Topic: Table Foods/Junk Foods (Read 8708 times)

lovebirds · « **on:** November 05, 2009, 07:57:09 PM »

I am a subscriber of a very good yahoo group called Feeding Feathers. We have just been discussing the issue of prepared human foods in the diet of parrots. The lady who raised the question is from the UK and her parrot started picking on his foot till it bled. All tests were done but nothing serious was found. They went to another vet and he found the cause of the problem - salt! Salt, which has been accumulated in her African Grey's diet over the years, as a result of her giving him an OCASSIONAL (!) piece of sausage, meat, this and that table food, lead to the kidney toxicity. Because the kidney put pressure on his foot he started picking on it.

In Avian Medicine. Principles and Applications salt and as its carriers - crackers, chips, prepared food are listed among other toxic compounds. The consequences of salt toxicity are : gastrointestinal irritation, depression, weakness, death. (all according to the clever book).

When talking about salt toxicity it is not implied that a large amount of salt is consumed over a short period of time. It can get accumulated in the body over the years and lead to all the problems listed above. In addition, all table prepared foods, junk food, biscuits, cakes and meat are rich in saturated fats. These lead to very high cholesterol levels in parrots and as a result - heart attacks. I have heard of cases of very young parrots dying suddenly of heart attacks.

If you want your companion parrot to live its life to the full, up to an old ripe age please don't feed any table foods! Don't think that parrots are like children need to be spoiled on times. It is not the same! Spoil with a lovely almond in shell, a piece of birdie bread, a grape, but not with human table and junk foods.

All the toxins consumed by parrots (salt, sugar, excess fat, chemicals, preservatives, etc.) are removed by the two main detoxifying organs: liver and kidney making these two organs very susceptible to failure if the diet is all wrong.

Please remember chocolate, coffee, avocados, crisps, salted nuts, sugary sweets, like Haribo can and will kill your bird so please don't feed any of those things to your parrot!!!

Here is a link to one of the threads describing how sick a damaged liver can make a parrot
http://www.africangreyparrotcentre.co.uk/african-grey-forum/african-grey-diet/dramatic-liver/msg158059/?topicseen#new

Squid · « **Reply #1 on:** November 05, 2009, 08:22:55 PM »

This is a very good topic and one that I think some people dismiss very easily....a little chip wont hurt, or a little chocolate cant do much harm........a crisp cant do damage?
Well, they can do a lot of damage..
Thanks Irina, it needs to be taken seriously

scopsowl · « **Reply #2 on:** November 05, 2009, 08:49:00 PM »

Evening all
I get what your saying about feeding junk foods but im sure your birds are like Rodger and make you feel guilty. I know when i got him his previous owner told me he likes chips and pretty much everything bad I refuse to give him any but he really does make me and the rest of the family feel guilty when we are eating and he says "want one" and if we try and trick him and give him a piece of apple he knows and swings his head and throws it back at us

lovebirds · « **Reply #3 on:** November 05, 2009, 08:52:32 PM »

well you have to offer something much more tempting then!

And anyway what is worse - having a slightly upset parrot or a dead parrot?
Digby always flies over to our table when we are eating - and i always keep him either a piece of cooked unsalted veg, piece of potatoe or rice (always unsalted!) or I warm him his birdie bread for him because he loves this, or if i haven't got anything good at hand, then he might get a small piece of toast. Palm nuts and nuts in shells seem to be acceptable for him too during our meals. You just have to experiment with bird-friendly foods.

tigerjayne · « **Reply #4 on:** November 07, 2009, 09:56:51 AM »

Thanks for this brilliant topic Irina because until i joined this forum my kids had been feeding Daniella the odd crisp,chip,biscuit etc. i have learnt so much from you guys, Daniella no longer has any human food except for things like unsalted pasta/rice/veg. Do yopu have a birdie bread recipe please Irina?

lovebirds · « **Reply #5 on:** November 07, 2009, 11:52:29 AM »

Basically, for any bird bread you will need about 250g of flour, 2 eggs and about 15ml of vegetable oil and about 1tbsp of baking powder. From here you can experiment - it is best to use wholemeal wheat flour, corn flour (not corn starch!), buckwheat flour or whatever flour (not rye though) you can find and mix it in whatever proportions you want for it to make up to 250g. Then you can add to it a cup of minced vegetables and fruit of your choice. Mix all the ingredients together and then add an appropriate amount of water for it to form a cake-like batter - it should be around 80-100ml of water (or you can use fruit juice). Bake for about 30 mins at gas mark 5 or 180C, check with the skewer, it is ready when the skewer comes out clean. The final result might not have a particularly attractive appearance or taste, but most parrots love it, no matter how it looks like

watts1 · « **Reply #6 on:** November 07, 2009, 01:21:38 PM »

No more Wotsits for Bertie then

What about the parrot puffs, I think they're from Kaytee, are they ok to give?

lovebirds · « **Reply #7 on:** November 07, 2009, 05:44:36 PM »

yes, those are fine as a treat. I don't like Kaytee too much, because they add artificial colours, but as an occasional treat it shouldn't be a problem at all

MandyT · « **Reply #8 on:** November 22, 2009, 09:12:42 AM »

Thanks Irina..for this fantastic article..salt toxicity is not somethiing people consider..it really goes to show how much damage the "odd chip" etc can do.

Peggy · « **Reply #9 on:** November 22, 2009, 09:27:01 PM »

I read the other day, that peanuts are not good to give parrots. is this right? as most of the parrot mix I have always bought, has peanuts in. Should we not be feeding peanuts?

lovebirds · « **Reply #10 on:** November 22, 2009, 09:35:46 PM »

Well, the seed mix should only be an addition, more of a treat, rather than the staple of the diet. One teaspoon- to maximum one tablespoon a day. I make sure there is no more than one peanut in the mix.
The thing is, pellets on their own are fine, it is just they are high in fat, so in excess (more than one a day) can lead to obesity, etc. and another huge problem with peanuts is mold - for this reason stick to only top brand of seeds which test their peanuts for aflatoxins (by-product of mold, causes aspergillosis), or buy those sold in supermarket for human consumption (unsalted) and never from pet shops.

As a treat best stick with walnuts (no more than half a walnut a day - high fat), almond (best given every other day, for variety), hazelnuts and unsalted pistachios.

Peggy · « **Reply #11 on:** November 22, 2009, 11:51:41 PM »

Oh my god! I have a dish od seed mix in his cage all the time, and a dish of pellets, and give him fruit for breakfast, and veggies in the evening, is this too much?

lovebirds · « **Reply #12 on:** November 22, 2009, 11:55:02 PM »

Offer pellets free choice, but cut down on seed to about 1 tablespoon a day tops. Offer more veg and leafy greens and some berries and give fruit more as a treat, and try introducing some cooked grains/pulses as well - they are a good source of nutrition. But don't worry, you are doing things alright right now, only slight adjustments are needed

Squid · « **Reply #13 on:** November 23, 2009, 10:30:17 AM »

The way I have done it is I only have pellets, fruit & veg and pulses when i do them in their cage.....the seeds I give are outside on a playstand, so they enjoy those when they come out

Andy · « **Reply #14 on:** November 27, 2009, 11:40:46 PM »

I just want to echo what Irina has said. Never buy peanuts from a pet shop. Like wise always be careful with other seed mixes and nuts. Sunflower seeds if harvested with more than 16 – 17% moisture content will have aspergillus in them. If you use sunflower seeds always break open half a cup full from each new supply and check for grey, brown or green dust. Discard the lot if you find any. Believe me you never want your bird to get Asper. Danny Boy doesn’t get any nuts anymore, nor seeds. We will not take the risk with peanuts even human grade. Also I have read that other nuts such as walnuts, brazil nuts and almonds can be susceptible to aspergillus if not stored / transported correctly. It’s a shame as he loved them, but I wouldn’t want to go through that again, let alone have Danny Boy go through it. The first thing the specialist vet asked me when Danny had Asper was “is he on a seed based diet?”

BabyCakes · « **Reply #15 on:** December 02, 2009, 09:30:43 PM »

Irina so much for this article,its so true about salt,we used to feed Gucci,and now Armani veg with no salt on at all.We also give Armani veg with no salt on

Im defo going to have a go at the birdie recipie,sounds tempting omnomnom

Sharyn

Mandi · « **Reply #16 on:** March 28, 2010, 07:38:28 PM »

i visited my mum as usual on wednesday and was say eating M and M`s, so her partner said give casper 1, so i blatently refused she said why not its a peanut and i said yeah covered in chocolate, i tried to explain it wont kill him instant but in the long term it would cause problems, they just dont listen
my mum did reply to her that i dont feed my 3 any rubish xx

lovebirds · « **Reply #17 on:** March 28, 2010, 07:53:10 PM »

I hope she is not going to give them any chocolate in the future though!
I know a Timneh who has been fed chocolates and other junk foods regularly. He had a stroke at around 10 years of age

He survived but he forgot all the whistles and tunes he knew and any words too.

reap76 · « **Reply #18 on:** August 04, 2010, 05:45:27 PM »

Thank you for this educational and important piece of information. I must confess that on occasion I have broken off an end of a slice of crust because she absolutely enjoys it unbeknown to the long term ramifications that this could cause. Table foods have been officially stricken from her diet!!

Choksip · « **Reply #19 on:** October 22, 2010, 06:02:09 AM »

When I got Pavan i gave him fruit in the morning then some veg in the afternoon then more veg in the evening and he was ok with this.
Lately he has become very fussy with what he want to eat, he loves junk food so try to keep him away from it, he loves grapes and will eat it all day as to with pomegranet and sugar cane, but not sure what to do with him not eating fresh veg. I have given him some pulses which i have soaked but doesnt really touch it. I feel he may not be getting the vitamins he needs and am getting a little worried out it, he will eat his seed mix though.

Table Foods/Junk Foods

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Author Topic: Table Foods/Junk Foods (Read 8708 times)

watts1

MandyT

Peggy

Peggy

BabyCakes