Canunda Shell Grit (1kg to 20kg)
Canunda shell grit can be used as a food supplement for birds as it contains calcium and other minerals. It's also popular among orchid growers; see below for details.
Canunda Grit has a very high soluble calcium content. Recommended by animal nutritionists over common beach grit due to its superior soluble calcium ratio.
Our grit is natural and organic, and every component is derived from a naturally occurring freshwater snail that was deposited eons ago.
Canunda Shell Grit for Orchids:
Canunda Shell Grit can be very beneficial for orchids, particularly for species that prefer alkaline or calcium-rich conditions like Paphiopedilums, Dendrobiums, and Cattleyas.
How to Use Canunda Shell Grit for Orchids
1. As a Potting Mix Additive (for drainage and calcium)
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Amount: Mix 5-10% shell grit into your regular orchid mix, such as bark, perlite, or charcoal.
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Purpose: Improves drainage and slowly releases calcium and magnesium, which support strong cell structure and flower production.
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Best for: Orchids that naturally grow on limestone cliffs or in areas with high mineral content.
2. As a Top Dressing
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Sprinkle a light layer (a few teaspoons) on the surface of the potting mix.
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Watering will slowly leach calcium carbonate into the medium below.
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Replace every few months as it dissolves or breaks down.
Guaranteed Analysis:
- Calcium carbonate 96.3%
- Magnesium 512 parts per million
- Sodium 100 parts per million
- Potassium 30 parts per million
- Phosphorus 162 parts per million
- Copper 2.0 parts per million
- Zinc 3.6 parts per million
- Iron 2.8 parts per million
- Manganese 8.4 parts per million
- pH (bark and shell mix) ~ 7.0
CALCIUM DEFICIENCY IN BIRDS
Calcium in correct proportions is an essential ingredient in the proper nutrition of all birds. Calcium is essential for bone formation in growing chicks and normal muscle, nerve and brain function. During the breeding season, your hens need much larger amounts for egg formation and correct balancing of the chicks' dietary calcium requirements in their formative weeks.
Newly hatched chicks require plenty of dietary calcium during their period of rapid skeletal growth. Depriving growing chicks of a correctly balanced amount of dietary calcium may lead to beak deformation, splayed legs, or a poor feeding response.
Egg-laying hens that have a diet deficient in calcium can develop such problems as thin-shelled, misshapen or shell-less eggs. These can lead to the hen becoming eggbound, a potentially fatal condition.
The distribution of calcium throughout the bird's body is regulated by the parathyroid glands. If the diet of an egg-laying hen is deficient in calcium, these glands redistribute calcium from other parts of the body, including the bones, to make up for the dietary deficiency. 4s well as abnormal eggs, a reduced number of eggs (small clutches), or indeed the hen may not ever come into breeding condition at all if her diet is low in calcium.
Vitamin D3 is needed for birds to absorb calcium in the intestine. Most birds are regularly exposed to natural sunlight and manufacture sufficient quantities of this vitamin. Birds housed indoors are normally the only birds that have calcium-deficient symptoms caused by a lack of vitamin D3.
Supplementing your birds' diet with Canunda Shells will ensure your birds are getting all of the grit necessary for proper crop function as well as eliminating any possibility of your birds being deficient in calcium.
Remember that during the breeding season, when adult birds are feeding chicks which you should check their supply of grit daily, as they cannot be without it.
CANUNDA SHELLS
THE NATURAL MINERAL SUPPLEMENT FOR BIRDS