Ibisring

Reddening in some of our birds, it is currently a hotly debated topic with many aviculturists of ibises, flamingos, spoonbills and pelicans. On Ibisday 2007, we have already dealt with this topic extensively. We want to give you, on the basis of a number of articles, more information on this subject, in this way we give you the opportunity to become a critical judge on the usefulness of administering colours and the role they play.

This is the fifth part of this series of articles. These are the other parts:

• Part 1: Review of carotenoids
• Part 2: Dose administration carotenes
• Part 3: What does a wild red ibis eat, among other things to be red?
• Part 4: Red ibises in wild, the flying labo
• Part 5: Color additives in an aviary (current article)

We have tried to turn the scientific literature in a smoothly readable text. We think it is always nice when we get feedback on our articles, do not be afraid to state your experiences with us.

Part 5: Color additives in an aviary

Sensibly working with color products (additives)

In earlier newsletters we looked at the different mechanisms involved in avian colouration, including various values, important concentrations, etc. The question remains: how to I customize this? There is no aviary that has a biotope so diverse that the birds can decide what to eat in order to fulfill all of their dietary needs ... Damage? When is too much is too much? Damage may not be visible to the naked eye. When we asked laboratories, universities and veterinarians, no one could show us an example of an ibis that died of too much coloration product. Even evidence of light damage caused by color products, left us with no answer. There is however a lot of speculation in regards to this topic which is the purpose of this article.

A scientific test on American White Ibis showed that after given color additives:

• Pure white birds remain white. They do not become rose/ pink as we see sometimes in (maybe hybrids? white birds in captivity
• White that were given color additives showed more explicit face ornaments during breeding period
• There were more babies in the ‘colored’ group than in the equal group on ‘normal’ food.

Conclusion: Color additives have a positive effect. Birds do not only get the color, there is a general positive effect. On top of it all: scarlet ibises develop their natural, beautiful color.

Those who have moral objections to supplementation, should realize that ibis find these things in nature by themselves (even escaped birds are a good red by what they find in the fields). They would eat them if they could be found in the aviary. At the same time one can state: if you don't like red, you should not keep scarlet ibis!

Over the years we followed several experiments on using color additives and with that knowledge we dared to draw the line. Those among you that do not agree are free to start with this basic information and form your own opinion.

The only argument that can really be made is this - does colour supplementation really affect the health of our birds?

You will have to read this article in its entirety , some parts will become clear once you see them in relation to the rest of the story. I It is written to help you see what it is you are doing in your own aviary.

How much?

How much should be given? This is usually just speculation and based on personal preference. The point of the knife. How much is that? All knives have different points.

Where does the ‘tip’ end?

A spoonful? Just take a look at the photographs. In each case you can see the difference in volume and weight. Calculating by these terms is useless.

So we will have to replace points and spoons by a defined way to measure. This can only be a measuring device according to need. The ‘need’ is what we have to calculate. It would be impossible to do this for all available products. It takes at least a year before you can see the true result. So one makes a choice (price, ease of acquisition, etc) and start from there.

We calculated how to work with Cantazoo, according to the proportions in that product.

Cantazoo contains: (data of the product specification)
β-caroteen: 150 mg/kg: 0.015%: in 1 gram cantazoo there is 0.15 mg β-caroteen
Canthaxanthine: 1g/kg: 0.1%: in 1 gram cantazoo there is 1mg canthaxanthine

The dose indicated:
2% continu = on 1 kg food 20 mg cantazoo

In calculation:
β-caroteen: 0.015% x 2% = 0.0003% = 3 mg per kg food
Canthaxanthine: 0.1% x 2% =0.002% = 20 mg per kg food     

Measuring device

Almost any product you buy today has a measuring cup in it. So it is quite easy to build a small collection of measuring devices (MD), in different sizes. There are also packages for sale. Out of these we will have to pick the right one.

Goes as follows: 2% per kg food is 20 milligram of cantazoo product per kg per day.

Example A

You have 2 birds and feed them 500 gr of food per day. Do not work with a MD related to 1 kg. You will end up with using big and small 'halves'. Here you search for a MD that fits 0.5 kg. This will be one of 10 mg, you can use a full MD like this every day.

Example B

You have 20 birds and need 2 kg of food per day. So you use a 1 kg (20 mg) MD, take that twice so you can spread it easily among the food.

One useful method is if you used canned cat food, and use it as a MD so you can calculate one can (400 gr). In this case 8 mg is used per can per day.

How do we find the right MD?

You start by weighing an empty MD. Then you weigh it again, filled with the product.

For example:
MD is.....A
total, filled is.......B
Weight product is....B-A

If this is not ok, try another one of them to fit your need.

Take care the MD is always full to the edge, not too much, and no less.

The way to feed

If you put the right amount of color additives on top of the food, the first bird that comes to eat will get almost all of the product, his aviary companions will receive nothing. This means the early eater gets too much. This way you create a false image of color difference in your group. Even when you are sure the first eater is the strongest bird, the color difference will be to great after some time,the normal, natural ranking in the group will be disturbed.

So we have to make sure the color additives will be evenly spread out in the food. Fill the dishing layers and add some color additive to each one.

Some breeders mix the powder into water first and spread that among the food. This water mixing works very well when you feed ‘floating’ or expanded food pellets. Soak the pellets into the water mix before feeding.

Good to know

A feather gets its color during the molt. Trying to add color afterwards has no use at all. You can not ‘color’ existing feathers. The moult of ibises does not happen at the same time. There is also the occasional feather lost during the rest of the year. If in any of these cases, at any moment, you did not provide enough color additives, nor the bird had any ‘reserve’, the new feathers will be white or very pale.

Knowing this, it is very important to give a same amount of color additives every day, throughout the year. To give colour supplements only during periods of moult comes from the canary world, and does not work for ibises.

If given all year round, using the same calculated dose, will yield the best results.

The line

How saturated this even red color will be is related to the amount of color additive given. With what we have so far covered, the line becomes more clear. No one should have all birds looking the same.

The moment where no color difference can be seen in individual birds, you are giving too much and have crossed the supplementary line.

See also chapter 4 by Koen.

Finally you will have good colored scarlet ibises, with a visual difference between individuals.

Not red enough? (In your opinion of course). You can think of giving them an additional 3%. Make note that this has to be given over the course of an entire year to see any results. Don't make sudden, large changes, the results can be overwhelming.

Although some birds may look nice, even rose/pink in colour, They may look as if the dose has been too small. This can be caused by the fact that they are in a a mixed aviary and you only calculated supplementation for the scarlet ones. Other residents have eaten the food, so your scarlet have eaten less supplement then what you calculated for.

Too red? Do not stop feeding the color product. You must feed it for at least a year but using smaller amounts every day. For example instead of 20 mg, you use 15 mg per day. Breeders that use other brands will have to calculate their daily dose according to the product they are using. But by looking at our example, this should be easy to do.

We found that if you give 4% of the food amount, there is no longer difference between individual birds, and they all look alike. Some birds then have color above their normal capacity. We had created a false image.

All remains up to you to decide, you now how to get there, but bear in mind your responsibility to the birds.

Additional thoughts

• If you have been feeding a regular dose and can not get your birds red, this may be caused by the quality of the food, the general health of your birds, or their genetics.
• Some available products are a mix of color additives and vitamins. Bear in mind that if you are already giving extra vitamins this can disturb the normal equilibrium of these molecules. Too many vitamins can cause an imbalance It is better is to find a color additive without vitamins in it.
• If you choose to start from the pure products (ie: cantaxantine) you have to be very careful. Any deviation makes a completely different dose. This is powerful stuff. The changes will give a mottled duck. Avoid this by making your own ‘premixture’ It will help to keep doses the same every day. You certainly do not want to end up with a concentrated glob of color additive, eaten by 1 bird!
• Look at this like mixing paint. 1 spoon of color into 10 l white can take a long time to mix, and you may still end up with other colored zones in your bucket. Mix 1 spoon into 1 l, and then mix the 1 with the remaining 9 will be fast and good.
• Don't get tempted by over-colored birds elsewhere (sparkling red) you know now what is too much.

Strange

During breeding period the neck color in scarlet becomes pale compared to the rest of the body. The nude facial parts become bright red. This is caused by hormones. Its as if birds draw colour from their own feathers. This can also be a change in feather structure. After breeding is over, the neck returns to the usual color, if of course some color additives are still being supplemented in its food.

More strange is that birds who have never been given a color additive, and start to receive some in their breeding season, will first colour around the neck. In these birds, the neck becomes the most colourful part of the body, but the color is the same in both cases. No feather moult takes place in this area. If on other body parts a feather has changed, it is a good red. Of course the bird will be mosaic for a while, until all feathers have changed under the new diet.

This change does not happen if the birds have no access to color additives. Since feathers are actually dead cells, it is not likely that an ibis can add or remove color from these feathers. But the presence of color additives is proven important to the phenomenon. No studies have been done yet. If anyone feels the urge to do some study on this curiosity, ibisring will be glad to help. A similar event occurs in scaup (sort of duck) females, the facial white feathers change during laying.

Ready made food

Ibisring helped by informing, advising and testing a new pellet food for ibises. This is all ready in an advanced stage of production and may be available soon. This food will contain a color additive , not harmless for any bird, but ok to achieve reasonable color in your scarlet ibis.

Should you not be satisfied by this color (after 1 year) there is still the possibility of adding (1%) of cantazoo, by mixing it first in the water that soak the pellets in.

Besides this Threskior food, there is also Charnwood flamingo that covers most needs for scarlet ibises.

More to learn?

Ibisring is always on the move. After what we already learned and know, we currently help in scientific investigations that are being done by several universities at the moment. Among other things, they measure blood values, using the most accurate techniques. This will be related to the different ways groups of birds are being fed. We will publish these results as soon as the study is complete and available.

Sources

• Bilstein Keith L wetland wanderer 1993
• Ibisring archives, follow up and experience

Text and photos Luuc. Additions by Petra, Alain, Kim, Myles & Oliver
Header photo: Valerie

With special thanks to our members that shared their knowledge over the years. By mail, phone, on meetings and mostly at the pleasant talks in gardens with birds.