Egg Is Good For Birds

One large chicken egg has about 6 grams of protein, with the egg white having 3.6 grams and the yolk containing the balance. Eggs have the highest quality protein with an amino acid (protein building blocks) composition nearly identical to all required essential amino acids. Eggs are easily digestible. 97% of egg protein is absorbed. This is why egg food is so critical for developing chicks. They can extract nearly ALL the protein out of any egg they ingest, using the amino acids building blocks for bone, skin, muscle, organs and feathers.

Boiled Egg Amino Acid Profile:

*Tryptophan *Threonine
*Isoleucine *Leucine
$&*Lysine &#*Methionine
*Phenylalanine *Valine
*Arginine *Histidine
#Cysteine Tyrosine
Alanine Aspartic Acid
Glutamic Acid Glycine
Proline Serine



* = Essential Amino Acid based on Chickens
# = Important for Feather Production
& = Rate limiting for growth in Broiler Chickens
$ = Essential for Calcium Uptake


Understanding Essential Amino Acids
Essential amino acids cannot be manufactured by the body. They must be ingested in the diet. If an essential amino acid is missing, protein synthesis stops OR the bird will start to break down its own muscle to get the required missing amino acid. (While this is a starvation condition, it can also happen even with seemingly well fed birds who are on a low or unbalanced protein diet.)




Finch chicks develop extremely fast - maturing in about only 2-3 weeks.

At this stage of development, most ingested protein will go to form feathers.

Consequences of Poor Nutrition

What if the finch chick didn't receive proper nutrition for two days? Or three? Or the whole time it was trying to grow and develop? It is critical that chicks receive proper and wholesome nutrition EVERY DAY in order to develop to their fullest potential. There are enough other things that can go wrong in raising exotic Estrildid finches, NUTRITION SHOULDN'T BE ONE OF THEM!

Poor nutrition can also be an issue for adult birds and can lead to a plethora of disease states as well as infertility or dead-in-shell (DIS) eggs.


Carotenoids: Eggs contain lutein, cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin as well as beta carotene. Please see in-depth discussion on the importance of carotenoids:

Carotenoids Introduction

Carotenoid Sources


Vitamins & Minerals: Vitamin A; B Vitmains - B6, B12, E, Folate, Thiamine, Riboflavin; Vitamin E; Vitamin K; Calcium; Sodium; Potassium; Phosphorus; Magnesium; Iron; Selenium and Zinc. Please see in-depth discussion on Vitamins and Minerals:

Vitamins

Minerals


Calcium: Not only does egg contain calcium, but the egg shell is nearly pure calcium carbonate. Finches LOVE to nibble on egg shells. If you leave the egg shells on when making egg food or save the egg shells and feed them separately, you are giving your birds an EXCELLENT source of calcium.

Calcium & Egg Binding - What EVERY breeder NEEDS TO KNOW!


Optimal Protein Levels
Chicks should receive between 18% and 23% protein in their total diet. Growing poults and gamebirds need 26% to 30% total dietary protein while ducklings and goslings need only 20% - 22%. I don't believe anyone knows the required protein level of finches. The best we can do at this time is to guess. A seed only diet has about 12% protein - in other words - it's high carbohydrate and low protein.

Too much protein is not necessarily a good thing either. Excess protein can lead to kidney failure as the body overworks to clear out the excess nitrogen. Protein is not stored. It is either used or excreted.

Less than optimal protein levels will result in slower growth rates. There are no obvious signs of protein deficiency in birds, with a few exceptions. Smaller birds grow and mature more slowly. In mature birds, there may be egg production issues.

Amino acid imbalances can result in various symptoms including fatty liver syndrome, prolapse cloaca (externalization of the tissues of the cloaca) and aggression.


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