Scary and unexpected - dangerous avian diet items?

[Kentuckienne]

First, much of this info comes from the chicken-raising world. But since chickens are avians, it’s useful. Chicken raising is big business, so there is a lot more published research about commercial poultry diets than about companion bird diet. I thought it would be worth sharing some info, because there are many discussions about birds with strange health and digestive issues, and many “recipes” for improving their diets.

Turns out that some things which are very good for us are very bad for birds. For example, indigestible starches (polysaccharides) can be good for people who don’t get enough fiber in their diets by creating intestinal goop to keep things moving. But birds digest starches differently, and the resulting goop can cause overgrowth of bad gut bacteria and interfere with nutrient absorption. And birds require different ratios of vitamins/minerals for balanced absorption, and supplementing a commercial diet with them can cause problems.

So here are some links, and I am curious to know what more details people can find…

1. An article about a flock of chickens who began to sicken and die after being changed to a new “enhanced” diet, and another that goes into a bit more detail. TL;DR: oatmeal, diatomaceous earth and vitamin/mineral supplements can kill birds. We are talking about well-meaning owners trying to improve the health of their birds with stuff that’s good for humans.

How Altering Feed can Hurt Your Chickens

If the health, longevity and ability of your pet chickens to

the-chicken-chick.com

The Shocking Effect of an Oatmeal Breakfast on Chickens

Every winter when the mercury dips, charming images of backyard chickens being fed a comforting-looking breakfast of oatmeal by their devoted caretakers on cold mornings begin appearing online. Prepare to be shocked by the truth about the detrimental effect of an oat meal on chickens. While oats...

the-chicken-chick.com

2. A scientific explanation of why some forms of polysaccharides (like those found in oatmeal and barley) can harm avians. The reason has a lot to do with the avian immune system, which is quite different from our own. This article has a very detailed description of the avian immune system:

Barley β-glucan in poultry diets

There has been an increased interest in the use of immunomodulators as substitutes for antibiotics in food animal production. Beta-glucans from yeast and fungi may be ideal substitutes because of their positive effects on the avian immune system without ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[BirdyBee]

First, much of this info comes from the chicken-raising world. But since chickens are avians, it’s useful. Chicken raising is big business, so there is a lot more published research about commercial poultry diets than about companion bird diet. I thought it would be worth sharing some info, because there are many discussions about birds with strange health and digestive issues, and many “recipes” for improving their diets.

Turns out that some things which are very good for us are very bad for birds. For example, indigestible starches (polysaccharides) can be good for people who don’t get enough fiber in their diets by creating intestinal goop to keep things moving. But birds digest starches differently, and the resulting goop can cause overgrowth of bad gut bacteria and interfere with nutrient absorption. And birds require different ratios of vitamins/minerals for balanced absorption, and supplementing a commercial diet with them can cause problems.

So here are some links, and I am curious to know what more details people can find…

1. An article about a flock of chickens who began to sicken and die after being changed to a new “enhanced” diet, and another that goes into a bit more detail. TL;DR: oatmeal, diatomaceous earth and vitamin/mineral supplements can kill birds. We are talking about well-meaning owners trying to improve the health of their birds with stuff that’s good for humans.

How Altering Feed can Hurt Your Chickens

If the health, longevity and ability of your pet chickens to

the-chicken-chick.com

The Shocking Effect of an Oatmeal Breakfast on Chickens

Every winter when the mercury dips, charming images of backyard chickens being fed a comforting-looking breakfast of oatmeal by their devoted caretakers on cold mornings begin appearing online. Prepare to be shocked by the truth about the detrimental effect of an oat meal on chickens. While oats...

the-chicken-chick.com

2. A scientific explanation of why some forms of polysaccharides (like those found in oatmeal and barley) can harm avians. The reason has a lot to do with the avian immune system, which is quite different from our own. This article has a very detailed description of the avian immune system:

Barley β-glucan in poultry diets

There has been an increased interest in the use of immunomodulators as substitutes for antibiotics in food animal production. Beta-glucans from yeast and fungi may be ideal substitutes because of their positive effects on the avian immune system without ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Very interesting articles, but I think you should add a warning- some of the links contain pics of intestines and stuff, I don't think all people wanna see that.

 

[ravvlet]

Plain oats wouldn’t be a healthy staple for humans either, to be fair. We eat them because they’re a decent carb and you can add stuff that’s more healthy & nutrient dense to them. I think if it’s used in chop, and it’s less than 10% of the chop (and the rest is nutrient-dense), it’s probably not going to cause the kind of issues the article is highlighting. I have only ever used uncooked oats as an add in for texture & to absorb moisture in chop, never as a main ingredient. I wonder if quinoa is also problematic, as it’s what I use mostly now instead of oats simply because my birds prefer it.

Giving a bird plain oats and giving a bird vitamin supplements intended for humans are also two totally different things! The only “vitamin” supplement I’ve ever been told to give our birds is benebac, and that’s not vitamins, its a probiotic.

The article seems to indicate that the oatmeal ends up making up 50% or more of the hen’s diet, and that is when it becomes problematic? I mean, that would be bad for anything, would it not? Chickens and other laying poultry also NEED nutrients to support regular egg laying, so it’s really important not to dilute their feed with empty calories!

 

[Laurasea]

I will have to give it all a read thanks for sharing.
I've fed cooked oatmeal to parrots for years, granted only about a spoonful at time, and in a rotation that probably every other month or so...So I definitely want to read thst