Beans

[Ivorbasic]

I have bird tricks cookbook and in chop recipe it says I need 2 cups of cooked mixed beans. Here in Croatia we don't have mixes of beans so I want to know what types go in that mix. And I also want to know do I need to cook canned beans? Thanks!

 

[KitKatPlus]

Birdtricks does the 16 bean mix usually. Any beans you can buy raw are fine for birds once cooked thoroughly. Common choices in the mixes are pinto, kidney, lentils, black, types of peas, etc.

I would opt for buying fresh beans if possible, but if canned beans is your only option then that's okay If the beans are already soft and ready for a person to eat out of the can, then you don't have to cook them again!

 

[bug_n_flock]

FYI most canned beans and other foods are LOADED with sodium so not great to feed to birds very often.

 

[KitKatPlus]

FYI most canned beans and other foods are LOADED with sodium so not great to feed to birds very often.

I agree! Not sure the options they have in Croatia, hope there's something better available!

 

[noodles123]

Be VERY careful with beans in mixes!!!! The contain lectins (pinto, kidney, navy= not safe even when cooked)

 

[chris-md]

Be VERY careful with beans in mixes!!!! The contain lectins (pinto, kidney, navy= not safe even when cooked)

Lectins are virtually destroyed during the cooking process. When cooked all beans are perfectly safe.

 

[noodles123]

Be VERY careful with beans in mixes!!!! The contain lectins (pinto, kidney, navy= not safe even when cooked)

Lectins are virtually destroyed during the cooking process. When cooked all beans are perfectly safe.

Some beans are less safe for birds because they continue to contain higher levels even after cooking. If you can pressure cook the crap out of them, then you are looking at better results, but slow cookers etc never get hot enough to destroy them, and even boiling doesn't eliminate them in high lectin beans 100%. You have to soak etc, any many people just drop them in a pot (which doesn't take care of them).
Kidney, navy, pinto, lima, fava, wax, jack, string and field beans all contain lectins. Cooking destroys some, but not all, lectins.
If a bean is old or "tough" and you try to cook it- no matter how long you boil, it will not become totally soft (and it also will not be fully cooked). It's hard to tell a bean that is old from a bean that is new (in dry form)...so it isn't worth the risk in my opinion --not for kidney beans etc anyway (I stick with the lower lectin beans if cooking for my bird---a human can die from eating undercooked kidney beans if they eat enough) I once ate 1/4 cup of undercooked kidney beans in chili (at a forced potluck) to be polite at a work function and the result was HORRIFYING... According to studies, it could have killed me or hospitalized me, but I have the stomach of a goat. It was a painful and very explosive experience lol. I actually was really lucky...Oh the cramps...