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Parrot diet

Mo Amjad

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Hey guys, i was just wondering what are some healthy human foods your birds love?. I feel like daily bell peppers or green beans are not it for my ringneck but please give me some yummy food!
 

Mo Amjad

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I tried broccoli before and my boy liked it just haven't gave him any for a while. Thanks for that choice and cooked or raw or either is fine?
 

Nikomania

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A variety of raw fresh veggies: kale, carrots, sugar snap peas (my flock's favorite!), sweet potato, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, squash etc. etc. Also fresh organic sprouts are nutrient rich and something you can actually grow yourself.
NO avocado-ever.
 

Zara

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Broccoli and peas in our house :)
Jaime loves his quinoa, the little ones love sprouted lentils and mung beans.

sweet potato
Raw? I always cook if I give sweet potato.
 

fashionfobie

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I give a wide range of raw veggies. I also feed raw sweet potato, they are not shade plants so it isn't required to cook them. :) You can do what you want though, no worries. Pumpkin is another great vitamin A veggie. Mango is a fantastic fruit option, it has lots of wonderful parrot vitamins.

Cauliflower is a popular shred toy for my birds, they love breaking it up and I am sure they are eating a bit as they go.

Get creative and keep it interesting :D

IMG_6544.JPG
 

Rain Bow

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I rotate & change but the heaviest hitters here @ my house are:

Sprouts just so nurishing! As often as we can, they're like breakfast cereal for birdy's. ;)

Sweet & Green peppers, (doesn't like hot)
Broccoli
Peas
Green String Beans
Carrots
Squash (different kinds)
Cauliflower
Cucumbers
Radish
Ice berg & romaine lettuce (small amounts... rarely)
Corn (occasionally), be advised some have allergies

Cooked White potato's & Celery (very very rarely)

---- ---- ---- ----
Never tried Zucchini yet (not a Mom favorite)

Tried S. Potato but never a nibble. Also doesn't like "other" kinds of lettuce endive, purple <Name ?>, Kale etc...

That's all I can think of @ the moment!

& my :2cents:
 

Shezbug

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I believe sweet potato is one of the few veggies that is best cooked before serving, same as some greens due to the enzymes or nutrients that are not easily digested. I can never remember it properly :/ but I only ever feed cooked sweet potato and some of the greens lightly steamed.
@Mizzely has posted heaps of information about them in the past, hopefully she won’t mind either linking the information or giving another quick description.
 

Mizzely

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Raw sweet potatoes can inhibit protein absorption and be hard to digest. The Vitamin A is also easier to absorb when it's been cooked.

All greens have varying levels of oxalic acid, which makes some of the calcium unable to be absorbed. I'm guilty of still forgetting to cook my greens a little too break that oxalic acid/calcium bond, but sweet potatoes I always cook!
 

Nikomania

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I believe sweet potato is one of the few veggies that is best cooked before serving, same as some greens due to the enzymes or nutrients that are not easily digested. I can never remember it properly :/ but I only ever feed cooked sweet potato and some of the greens lightly steamed.
@Mizzely has posted heaps of information about them in the past, hopefully she won’t mind either linking the information or giving another quick description.
I actually do cook the sweet potato. I stand corrected in having listed it with my 'raw' list.
 

fashionfobie

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Your birds dinner is the most beautiful I have ever seen...
I do try my best, always room for improvements. Plumheads eat flower blossoms, I am lucky enough to find them at the organic market. Pi also likes some veggies clipped up and others he will eat from a bowl..so I need to mix it up.


@Shezbug in terms of cooked vs raw I feel any claim in a bit nebulous. Birds do not cook. Cooking will definitely ease digestion and start breaking foods down into more easily absorbed compounds. -Though in captivity there is an over abundance of easy calories that can also cause harm. I can understand that parrots wouldn't naturally have a lot of access to a root vegetable like a sweet potato, so cooking is probably ideal. Though when plumhead parrots are raiding agricultural lands in India, I don't think they worry about steaming their greens. There are different requirements per species, I do not believe I have a strong view that cooked or raw are better. From my understanding, African greys are known to have issue with calcium so perhaps it is critical for them to enjoy steamed greens.

Again I do the best I can by my birds I am not dogmatic one way or the other, all I want is a healthy happy little flock. Currently they get cooked grains: quinoa, black rice, freekeh. Most other things are raw. Is it possible that they aren't absorbing 100% of available protein because they nibble a few chews of sweet potato, it could be. However they are offered a wide range of options. They don't have sweet potato daily. It may be more critical if sweet potatoes made up the bulk of their diet. If I have any strong view it is that the little fluff balls need variety. They need to be excited to look in their dish in the morning, they need choices and seasonal selections. I offer mostly veggies, some fruit and then grains and some nut. They also have a commercially available vitamin powder that I add to the cooked grains (once cooled) to help with vitamin D and to fill the holes if they don't want to eat everything. Daily fruit is not a good idea for all species, however plummies are a fruit and blossom eating species.


I may have rambled a bit ;)

@Mo Amjad This resource maybe be helpful for you and your lovely IRN.
DIETARY ADVICE FOR ASIATIC PARROTS (INDIAN RINGNECKS, ALEXANDRINES ETC.) » Currumbin Valley Birds & Exotic Vetrenarian - Gold Coast
There may be natural branches in your home country that can suit. Please be very careful about where they are sourced from-Never from an area that uses pesticides.

@Mizzely I would really enjoy reading over the resources you have. Most of the articles I have read on, oxalic acid, are related to human digestion. I am always looking for more info and would appreciate any sources you can toss this way :)
 
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Rain Bow

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I do try my best, always room for improvements. Plumheads eat flower blossoms, I am lucky enough to find them at the organic market. Pi also likes some veggies clipped up and others he will eat from a bowl..so I need to mix it up.


@Shezbug in terms of cooked vs raw I feel any claim in a bit nebulous. Birds do not cook. Cooking will definitely ease digestion and start breaking foods down into more easily absorbed compounds. -Though in captivity there is an over abundance of easy calories that can also cause harm. I can understand that parrots wouldn't naturally have a lot of access to a root vegetable like a sweet potato, so cooking is probably ideal. Though when plumhead parrots are raiding agricultural lands in India, I don't think they worry about steaming their greens. There are different requirements per species, I do not believe I have a strong view that cooked or raw are better. From my understanding, African greys are known to have issue with calcium so perhaps it is critical for them to enjoy steamed greens.

Again I do the best I can by my birds I am not dogmatic one way or the other, all I want is a healthy happy little flock. Currently they get cooked grains: quinoa, black rice, freekeh. Most other things are raw. Is it possible that they aren't absorbing 100% of available protein because they nibble a few chews of sweet potato, it could be. However they are offered a wide range of options. They don't have sweet potato daily. It may be more critical if sweet potatoes made up the bulk of their diet. If I have any strong view it is that the little fluff balls need variety. They need to be excited to look in their dish in the morning, they need choices and seasonal selections. I offer mostly veggies, some fruit and then grains and some nut. They also have a commercially available vitamin powder that I add to the cooked grains (once cooled) to help with vitamin D and to fill the holes if they don't want to eat everything. Daily fruit is not a good idea for all species, however plummies are a fruit and blossom eating species.


I may have rambled a bit ;)

@Mo Amjad This resource maybe be helpful for you and your lovely IRN.
DIETARY ADVICE FOR ASIATIC PARROTS (INDIAN RINGNECKS, ALEXANDRINES ETC.) » Currumbin Valley Birds & Exotic Vetrenarian - Gold Coast
There may be natural branches in your home country that can suit. Please be very careful about where they are sourced from-Never from an area that uses pesticides.

@Mizzely I would really enjoy reading over the resources you have. Most of the articles I have read on, oxalic acid, are related to human digestion. I am always looking for more info and would appreciate any sources you can toss this way :)
&
@ Mizzley...
you 2 together could cover most of the nutritional expertise between the different species (so to speak!) We're better feeders because of you sharing w/ us. Ty for all you hard wk & knowledge sharing!

:worthy:
 

Nikomania

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Recently I reached out to one of my 'go to' groups specializing in avian nutrition led by Dr. Jason Crean regarding birds potentially becoming adversely affected by consuming too much oxalates. Spinach is one source for oxalates, and I wanted to find how much is too much before I made up my freeze dried blends. This is what Dr. Crean said:

'This comes out of the fact that it's (spinach) higher in oxalates which have the potential of binding to dietary calcium. I've never had birds consume enough to where this would be a problem. I think offering too much could cause an issue but isn't that the problem with anything? Moderation! Individuals and different species each have their own needs and we just don’t know exactly what each needs. This goes back to my own philosophy on which this group was founded: offering a high diversity of raw whole foods keeps birds from eating too much of any one thing.'



 

Rain Bow

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Recently I reached out to one of my 'go to' groups specializing in avian nutrition led by Dr. Jason Crean regarding birds potentially becoming adversely affected by consuming too much oxalates. Spinach is one source for oxalates, and I wanted to find how much is too much before I made up my freeze dried blends. This is what Dr. Crean said:

'This comes out of the fact that it's (spinach) higher in oxalates which have the potential of binding to dietary calcium. I've never had birds consume enough to where this would be a problem. I think offering too much could cause an issue but isn't that the problem with anything? Moderation! Individuals and different species each have their own needs and we just don’t know exactly what each needs. This goes back to my own philosophy on which this group was founded: offering a high diversity of raw whole foods keeps birds from eating too much of any one thing.'



That's a great way to go in my opinion! I also add into that a wee bit. Colors... You want to vary those too! Too much green & everything tastes green. :confused: If you have a rainbow of colors, everything has it's own distinct flavor. Thus not boring the taste of the food & not giving too much of any 1 vitamin & mineral. Thanks for sharing the Crean methodologies... My friend @finchly has been telling me to check out his fb group, but alas, I hate fb & think its evil, so I don't do it @ all. I'd love it if there was more of his thoughts here. Buddy's feathers never looked better than now, natural & sprout feeding.
 
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