Hi everyone!
Do you guys soak nuts for your birds prior to feeding?
I'm ordering nuts for the birds and came across this awesome site with this mix. They mainly get them as treats each day (for my Rose Breasted Too I wrap a few pieces in tissue paper each day and hide them throughout her cage in different toys).
I'm always researching and I prefer to give my birds raw nuts (they're better nutrition wise), but they're also higher in phytic acid. People in the avian community are recommending soaking nuts 12-24 hours to neutralize the acid. Most think this is just a precaution and that as long as they're not getting tons of nuts each day, the acid won't really affect them. It's one of those "better safe than sorry" deals.
Anyway, below are the nuts this mix comes with and what I've researched about soaking them. The soak times are mainly courtesy of Jason Creans FB page Avian Raw whole Food Nutrition and this health website.
-Almonds (soak 8-12 hrs)
-Brazil nuts (soak 12 hrs)
-Cashews (one site says soak 2.5 hrs, the other 6 hrs)
-Hazelnuts/Filberts: (soak 8 hours)Pecans (one site says soak 4-6 hrs, the other 8 hrs)
-Macadamia nuts (soak 4 hours)
-Pistachios (Hard to find feeding info for birds. One site recommended 2 hr soak, another 8. Jason Crean's page said slightly roasted ones are recommended, so I may just pick these out since it's a raw mix.)
-Walnuts (one site says soak 4 hrs, the other 8 hrs.)
My guess is that the lower the soak time, the less acidic they are. So since my birds don't get many of these in their weekly diets, I may just rinse the ones with longer rinse times. Any thoughts? What do you guys do?
Do you guys soak nuts for your birds prior to feeding?
I'm ordering nuts for the birds and came across this awesome site with this mix. They mainly get them as treats each day (for my Rose Breasted Too I wrap a few pieces in tissue paper each day and hide them throughout her cage in different toys).
I'm always researching and I prefer to give my birds raw nuts (they're better nutrition wise), but they're also higher in phytic acid. People in the avian community are recommending soaking nuts 12-24 hours to neutralize the acid. Most think this is just a precaution and that as long as they're not getting tons of nuts each day, the acid won't really affect them. It's one of those "better safe than sorry" deals.
Anyway, below are the nuts this mix comes with and what I've researched about soaking them. The soak times are mainly courtesy of Jason Creans FB page Avian Raw whole Food Nutrition and this health website.
-Almonds (soak 8-12 hrs)
-Brazil nuts (soak 12 hrs)
-Cashews (one site says soak 2.5 hrs, the other 6 hrs)
-Hazelnuts/Filberts: (soak 8 hours)Pecans (one site says soak 4-6 hrs, the other 8 hrs)
-Macadamia nuts (soak 4 hours)
-Pistachios (Hard to find feeding info for birds. One site recommended 2 hr soak, another 8. Jason Crean's page said slightly roasted ones are recommended, so I may just pick these out since it's a raw mix.)
-Walnuts (one site says soak 4 hrs, the other 8 hrs.)
My guess is that the lower the soak time, the less acidic they are. So since my birds don't get many of these in their weekly diets, I may just rinse the ones with longer rinse times. Any thoughts? What do you guys do?