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yטרם תורגם
ולדוברי האנגלית שבינינו,
ניתן להצטרף לחוויה הלימודית בפורומים הבאים ביאהו:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABBASEEDBIRDSQANDA/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/COM_USA/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ColorbredCanaries101Genetics/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EuropeanGoldFinch/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GPA101911/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/timbrado/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NFSS/?yguid=47202339
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Are the vegetables and foods available in
supermarkets that you eat safe for you and your birds? I have been
reading various comments about greens and vegetables. Every one has
different ideas. The bottom line is, be careful, be careful, be careful!
In the last few years, many people have
gotten sick across North America after consuming greens, vegetables, and
other foods purchased in stores. E coli infections have been the news
headlines for a few years now. Nowadays, despite all the precautions
taken by the growers, many concerned people have shied away from those
delicious looking prebagged salad mixes. In my household, we are very
concerned with what we eat. A high percentage of E coli bacteria present
in foods have killed several people across North America. A 2-year old
boy from Idaho died of kidney failure after he received a spinach
smoothie from his mother. Many other young children as well as adults
for years have been suffering from kidney dysfunction from foods that
are supposed to be healthy for them.
Many humans are able to tolerate a low
percentage of E coli, but for birds, even a low presence of the bacteria
can be fatal to small birds. As I understand, the growers thoroughly
wash all the greens, salads, and spinach. They even use bleach.
Unfortunately, for such a high percentage of E coli, bleach cannot
eliminate it. Personally, I will not use any greens to feed my birds, or
to eat myself, unless I plant it and/or gather it from the wild state.
They determined that cows spread E coli.
In other words, any growers close to a cow ranch will have an increased
potential of infecting their greens and vegetables with E coli. I am
asking about other animals. There was a friend in this group that
mentioned that she has a small ranch where she keeps goats and other
animals. She would want to bleach her greens. You don't bleach the
field, but you wash the greens that you gather for your birds in a
bleach solution. I do wash everything that I feed my birds with at least
a tablespoon of bleach in one gallon of water, then I rinse thoroughly
under running water. Only then, I feed the greens to my birds.
This year's unusually colder weather
that has been persistent here in the Garden State has kept, I believe,
the bacteria potential on the wild greens is very minimal, but why
should we take a chance? Better to be safe than sorry. It only takes a
few minutes to do the right thing in our bird rooms.
A couple days ago, it was shivering cold
and rainy. It made the birds in the outdoors as well as indoors out of
whack. Today, they said that the temperature would be 69 degrees. The
sun is shining; maybe things will turn around for the better? We hope
so, don't we? So far, everybody that I have been talking to, most of
them are having a horrible breeding season.
Last week I spent quite a bit of money
to buy tomato plants and some basil plants. The cold weather destroyed
the little plants; I have to plant them all over again. This time, I
will plant them only when the weather gets better for good. If the small
plants don't grow, neither do the birds perform right with their
breeding activity.
For those lucky fellow fancier friends
that have been successful somehow in breeding Canaries, make sure that
you supply plenty of nesting material for when the birds go into the
second nest, otherwise, they will pluck the youngsters like hell. Also,
make sure that you provide the proper calcium coupled with vitamin D for
better absorption. Lack of calcium may cause the female to go egg bound
and die. In my opinion, we can never feed enough calcium to our birds.
They need a source of calcium all year round and more so during the
breeding season.
We have been feeding African Greys and
other Parrots the proper dose of calcium and vitamin D coupled with Red
Palm Oil. As a result, the Greys have laid more hatchable eggs. We use
Red Palm Oil blended with soak seed and red nestling food. As a result,
they get a very luscious, shiny, red plumage. I have been feeding Red
Palm Oil to my European Goldfinches for a couple years now. Jeez, the
red mask is such a bright red; it is equal to the birds in their wild
habitat. The yellow in the wings is such a bright yellow; I think this
great coloration of the plumage is due to the Red Palm Oil. Although it
is very expensive, $20.00 a quart plus shipping, I think it is worth
every penny of it. The Gouldian Finches retain such a bright coloration
and they lay lots of eggs too. Again, I sincerely believe that Red Palm
Oil has a lot to do with it.
The only birds that are doing great for
me so far are the Spanish Timbrados; I have no place to put the
youngsters! The Carduelan Finches in general, they didn't even attempt
to build a nest as of yet.
Well, this is all I can do for now, I
hope to do some more later on in the day or tomorrow morning, in the
afternoon I will be flying to Europe. I hope to get a lot of
information.
If you are not a member of the following
groups, please join and be part of the learning experience.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABBASEEDBIRDSQANDA/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/COM_USA/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ColorbredCanaries101Genetics/?yguid=472023\
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EuropeanGoldFinch/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GPA101911/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NFSS/?yguid=47202339
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/timbrado/?yguid=47202339
Best regards to all,
G.A. Abbate
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