Is cooked oatmeal with add-ons ok?

[Jan M]

Is cooked steel cut oatmeal safe or will it get stuck in my Pionus Parrot’s crop? I plan to cook it in mixture of 70% water and 30% lactose free milk and add Ceylon, cinnamon unsweetened apple sauce, a couple of raisins, chia seeds and a drop of honey.

 

[Respect]

As far as I’m aware, honey is a no-go because it can contain botulism spores. If you were to not add the honey, a little bit should be fine as a treat, so long as it’s not still hot enough to burn!

 

[Shezbug]

I wouldn’t use the honey and I personally only offer porridge once every other month and not at all if it has milk- if I cook porridge for my birds it’s done in water only, actually I cook it the same for me and add my lactose free milk and sweeteners/fruits to my bowl- birds don’t need milk even if it’s lac fre
Also be aware that raisins and fruit as yummy as it is happens to be is high in sugars.
You will find that your bird will be just as likely to enjoy the porridge with grated or chopped veggies.


Remember when raising young ones it’s extremely important to set them up for a long life of good habits and healthy eating- as they often outlive us raising your bird to eat healthy without fuss and behave appropriately gives them a much higher chance of staying healthy and getting into a wonderful home should something happen to us.

 

[rocky'smom]

same here no milk even lactose free milk. no honey either. when I make grain glop in the crockpot it the following: steel cut oats, quinoa, chia, rice, millet if I can find it. I make up enough to do bento boxes and have leftovers to freeze for 6 months or next time I make Bento boxes again.

 

[Jan M]

Thanks guys. Sorry for taking time to respond. Gotcha: no honey, no milk, no raisins.

New questions. I always soak chia seeds in water for > 2 hours (2 to 12 hours) before putting them in my parrot’s feeder bowl along with fresh veggies and unsoaked, dry buckwheat, hemp seeds, and flax seed powder. What is the minimum time for soaking chia seeds? Do any of the other seeds need to be soaked and, if so, for how long: buckwheat, hemp seeds, flax seed powder. Do they need to be cooked?

 

[Shezbug]

I do not soak then for that long when I need to use them for birds or people- I usually find five or ten mins is about all I need, of course they soak up a bit more liquid sometimes after that time frame but I only make sure they are no longer dry.

I have never heard of feeding dry buckwheat, I have just always cooked it (I have no clue if this is a grain that is ok to serve without cooking- I have never even thought about not cooking it before lol), hemp seed can be served cooked or raw. @Mizzely is the one who's brain I usually pick for food information, I am sure she can answer these other questions you have.

 

[Mizzely]

My birds don't eat buckwheat dry, sprouted, or cooked so it's a non issue here

 

[Shezbug]

My birds don't eat buckwheat dry, sprouted, or cooked so it's a non issue here

Burt found it in some soup he stole from me and decided they were awesome so I started cooking some up for him along with some other grains and lentils. Can it be safely served dry?

He also found Frekkah in there and pearl barley- was so funny watching him sifting through soup to find the yummy grains.

 

[Mizzely]

Burt found it in some soup he stole from me and decided they were awesome so I started cooking some up for him along with some other grains and lentils. Can it be safely served dry?

He also found Frekkah in there and pearl barley- was so funny watching him sifting through soup to find the yummy grains.

It's in several dry parrot seed mixes around here! Volkman and Higgins for sure have it because Ripley leaves them behind and I had to Google wtf they were

 

[Shezbug]

It's in several dry parrot seed mixes around here! Volkman and Higgins for sure have it because Ripley leaves them behind and I had to Google wtf they were

Awesome to know, please thank Ripley for teaching you this stuff for us all to benefit from

 

[sunnysmom]

Another thing with oatmeal is to be careful with the iron content. Too much iron isn't good for parrots and a lot of oatmeal is fortified with iron. Just something to be careful of.

 

[Jan M]

You guys are great. Thanks! My Themba absolutely loves dry buckwheat. When I bought him from Magnolia Bird Farm, they told me it was his favorite food and they gave me a bag to take home. They also had me purchase their seed mix that they have been feeding him since birth. Since I brought Themba home I have had him on a conversion diet — slowly reducing his seed mixture and his buckwheat and phasing in TOPS pellets — as his overnight food. This has proved difficult as Themba picks through his night food avidly seeking out the seed mixture and the buckwheat while ignoring most of the TOPS. His conversion to fresh chopped in the morning and the afternoon, without seed mixture and without buckwheat, has been successful, and this constitutes 80% of his daily food.

 

[Mizzely]

I've only had 1 parrot out of 7 that would even nibble on TOPs. It seems to be a hard sell for a lot of them!

 

[Shezbug]

Another thing with oatmeal is to be careful with the iron content. Too much iron isn't good for parrots and a lot of oatmeal is fortified with iron. Just something to be careful of.

Must check where I get mine from- I have a feeling the ones I get are fine and have nothing added.

 

[Shezbug]

Yeah Tops wasn’t accepted as food content here at my house- even the scavenger wild birds and dogs wouldn’t touch it lol