The Problem With Feeding Corn to our Birds

[Lady Jane]

The Problem with Feeding Corn to Parrots
Read in 4 minutes
Hello Catherine and Mitch,
Thank you for your ongoing interesting, informative and helpful narratives. I have one question that has yet to be answered. Today’s writing has a sentence (below) Offer corn only as a treat (popcorn’s a favourite) as it’s used to fatten animals.
Corn is always the #1 ingredient in every single bird pellet food that I have seen. I interpret that to mean that corn is the most prevalent ingredient in the pellet. As stated above, I also view corn as a high carb (not to mention GMO) food that would not seemingly be one’s best choice for a cherished family bird!
You have access to much more info that I do. Please advise me (and all your other fans) why corn is the #1 ingredient in all pellet foods. Or maybe there are other brands I am not aware of that do not have corn as the #1 ingredient!
Sincerely,
Cynthia T. (CTeby@aol.com )
Hi Cynthia
Actually corn is the majority ingredient in low-cost bird food, which you can see through the bags on the shelves the stores like Walmart. You’ll see far less corn proportionately in a quality engineered product like Harrisons or Hagen. That said, the difference between the corn going into packaged bird food and the corn coming in your table is the manufactured bird food corn is tested with tests like the Charm Rosa test which can check for aflatoxin, fumonisin and DON (vomitoxin) levels in finished pellets. Unfortunately the “corn on the cob” coming to your kitchen table comes directly from the farm never having been tested by the USDA
The issue is mold which translates to toxins (mycotoxins, aflatoxins) that can have negative impacts for you and your pet bird. What’s interesting is these ghost poisons that you can’t smell nor taste, will appear on one farmers crop of corn but not his neighbors. The fungus can present itself in huge amounts but doesn’t produce any toxins, and sometimes strangely enough just the opposite happens. These toxins sometimes are found before the harvest but they may not manifest themselves until the corn is stored. No amount of cooking heat can destroy these insidious poisons.
If you check with the US government you will find that they allow a maximum of 20 ppb (parts per billion) of combined aflatoxins in human food which is much more generous than Canada and Europe allows. Birds being birds are less resistant to these poisons than most mammals. When US corn exceeds 20 PBB you’ll find it in bags of wild feed for deers or on ships heading for ports outside of the US. Generally speaking we haven’t seen a problem with corn but we just want to make you aware of the downsides.
If you are thinking of getting away from corn totally, the pellet you would like is Goldenfeast Goldn’obles. it’s peanut and corn free, no GMO or synthetic vitamins. No high-fructose corn syrup and no artificial flavors.
Goldenfeast is currently making a batch (they make small, fresh batches to insure freshness).




Read more: The Problem with Feeding Corn to Parrots -
Follow us: @windycityparrot on Twitter

 

[expressmailtome]

Bump.

 

[geff]

Thank you for posting this article is very important to keepers of birds.

 

[Mizzely]

If you contact some of the companies, like Harrison's etc, they have much lower acceptable levels of aflatoxins. Harrison's told me that they test incoming ingredients and the end product and their acceptable amount is ZERO. I'll have to see if I can find the rest.

 

[Lady Jane]

I believe corn is difficult to digest for both humans and animals, mostly fresh or cooked corn. I stopped feeding it to the birds and myself last year. When I fed my budgies corn on the cob I had several problems with them getting yeast. Not any more!

 

[Tara81]

So is ground corn and cornmeal difficult to digest or easier since it is ground? My birds like roudybush pellets and it has ground corn with ground oats -.-

 

[Lady Jane]

@Tara81 I do not know the answer to your great question. I would think processed corn would be easier on the gut than fresh or frozen.

 

[Tara81]

just want to mention, golden nobles pellets has agave syrup, which has much more glucose-fruitose then high-fructose corn syrup. They also seem pretty high in the fat content 9% min. Mind you I do feed my birds treats (homemade nutriberries) from time to time with molasses in them or corn syrup .. But it's not a daily thing -.-

 

[Zara]

An interesting read!
My birds have never eaten corn - no reason why. I´ll try keeping it that way

 

[aooratrix]

Most parrots feed on corn in the wild if they're range overlaps agriculture. I've fed it for decades with no problems, knock wood, and will continue to do so.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

Most parrots feed on corn in the wild if they're range overlaps agriculture. I've fed it for decades with no problems, knock wood, and will continue to do so.

Raw or cooked? I have in the past, microwaved in water till done. Haven't for a while now... not for any reason in particular. I'm most opposed to whole and bits of corn as well as other cheap additives to seed mixes ( my brand of choice Volkmans) . I do feed seed to my conures in a limited amount since they all do well eating pellets.

 

[clawnz]

Hi Cynthia
Actually corn is the majority ingredient in low-cost bird food, which you can see through the bags on the shelves the stores like Walmart. You’ll see far less corn proportionately in a quality engineered product like Harrisons or Hagen.

Far LESS?
So incorrect. More than 60% in most pellets. Ground up Heat treated, minimal goodness left.
Fresh whole corn is far better than this.

I would like to know Where this false information has come from.

And I see you claim Harrisons quality engineered product. Is it really?
How can any product that has synthetic supplements be a real food?
Certified organic? Never yet seen any synthetics classed as organic.
Makes a bit of a mockery of certain standards, I feel.
I have to also question their claim about non GMO, when just about all corn in USA is GMO.

Sprouting corn is by far superior choice of foods.

 

[Fuzzy]

Sprouting corn is by far superior choice of foods.

Kobe adores sprouted organic corn! Unfortunately it doesn't sprout properly in our cool UK winters, but I sprout it no problem as the weather heats up.

 

[Lady Jane]

I would like to know Where this false information has come from.

What information specifically are you referring to? I have posted my personal reasons for not feeding corn to my budgies on AA several times. AGY has found a home in the budgies I fed fresh corn to in the past. I noticed a trend and asked my avian vet who has more years behind him than in front. Now I have begun to see some information and or others experiences on the web such as the opening of this thread. You wont find any scientific studies on feeding budgies fresh corn promoting AGY. However I believe if studies were done it would be beneficial. It is not false information. It is a theory right now that I will go to my grave with. My budgies are now very healthy since cutting out all fresh corn.

It could be corn promotes AGY in small birds only because the crop is a smaller diameter and the corn or the casing of the kernel and may get trapped there. Who Knows?

 

[clawnz]

Quote "You’ll see far less corn proportionately in a quality engineered product like Harrisons or Hagen."
This is what I am having trouble swallowing.

As I said. I Understand this can be 60% or more of any of the pellets you mention. I know Harrisons is for sure.
So in reality say I feed sprouted corn in my sprout mix, which is less than 25% of any of the diets I feed.
I am guessing it would equate to less than 2% of any diet.
If pellets DO contain 60 to 80 per cent then you are feeding way too much corn.
Take into consideration the poor nutritional goodness once it is ground up and heat treated.
It is there as a filler only. Just like some seed mixes are over loaded with Sunflower seeds.

Anyway pellets are the pits.
What do you know about kidney issues, caused by pellets. Or worse renal failure.
This is what happens when people cannot be bothered or have been scared into feeding fabricated foods.
Dehydration is a reality if you feed pellets at manufactures rates.

 

[Lady Jane]

I did not write that note but i posted it. My concern lies with the rate of budgies getting AGY and what may be the cause. First EB i purchased from a breeder. This breeder told me to feed them corn on the cob to keep weight on them. So i thought it was what i should do. Both died from yeast. This happened 5 years ago and it still bothers me. I cringe when i read here budgies are being fed fresh corn I need to just let it go.

 

[clawnz]

Thanks for clarifying that.

Strange a breeder telling you to feed corn on the cob. There is very little goodness in corn.
You have to wonder how they came up with that.

I am sorry you had a bad experience.

 

[Lady Jane]

The breeder i first went to was also a show budgie person. Now I know that corn is fed to make them look bigger. They also clean feathers and stains with listerine. I am sure they have more tricks up the sleeves. English Budgie s are difficult to find for some reason and almost never in a rescue. They don't live very long.