Cooked Quinoa bad?

[BirdieMusic]

Hi everyone,

New to AvianAvenue and glad to be here. I know there may have been past (or present) posts regarding feeding veggies and sorts to birds. I have been feeding my birds cooked grains and quinoa and such with fruits, veggies and nuts, along with a pelleted and minimal seed diet (I also sprout from time to time). I am now reinventing my birds diet only because I want to make sure that I am doing my best with them. My birds will do anything to get their beaks on cooked quinoa and I am at odds to whether I should stop. Reading an article from Bird-e-licious's site just made me dive into researching more about being more particular to what species specific foods I can present to my flock. I know quinoa is a seed but I am just super confused. I would really love to not buy pellets and all and make my own yet I am not that knowledgable on rationing their food well enough to take them off something that supposedly is. I recently bought an Excalibur to find ways of making things for them besides fresh stuff.

I was just wondering how everyone feeds their birds and what they think is best as of what info is given to us for now. I know we all have different species but I guess Im just wondering from a general point of view. I have 2 Tiels, 2 green cheeks (one yellow sided mutation), and a Blue crowned. I am also battling a fungal infection with one of my green cheeks...

Would love to hear from you guys! Thanks...

 

[danadear]

Lord I hope it's not bad..I add it to my chop all the time.

Welcome to the Avenue!

 

[Momto3boys]

I think its considered a super food, absolutely healthy!

 

[Clueless]

I have an excaliber. . . Please share thoughts on those foods too

 

[lupe]

Yup! my boy loves it

 

[Katy]

Quinoa, as others have said, is a grain with one of the highest protein counts. It's great to feed them quinoa. Look here
Parrot Enrichment for a great recipe using quinoa and some great veggies.

on the question of no-pellet diet, I think that although I have time to cook healthy complete meals for my guys, my vet convinced me to use pellets. We still don't agree on the % though. Parrots will pick through a fresh diet and perhaps miss some ingredient that has very beneficial properties. With a pellet its all or nothing. Anyway, I enjoy being part of their diet, so I feed fewer pellets than my vet reccomends.

 

[Mizzely]

Is birdelicious the person who tries to tell everyone that she has done research and we should only feed fruit?

If so, ignore that person. She has no factual evidence to backup her claims.

Quinoa is an awesome food for birds and humans alike, and I feed it often. Can you tell us why it might be "bad"?

 

[jmfleish]

Is birdelicious the person who tries to tell everyone that she has done research and we should only feed fruit?

If so, ignore that person. She has no factual evidence to backup her claims.

Quinoa is an awesome food for birds and humans alike, and I feed it often. Can you tell us why it might be "bad"?

Yes, I believe it's Machelle Pachion and if so, she's a little on the disturbed side of things and I would take what she says with a grain of salt. Quinoa is a great food cooked or raw and you're doing nothing wrong by serving it up to your birds either way. I also agree with Katy, I wouldn't back off the pellets completely. Think of them as the vitamins in your birds' diets...filling in the holes where the natural diet might be missing something.

 

[CheekyBeaks]

Quinoa is a great food to feed birds, I offer it both cooked and sprouted to my birds.
For some more info you can look at....
HolisticBird and HolisticBirds

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Every one of us has to decide what we feel is a good diet for our birds and every bird owner has a different opinion. You have to do your homework and decide for yourself, but there are things you should remember:

The parrots we keep as pets here in the USA cannot be given their usual wild diet because we have no way to get the things they eat in the wild jungles and forests where they come from. In addition, the diet of their wild cousins changes as the time of year changes and some foods become unavailable and others are substituted. We can only offer healthy local foods and try out best to give them a complete and balanced diet. Each species of bird evolved in a specific habitat and has slightly different needs nutritionally. Species that live in the same jungles often eat different types of foods as evolution found ways to fit each bird to their environment and not compete too much with one another. In this issue, think of the needs of Eclectus vs Cockatoos vs Amazons, etc.

Not everything on the world wide web is completely true and really fact. One of the great things the www has allowed is discussion and comparison of different opinions on the same subject. It is imperative for each person to investigate all the information and find out what is pseudoscience and what is science and what is actually opinion only. Barbara Heidenreich and Sally Blanchard are both very effective, well known behaviorists when it comes to parrots; but they have some very interesting divergent opinions. It is important to shop all the opinions and find out what is true and what is not and make your decisions before you implement big changes in your bird's diet.

Myself, my vet wants me to feed my Sunshine Senegal fifty percent Harrisons pellets as a minimum and supplement with twenty percent seed, ten percent veggies and fruits and ten percent cooked pasta, grains, etc. I followed that for years faithfully. Then I hit hard financial times and had to reduce the amount of expensive birdfood I was buying. I cut Sunny's pellets to thirty percent and increased the fresh foods to cover it. Sunny is even more beautiful than when she was on the fifty percent Harrisons pellets. I think the fresh foods really helps her, but I would never eliminate her Harrisons simply because I know she is getting complete and balanced nutrition with every bite of pellet she eats; all the trace minerals and vitamins packed into a easily stored and one hundred percent organic pellet that has really given me peace of mind about whether Sunny is getting what she needs every day. It helps, of course, that she loves the taste of the Harrisons.

Joining a forum for parrots is a great idea and we are very glad to see a new member. Check out the forum discussions about your specific species of bird and have fun sifting through all the different opinons and beliefs. Welcome to the Avenue.

 

[Sapphire Moon]

Katy, thanks for the recipe. My birds are all so picky. I am always trying different foods to get them to eat more but most want no part of it. I will give this a try. I am also getting a new baby Amazon, so I hope that if I start him on it when he comes home from the breeder he will not know any different. Wish me luck.

 

[Sapphire Moon]

Thanks Ann-Marie, another good article.

 

[Merlie]

Just a side note, raw Quinoa can be a bit bitter and not always received well. It has a saponin coating that comes off during cooking, or with rinsing, but in it's absolute raw state can have a bitter "soapy" taste. Some companies already put their Quinoa thru a rinsing procedure before packaging, but some don't, it's kinda hit or miss. I always rinse Quinoa before using it for anything, you'll often see it "foaming" when you rinse it, that the saponin coating coming off.

 

[CheekyBeaks]

I was in a hurry earlier and didn't get to comment on your other questions so here goes

It looks to me like you are offering a good diet, in my opinion offering as wide a variety of fresh foods, grains, legumes, and a limited amount of seeds and nuts (depending on species needs of course) with a good quality pellet is ideal. Parrot nutrition is still not completely understood and as there are so many different species from such varying environments we may never have a full understanding of their individual needs.

Even though manufacturers state that pellets are a complete diet, I feel that sourcing as much of their nutritional requirements through natural foods can not be beaten so my birds do get a high percentage of their daily intake of fresh foods, grain, legumes etc... With a small amount of seed, nut & dry fruit mix ( my amazon doesn't get this though nor does my Janday as she refuses to eat seeds and nuts) and I supply them with enough pellets that I know they will eat in a day to help fill in the gaps so to speak, I also offer a mix of 2 or more different pellets for nutritional variety as well as avoiding them from being fussy.

Fungal infections often arise when there is a lowered immune system and is often secondary to another issue such as disease, bacterial infections, stress etc..., lories are also prone to getting this due to their sugary diets. I'm assuming you are having this treated by an avian vet with the prescribed anti-fungal meds. There are holistic methods you can also use, apple cider vinegar being the most common, when diluted in water (1-2teaspoons in 250ml of water) and used as the drinking source for up to two weeks at a time can be helpful, just make sure your bird is drinking though during this time period as you don't want dehydration to be an issue, if you are concerned offer regular water from evenings through to the morning and the ACV mix during the day or giving it every second day. Adding an avian probiotic can also be helpful to boost the immune system.

 

[Miss Mary]

Hi everyone,

New to AvianAvenue and glad to be here. I know there may have been past (or present) posts regarding feeding veggies and sorts to birds. I have been feeding my birds cooked grains and quinoa and such with fruits, veggies and nuts, along with a pelleted and minimal seed diet (I also sprout from time to time). I am now reinventing my birds diet only because I want to make sure that I am doing my best with them. My birds will do anything to get their beaks on cooked quinoa and I am at odds to whether I should stop. Reading an article from Bird-e-licious's site just made me dive into researching more about being more particular to what species specific foods I can present to my flock. I know quinoa is a seed but I am just super confused. I would really love to not buy pellets and all and make my own yet I am not that knowledgable on rationing their food well enough to take them off something that supposedly is. I recently bought an Excalibur to find ways of making things for them besides fresh stuff.

I was just wondering how everyone feeds their birds and what they think is best as of what info is given to us for now. I know we all have different species but I guess Im just wondering from a general point of view. I have 2 Tiels, 2 green cheeks (one yellow sided mutation), and a Blue crowned. I am also battling a fungal infection with one of my green cheeks...

Would love to hear from you guys! Thanks...