PROTEIN BOOST Supplement for All Species

Description

“PROTEIN BOOST is a supplement suitable for all birds, but is particularly valuable for softbills and highly insectivorous finches”

PROTEIN BOOST Description

Many people think there is only one protein. Actually, there are thousands of proteins with different structures and functions, but each one is made up from just 20 amino acids. Most of these are derived from the diet but some may be synthesised within the body and some may be created from a precursor element of the birds’ diet.

• An amino acid missing from what you currently feed can cause a diet deficiency which may affect aspects of health, fertility, hatchability and growth.
• A diet with insufficient protein content can lead to a sex imbalance with more males than females being produced.
• Failure to rear nestlings is often caused by too low a level of protein in the breeding diet.
• Rearing only one or two nestlings from a clutch of three or more eggs is often a symptom of a low protein level diet.
• The % CRUDE PROTEIN content of a food is no indication of whether it is deficient in one or more amino acids and therefore is an unreliable source of information alone.

Our research on Gouldians showed that in the wild this species feeds almost exclusively the half ripe seeds of wild sorghum to its nestlings. Our analyses show that this food source contains around 250mg per gram of protein (~25%). This is an unusually high level for a grass seed.

We also found a similar level of total protein in the diet that Longtail and Crimson Finches raised their nestlings on, although in those cases the diet fed to nestlings includes both grass seeds and livefood. We have made the assumption that this is probably similar in most finches and may be true of many other species too, although we stress, this is only educated guess work and more research needs to be done to prove the accuracy of the theory.

PROTEIN BOOST – What is it?

Proteins provides the amino acids needed as building blocks for body growth, tissue repair and to maintain health. Of the 20 amino acids, three particularly important ones for breeding birds are Methionine, Lysine and Cysteine. “Protein Boost” provides all the essential amino acids through readily assimilated protein sources needed for growth and development of nestlings and particularly for more insectivorous species.

The supplement provides:

• Amino acids: arginine, hydroxyproline, serine, glycine, threonine, alanine, proline, lysine, tyrosine, methionine, valine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, cysteine, aspartic acid, histidine, glutamic acid.
• Minerals: aluminium, boron, calcium, chromium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, sodium, nickel, phosphorous, selenium, sulphur, zinc.
• Fat-soluble vitamins: A, D3, E, K.
• Water-soluble vitamins: B12, biotin, choline, folacin, niacin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, riboflavin, thiamin.

Energy and Carbohydrates

	Energy	mj/kg	20.5
	Total carbohydrates	%	23
	Energy and Carbohydates	%	12.7
	Organic matter	%	90
	Dry Matter Digestibility	%	86
	Digestible Organic Matter	%	84
	Total Omega 6 + Omega 3 FAs	g/11gm DM	3.86
	Omega 6 : Omega 3 fatty acids	Ratio	8.27
Protein
	Crude protein	%	31.6

NFB PROTEIN BOOST Frequently Asked Questions