then put it in a strainer and sprout it till I can barely see new sprouts coming to increase its sweetness and then cover with water and cook in a rice cooker about 20 minutes till done. It is either fed after processing in a food processor with added polenta or corn meal or just as it is after cooking. So which do the weaning Columbus like best?


24 hours later barely a trace of the processed wheat with polenta remained in their dish.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Columbus Fancy Baby Adopts Big Bird As Its Mother! Weaning Issues

When Momma Bird starting to lay her second clutch, I decided to wean her chicks. But this one refused to eat like the other four Columbus Fancy chicks in the weaning cage and instead it just watches them eat and after awhile, it started crying! What a pitiful sound!

So Big Bird decided to start hand feeding and even though it had never been hand fed before, it enthusiastically accepted its new Momma, Big Bird!

 It likes to perch on my arm as I offer CeDe Handfeeding Food!

When it eats, it like to flutter its wings!



When weaning it is a good idea to but all food on the floor and not to put any perches in until the chicks are eating well. I offer a smorgasbord of nestling food, dry CeDe Handfeeding food, soft white bread crumbs, quartered hard boiled egg, sprouted seed, dry porridge oatmeal, sunflower pieces, hulled hemp, and bee pollen.


The decision to hand feed at this stage should be limited to only the crying chick any chick that will even take a bit of anything will be fine.

If you start hand feeding a chick at this stage it will delay its weaning likely a couple of weeks!