Good Info on Nutrition

Since Shadow has been molting her eating has been really unsettled... while researching nutrients for molting parrots I came across this article which I thought you guys might find informative
Bird Nutrition

Yes, very informative, thank you sooo much for posting.

I am about to try my first batch of sprouts today or tomorrow wish me luck

Be careful with sprouts, they are high in protein and breeding/rearing food. Same as the hemp seeds recommended on that old article for moulting. Actually, you should offer flax seeds all year round and, right before and during moult, you should offer sesame seeds which are high in methionine, an amino acid necessary for feather production.

Flax seeds are a phytoestrogen and contribute to egg laying so I suggest you be careful when feeding the seeds or oils to females.
Hemp seed oil is very good for parrots and feather growth in small amts. of course.

Our birds get a sprout mix every day - sunflower seeds, pumkin seeds, safflower seeds, mung beans, garbanzo beans, lentels, etc. They love 'em.

Birdamor - What are your credentials as far as bird care/husbandry/etc. go? I was just wondering because it seems that much of your philosophy is counter to the reseach I've done and advice I've been given by our breeder and vet. I don't intend for this to sound ugly or confrontational, and I truly don't mean it that way. I was just wondering.

HD Hi there. You are feeding an excellent diet to your bird and I would not change a thing based upon what has been stated by others on the forum.

Thanks for the site Mel, lots of really good info

Spiritbird said:

Flax seeds are a phytoestrogen and contribute to egg laying so I suggest you be careful when feeding the seeds or oils to females.
Hemp seed oil is very good for parrots and feather growth in small amts. of course.

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Yes, hemp is not bad per se, only not to be given all year round IMPO. As to flax having a phytoestrogenic effect, it's true. But the one they have (lignan) is not believed to be as bad as soy (isoflavonoid) which is found in almost every single bird pellet and treat out there (my birds don't get any soy products whatsoever) and it was found to be bad mostly when taken in large amounts and in the oil form. The whole seed seem to be safe. And I don't remember where I read this but I think that, actually, they found phytoestrogens to decrease fertility in birds -wasn't that the whole hullabaloo about the New Zealand breeding birds?

HRH Di said:

Our birds get a sprout mix every day - sunflower seeds, pumkin seeds, safflower seeds, mung beans, garbanzo beans, lentels, etc. They love 'em.

Birdamor - What are your credentials as far as bird care/husbandry/etc. go? I was just wondering because it seems that much of your philosophy is counter to the reseach I've done and advice I've been given by our breeder and vet. I don't intend for this to sound ugly or confrontational, and I truly don't mean it that way. I was just wondering.

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If you mean formal credentials, I don't have any - my college degree certainly has nothing to do with avian dietary needs but, in reality, even the scientists are only now beginning to learn about it and Lord knows no avian vet has studied it in school so we are all more or less on the same boat. The most quoted people on avian diets (Pamela Clark and Carolyn Swicegood) don't have any formal credentials, either, just what they have learned throughout the years. Personally, I've had birds for over 40 years and parrots for 20 and have done A LOT of research on diet in the last 10 years or so since one of mine was found to have high uric acid levels (I also used to feed too much protein). What I found out then was a turning point for me. An epiphany, if you would, and what started my continuing and constant research. And I haven't done badly at all with what I've learned because I've managed to bring back birds that had gout and fatty liver disease through diet and natural supplements alone - even my avian vet asked me to prepare special food for her U2 with PDD when she saw how I could bring down high levels into the normal ranges through a change in diet alone. Blood work doesn't lie...