How much feed should my birds be given daily?
How much feed should my birds be given daily?
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Since all of our birds have access to feed 24/7 we do not know how much food each individual bird consumes each day. If you do not plan to leave feed available at all times for your birds we recommend the following. Feed twice a day once in morning and once in the evening. At first, put out a fairly large portion of food, if the birds do not eat almost all of it cut back until they are eating almost all the feed in about 30 minutes. We do not recommend having the birds to completely finish the feed since that would make it more possibly that a less dominant bird may not have gotten enough to eat. Keep in mind that your birds will need more food at certain times. In general, birds eat more in colder weather and less in the summer. Also remember that feeding areas should be kept clean and leftover feed that has gotten wet should be disposed of.
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For feeders we use poultry style feeders. The size of the feeder used depends on the amount of and size/age of birds in the enclosure we use feeders as small as 1lb all the way up to 250lbs.
If I place my birds on open water, instead of in an enclosure will they fly away?
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In our experience most fullwinged wild waterfowl will eventually leave if placed on open water. If you want to keep your birds on open water, we recommend purchasing pinioned birds. Domestic ducks such as calls often will stay on open water and can usually be kept fullwinged.
Should I put my new birds in an aviary or on open water?
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Whether birds are placed in an aviary or on open water is mostly preference of the owner of the birds. Both ways of keeping birds have their own benefits and also their own disadvantages. You should carefully weigh these advantages and disadvantages along with any limitations or special circumstances that may be relevant to your personal situation before making this decision.
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Keeping birds on open water usually means you will have to have pinioned birds. The birds will be at greater risk from predators, and if you ever need to catch the birds, it may be difficult. However, open water provides the most natural habitat for your birds and is where they most likely will be the happiest; and also breed and reproduce the best. It is also argueably the most enjoyable setting in which to view your birds. You also will not incur the cost of building and maintaining an aviary.
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Keeping your birds in an aviary can keep them safer from predators as long as your aviary is secure. If a predator does break into the enclosure, the birds housed there usually have less of a chance to get away than they would if they had been on open water. The cost , and also time and effort of building and maintaining a suitable enclosure for your birds is probably the biggest disadvantage to keeping birds in an aviary rather than open water. Types and quality of enclosures for housing birds can vary widely. If housed in a well designed aviary that includes the basic requirements outlined in the question below on aviary size, those birds may be just as happy and breed as well as birds on open water. However if kept in an unsuitable enclosure the birds may not do well and may even eventually die.