Bird Mash

Hey guys! So I’m starting Lexa on a mash diet. I am using this article:

https://www.talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=30647

And in the article, the recipe says “cooked” on almost all of the ingredients. I was just wondering, do these items have to be cooked in order to make this recipe?

Thanks you guys!

For the portion that is cooked most of them need to be cooked for the recipe to work. The cooked portion is designed to be a sticky mass to hold the raw ingredients in. This forces your bird to eat it when they eat the other items in the mix.

My issue is, that it is a mushy food. Mushy food can set off hormonal triggers in your bird. Think of paired birds regurgitating food and what consistency it would be. Sticky mush like hand raising mix when weaning. Make sure you add a calcium supplement to it for Lexa just in case and never give it to her warm and you should be ok.

Not only is it mushy....It is a HUGE undertaking lol!

Cooking beans is a very long process----To make them safe for a bird, you have to pick them over on a tray(for stones--yes---seriously), rinse them repeatedly, then soak overnight. After that, you must boil them for many hours in fresh water (1 hour MINIMUM) at a boil--NO CROCK-POTS. Taste them---they should all be totally soft (NO CRUNCH AT ALL) You will not want to add salt and you will want to make sure your dried beans are fresh--old beans sometimes won't soften no matter how long they are cooked.

"The danger comes from eating raw beans or undercooked beans. Eating just four raw, soaked beans is enough to cause symptoms of foodborne illness [IN HUMANS]. Crockpots are popular methods for cooking raw beans, but this method can yield dangerous results. Slow cooking raw beans normally requires hours of cooking on a low setting, but crockpot temperatures vary. If the low setting on a crockpot is below 180°F, then slow cooking the beans won’t make them safe to eat. In fact, undercooking beans increases the toxicity by five times. Yikes!"

---I have the stomach of a goat and I recently ate some slow-cooker chili that a co-worker made (out of pity)--I wondered why no one was eating it. I have to say, I lived in India, drank the tap water and never got sick (very poor choice btw)...I also eat beans constantly and have since I was a kid because I am a vegetarian.... BUT 1/4 cup of her crunchy-bean chili evacuated everything I had in me and left me in a cold sweat.. and it was painful (think stabbing pains)! lol- Can't imagine what it would do to a bird.

They contain toxins called lectins (aka phytohaemagglutinin) that can actually poison and potentially KILL people (in the proper quantities) if under-cooked. Also, if you don't soak them, you are looking at many hours of active stove time. As few as 4 raw beans can hurt a person, but stranger yet- under-cooking beans actually makes them even more dangerous than if eaten raw. Obviously I DID NOT know this when I ate the co-worker's concoction!
For birds, canned beans contain added salt and preservatives, so those are a no-go.

That recipe requires you to just cook everything separately and then mix it all up.
So, you would make some oats (no sugar, no salt, non-fortified) and set them aside, then you would make some quinoa (no salt, no broth) and set it aside, then you would steam some sweet potatoes (or just do them in the microwave) and set them aside, same with the rice, pumpkin etc etc ----

It's honestly would be a giant pain to make...as in an entire day's worth of time and a higher utility bill lol!-- And yes- most all of the ingredients must be cooked for safety--- with the exception of pumpkin and (debatable) sweet potato-- verdict is still out on that one. Oats can cause crop to become impacted (if dry)--quinoa and rice expand a ton and if your bird ate enough uncooked, it could be very uncomfortable. Also-- raw grains and flour are not treated with the same respect as foods not intended for cooking, so eating raw grains can be as risky as eating raw eggs in terms of bacterial hazards. I just found that out too lol!

Oh my, OK!

I will make sure to cook everything. Utility bill isn’t really an issue, my family isn’t struggling with money, but- my goodness!- this is going to take quite a long time!

Thank you!