Vitamin A anyone?

Minzer84 · May 17, 2007

So, coincidentally I was just doing my feeds and feeding final exam, and happened across Vitamin A deficiency being one of the most common pet bird diseases...some of the symptoms were wheezing, nasal discharge, crusty/blocked nostrils....you catching my drift? Then I stopped to think about what I feed Iggy...pellets and a vegetable mix (plus people food...). Anyway, I thought he was eating a healthy diet, but I can't think of much that he gets that has a lot of Vitamin A in it...he loves corn, but I guess that is low in Vit A...

So, does anyone know anything else about this deficiency? Also, what do you guys give your birds that is high in Vit A (I used to feed sweet potato)? I read that beef liver has a ton...I bet he would like it.

Maybe I'm just grabbing at straws here, but a better diet certainly wouldn't hurt anything.

Tracy842 · May 17, 2007

Popsicle has vitamin A deficincy (notice how flaky her beak is in pictures)

Here is my list with the best fruits and veggies that I use loaded with vitmain A.

Sweet Potato
Carrots
Cantaloupe
Dried Apricots
Mango
Apricots
Broccoli leaves and flowerettes
Collard greens
Nectarines
Papaya
Parsley
Peaches
Spinach
Turnip greens
Yellow squash

THe few at the top have the most Vitamin A. I also use Red Palm Oil to help with her flaky skin.

Tracy842 · May 17, 2007

Oh here is a list of foods low in Vitamin A

Apples
Bananas
Corn
Grapes
Lettuce
Oranges
Summer squash
White potatoes

Minzer84 · May 17, 2007

Thanks! Does she seem to prefer some over others as far as her tastes go? I'll have to go to the grocery store tomorrow.

Tracy842 · May 17, 2007

She is a picky eater and pratically won't eat anything but her pellets. She does like carrots and dried apricots. She will eat sweet potato baby food. If Iggy is anything like Pepsi she will eat all of it, but if he's like Popsicle good luck!!!

TexDot33 · May 17, 2007

Minzer, try this -- go to the baby food isle, and get a jar of baby sweet potatos and mix it with some of Iggy's other food ... we have tried this with Hamlet, and though he does not like sweet potatos, I know this would work ... Another thing you can try is Turkey and Rice food ... it's cheap anyway usually $.89 - $1.19 a jar if it works great, if it doesn't eh, you tried something new right ...

Minzer84 · May 17, 2007

Alright, thanks guys...wouldn't that be something if it works and helps him get better?

TexDot33 · May 17, 2007

Minzer84 said:
Alright, thanks guys...wouldn't that be something if it works and helps him get better?

Ya know, if you had studied a little harder, or maybe a little sooner, and this was what the issue was, you might have more skin and more blood left to you!

Minzer84 · May 17, 2007

Thanks Tex, always ruining my silver lining...shouldacouldawoulda.

Peta · May 18, 2007

The baby food thing, have to say I use this with Bucc and Kito, it really does work for both of them. I buy this regularly and now as soon as they see the jar they are in there.

darkchi · May 18, 2007

I take mustard greens and mix it in with her reg. vegs. its one of those food that will stick to all the other foods and she can't help but get a bite.

I have also used the baby food method.... she doesn't eat her food when I use it; so I stopped. She seems to like foods that arnt 'sticky' kind of like one of those little kids who can't stand dirt of their hands, but with her its the beak. Some times I will come across a food she likes and is messy... so fun to watch her try to eat it when she is shaking her head, and rubbing her beak the whole time.

TexDot33 · May 18, 2007

Chi, where do you get Mustard Greens? I can't find them anywhere .. I look at the grocery stores and nothing ... maybe my grocery stores just suck!

NicoleN · May 18, 2007

Just to mention: Amazons are prone to Vitamin A deficiency. I've read this in a few places, and I'm sure I could dredge up the websites if you want me to.

Dark leafy greens are a great way to get vitamin A. Gigi won't eat it if it's chopped up in her bowl, so I take a whole leaf (usually I feed Kale, but I mix it up) and weave it through the bars of her cage. It's visually stimulating, she has to pick at it to get it unweaved, and she likes to toss it around and play with it. All the while, she's eating it too!

Just thought it might be something you may want to try. Iggy could think it's a new toy, lol.

NicoleN · May 18, 2007

TexDot33 said:
Chi, where do you get Mustard Greens? I can't find them anywhere .. I look at the grocery stores and nothing ... maybe my grocery stores just suck!

Meijer has it. Do you even have a Meijer? They've got all those dark, leafy lettuce greens that the parrot world has introduced me to. Apparently, there's more to a salad than just iceberg lettuce

TexDot33 · May 18, 2007

NicoleN said:
Meijer has it. Do you even have a Meijer?

No, we do not have that chain out here, yet ... I am sure it's only a matter of time ... I was hoping that since Chi was from New York that maybe some of our chains would be similiar ...

nicoleN said:
Apparently, there's more to a salad than just iceberg lettuce

Well, yeah, there is so much more than iceberg lettuce, infact iceberg is the lowestest of the low in the lettuce world.

NicoleN · May 18, 2007

TexDot33 said:
Well, yeah, there is so much more than iceberg lettuce, infact iceberg is the lowestest of the low in the lettuce world.

Well yeah, I know that now, and that's all thanks to educating myself about Sisqo's diet, which in turn improves my diet

darkchi · May 18, 2007

TexDot33 said:
Chi, where do you get Mustard Greens? I can't find them anywhere .. I look at the grocery stores and nothing ... maybe my grocery stores just suck!

I got them frozen in the super market... walmart I think.
I know they aren't as good as fresh, but way better than nothing at all

Minzer84 · May 18, 2007

Thanks guys, I'll have to look at Shaw's and WalMart to see if I can find all that stuff. And I know that he likes sweet potatoes too most of the time, but variety and new foods would be fun for him and me...

She seems to like foods that arnt 'sticky' kind of like one of those little kids who can't stand dirt of their hands, but with her its the beak

He has no problem getting messy, I think he's like one of those little kids that runs and throws themselves into mud puddles, lol.

I take a whole leaf (usually I feed Kale, but I mix it up) and weave it through the bars of her cage.

Great idea, I'll try that too!

Peta · May 18, 2007

Gonna have to try that with Bucc, he is a great one for picking that out with his foot and dropping it to the floor. Maybe this way he'll think of it as a shredder.

darkchi · May 18, 2007

My mom puts lettuce in Crickets dish just to watch her fling it to find the good stuff at the bottom of the bowel LOL

Vitamin A anyone?

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