Top 20 Facts Every Bird Breeder Should Know About Calcium

Top 20 Facts Every Bird Breeder Should Know About Calcium

1. Your birds need calcium to be healthy.

2. Chicks as they are growing need to form strong skeletal structure for which calcium is of paramount importance.

3. If the chicks do not get adequate calcium, their growth will be hampered and the growth rate will be very slow. 

4. The bones they develop will be soft resulting in unhealthy birds.

5. When your birds are laying eggs, they need a good amount of calcium for the eggshell formation, which is called calcification.

6. We noted that calcium is essential in the calcification process or in the formation of the eggshells. Calcium also plays a very important role in the contraction of the uterus when the bird while laying eggs. Calcium deficiency could therefore result in “Egg Binding”.

7. Calcium deficiency can also result in soft eggs and eggs with thin eggshells which are prone to breakage during incubation.

8. Calcium deficiency in chicks can result in Rickets or Metabolic Bone Disease. It could also result in bone deformities including curved bones. Once bone curvature sets in, it cannot be rectified as the bone will not be able to straighten itself unless otherwise a surgery is performed the success rate of such surgeries is very low.

9. Calcium requirement in birds is not limited just to the above two scenarios but all through their life birds need a steady supply of calcium.

10. Calcium is also important for the proper muscle function in your birds.

11. In the natural habitat that is in the wild birds will get their calcium supply from the natural foods that they eat. They know to select calcium rich food instinctively. When they are in captivity, they are at the mercy of the breeder or the pet owner for their choice of food. They cannot go after food that is rich in calcium; the same applies for the other nutrient and vitamin requirements of your birds. It then becomes your responsibility to give your birds a balanced diet, which will include foods that are rich in calcium.

12. What happens if your bird does not get adequate supply of calcium or if it is on a calcium deficient diet? Your bird will start absorbing calcium from its bones. When the calcium content in the bones starts reducing, the bones will turn brittle making your birds more prone to fractures.

13. Just because you have dropped mineral blocks and cuttlefish bones in your birds’ cage, do not presume that your birds are getting adequate supply of calcium. Even if you see them nibbling the mineral block or the cuttlefish bone we do not know how much of it is ingested or actually swallowed.

14. Experts do not look at calcium deficiency in isolation but consider it as Calcium – Phosphorous – Vitamin D3 imbalance.

15. Never give calcium and Tetracycline antibiotic together. Calcium will block the absorption of tetracycline.

16. Condition that results from low calcium level in blood is termed as Hypocalcaemia. It could also result in Hypocalcaemic tetany whereby the bird suffers spasms or seizures due to malfunctioning parathyroid glands that result from calcium deficiency.

17. Calcium deficiency in birds can also result in unhealthy heart.

18. The condition that results from high blood calcium levels is called Hypercalcaemia.

19. If the calcium level is high in birds that are laying eggs, the eggshells will be very thick and the chicks will not be able to hatch out of shell.

20. High calcium levels also result in constipation in birds and abdominal pain.

Therefore, both too much calcium and too little calcium can affect your birds health.