I am interested to read that some of you guys are using 1 inch square mesh for housing Kakariki. We recently sold some Kakariki to a breeder who claimed to be a bit of an expert on these birds. He had built new aviaries specifically for the birds.
A few weeks later he rang to say he had lost several of the birds. They had in fact hung themselves through the wire. He had used 1 inch mesh and the birds were continually sticking their heads through as Allen described. This is okay until the birds become "spooked" and try to pull their heads back inside the cage. In the case of this particular breeder he had some butcher birds hanging around and these created panic amongst the Kakariki.
I certainly wont use and dont recommend 1 inch wire for birds as small and as inquistive as Kakariki because the heartache of seeing one hanging through the wire isn't worth the risk.
What about a new thread Mesh size for Kakariki avaiy?
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Hi all, Back to the weather topic, I have heard that its not good to feed your birds sunflower seeds in summer.Ive removed all my seed from the avairys and now are only fed avairy mix as well as their usual daily greens.Fron what Ive been told only feed your birds the black sunflower seeds in winter and the golden ones in summer.The idea behind it is that the oil in sunflowers goes down into the bird and the extreem heat causes the oil to get hot,therefor no matter how much the bird does to get cool its body temp continues to rise.apparently the golden sunflower seeds have less oil in them compared to the black ones that is why they are used in summer as a treat only.Has enyone else heard of this? Is there any merit to do this for the summer as temps are already starting to creap up?
Have not heard of that reason before. Interesting to find out if it is fact or myth?
The idea behind feeding less sunflower in summer and more in winter is that sunflower seeds have a very high fat content and certain more sedentary species are likely to become obese if fed too much sunflower in summer. In winter birds burn more energy staying warm therefore it is ok to increase sunflower supply in winter.
Kakariki in aviaries are so active, I don't think obesity is ever likely to be a problem. Cage birds, maybe a problem.
The idea behind it is that the oil in sunflowers goes down into the bird and the extreme heat causes the oil to get hot,therefor no matter how much the bird does to get cool its body temp continues to rise
Sounds good...but being an ex Indus rial Chemist...that logic just doesn't hold any water...Sure there theoretically could be heat retention with in the body, but the amount of oil just would not be enough to have an effect.
I could understand a an obese bird not cooling down as fast as a lean bird, but as Allen said
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Kakariki in aviaries are so active, I don't think obesity is ever likely to be a problem. Cage birds, MAYBE a problem.
If they don't get exercise. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
I am still investigating why we lost so many birds during our hot spell. The temperature reached 38 on Sunday and we sadly lost another hen. But, I believe through all the heartache we have finally found the answer to at least part of the problem.
We are working in conjunction with our vet and some advice from a fellow breeder on this. It would seem that Sunflower is in fact an important ingredient in the Kakariki diet. But, there is a catch. After reading much dribble from so called experts we set our seed diet using only black Sunflower. This was fed in small amounts with a majority of it sprouted to reduce the oil levels.
As I stated previously our birds are healthy but not fat. We have weighed all our birds and discovered a good number are in fact borderline or under weight for size age etc. So we have thrown out the black Sunflower and now only use the Grey striped sunflower seed. According to our vet this seed has less oil and fat content but more of this fat is retained by the bird, whereas the black sunflower acts more as laxative and less weight is retained with the droppings becoming loose and more frequent.
I am still in the trial stages with this experiment and we are currently feeding grey sunflower in seperate dishes to control the amount consumed by each pair. Kakariki being such an active bird should not become overweight if sunflower is fed in slightly higher levels than other parrots providing it is not the black sunflower.
The reason behind this experiment is that the breeder I mentioned went on holiday and whilst away the temperature hit 43 degrees on consecutive days. His neighbours did not spray the birds and only gave them fresh water. He uses aviaries with tin roofs and one can only imagine the temperature inside the aviaries. Yet he lost no Kakariki at all. These birds are from the same bloodlines we have and lost in the heat.
I have compared the weights of his birds with ours and believe this could be the major factor in helping birds survive the heat. I will keep you updated with the results of our experiment.
I think diet is important for any species in captivity, and as close to their natural diet as possble...Sun Flower and parrot seeds mixes are not part of a Kakariki's natural diet.
As I have mentioned several times before, the amount of veggie/fruit/berries/lean meat we feed in proportion to seed is very high, in particular those kakariki that have hatched into such an environment.
25 to 30 Kakariki will go thru 8 to 10 kg of veggies etc per week plus 6 to 8 apples 1 doz plus kiwifruit, sundry berries, fejoa, 8 large grape fruit and about a 1/2 to 1 cup full wastage per week.
Seed I would estimate at about a 1/4 of this, maybe less.
Kakariki we have sourced elsewhere do not eat any where near as much veggie fruit...some not at all. There is a very noticeable difference between these birds and ours in depth of colour, activity, alertness and general healthy looking.
What other effects going on inside them I would not know.
The pic below is part of our main holding/breeding flights of the lounge. And I can see from my office where I work from most of the time. It has clear-lite roof, fully enclosed and gets full sun from 8am to 6pm. The flights get direct sun into them for most of the day. It can get damn hot and uncomfortable low 20s day. On a winters day low teens it will still be up in high teens low 20s.
The Kakariki have never been worried. Thu when real hot they do have a midday siesta and don't pant or stress at all. The kakariki in the other aviaries, at this time don't tend to have a quiet siesta
I think Kakariki is on the right track...diet, but seed type is not the complete answer
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My standard sunflower mix consists of roughly 3 parts grey striped sunflower, 1 part white sunflower, 1 part safflower and 1 part parrot maintenence pellets. This is available at all times to all my birds. A few peanuts are added to the mix for larger birds but kakariki don't seem to eat peanuts.
We are now also into higher than normal temps....
One thing that is showing up more than in any other yr is the amount of veggies/fruit our Kakariki are going thru...Those nesting/with chicks/ and in holding.
An increase of 30 to 50% in weight of veggies and even less wastage.
We are now doing bigger feeds morning and night plus and extra during the day. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
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