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Basil, Kale & Lettuce

BirdLady13

Sprinting down the street
Joined
8/24/19
Messages
354
Location
Massachusetts
I didn't realize how many varieties of basil, kale, and lettuce there were until I started digging into gardening (see what I did there :smuggrin:). Can anyone confirm which ones are safe for flock consumption?
  • Thai Basil
  • Genovese Basil
  • Purple Basil
  • Napolitano Basil
  • Marseille Basil
  • Lemon Basil
  • Holy Basil
  • Dinosaur Kale
  • Curly Kale
  • Red Russian Kale
  • Shungiku Lettuce
  • Mizuna Lettuce
  • Tatsoi Lettuce
 

SumitaSinh

Rollerblading along the road
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
12/6/20
Messages
2,462
Holy Basil is good for budgies and tiels,my flock enjoys it... Rest I don't know. I am also following this thread.
 

Chris1234

Strolling the yard
Avenue Veteran
Joined
9/23/14
Messages
137
Location
Wisconsin
Real Name
Chris
Holy Basil (aka Tulsi) is safe, as is Thai Basil (aka Sweet Basil), which is usually purple. Genovese Basil is a variety of sweet basil and is safe. I found personal accounts of Lemon Basil being fed to parrots. I couldn't find much on the other varieties, but typically plants in the same family (Ocimum) would be safe.
The flowers of basil plants are safe to eat too.

Same with Kale (if they're in the same family). I stay away from the ornamental Kales though as they're often sprayed with pesticides and herbicides. They also tend to be bitter as they're grown for their looks, not taste.

Lettuce is often not fed because of its low nutritional value but is safe to feed. Shungiku is in the family Asteraceae along with other lettuces. I was able to find two personal accounts in my Avian groups of it being fed to parrots.

Mizuna Lettuce (aka Japanese Mustard) and Tatsoi Lettuce are actually in the Brassica family, along with Brussels sprouts, kale and broccoli and are safe to feed. I found personal accounts of both being fed to parrots.
 
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