Coconut Oil - how much, how long, what type?

It's not particularly a big deal, but sometimes Cairo isn't particularly interested in chop. His appetite seems to go up and down, but he's maintaining a steady weight, so our vet isn't concerned since his tests are clear.

At the same time, he's on the lower side of healthy weight, based on his keel bone; he also zooms around the house when he's not preening or playing, and he gets a good, long flying session in the park at least once a week (he loves these sessions, but they make him tired and sleepy). Plus on the days that he doesn't eat much chop, he toe-taps! So for me, I feel like he absolutely must eat his chop to avoid toe-tapping. And I keep reading how some people put coconut oil into chop to get their birds to eat, which brings me to the questions:

- How much coconut oil do you put in the chop? Is it something like 1 teaspoon per 1 cup?

- How long do you keep putting the coconut oil into their chop? For one meal or a week, or even longer? Or could I add a little in each chop all the time?

- What type of coconut oil should I be looking for? How should I judge it's parrot-friendly? I likely won't have all US brands, so I'll need to be able to look at a label, maybe attempt to research it, and judge from the labelling if it's ok for Cairo.

- If you don't recommend coconut oil, what should I put instead? I usually sprinkle in some oats, but on his "I don't want to eat chop" days, he just eats the oats and that's it :/

There is a lot of controversy about cold-pressed vs non and virgin vs non (in humans, that is--- I used to work at a health food store and people had strong opinions). I am going to look into this now lol. Then there is the question of parrots consuming it---I am not sure that I have an opinion, but I know that high-fat foods can be dangerous depending on the situation.

Here is some information with regard to human consumption: https://www.naturallivingideas.com/buy-best-coconut-oil/

I’ve cooled on it a bit. I give it occasionally. Yes, give a pinky nail size amount every once in s while but it’s important to remember that it is in fact a form a fat, which ekkies are supposed to keep to a minimum. My gut tells me the benefits are overstated.

Red palm oil however has much bigger benefits and more valuable an additive.

chris-md said:

Red palm oil however has much bigger benefits and more valuable an additive.

Click to expand...

Does Parker like it as much as coconut oil? I'd imagine I could find red palm oil quite easily in this region since most of our haze comes from burning of palm fields. I'm mostly just hoping to find something that'll encourage Cairo to actually eat his chop rather than pick and choose, but I've been trying to avoid significantly fatty things, so if red palm oil is healthier and as an enticing as coconut oil, I'd be happy to try that instead!

It does prove to be enticing to him. But mix it up, you can serve coconut oil occasionally. RPO is still fat but it adds significantly to the vitamin A requirements ekkies have.

Oh my....why stoop to coconut when you an get a great quality palmoil?


(LOL, not sure about chemical composition, but overhere that stuf is sold as "the holy grail for parrothealth" while -thank the hipsters- cononutoil is practically everywhere)