Spicing it up

[ctwo]

Any reason not to use seasonings in chop or specific things to avoid?

I know to avoid salt, but often I will use some of our food in with the chop, such as grilled fish or chicken. I've noticed that the birds favor this mix over plain boiled chicken or egg mix. I'll usually try to use 5 ingredients in chop of equal proportion: rice or oat, 3 veggies, and a protein.

 

[noodles123]

It depends on the seasoning and who you ask.
Obviously salt, MSG, sugar and preservatives should be extremely limited/avoided.
No parsley--- there is some debate here, but it isn't worth the risk in my opinion, and it is verified as toxic in higher amounts.
Cinnamon is debatable because much of what is sold in stores is not true cinnamon and can cause issues. The cassia variety has high amounts of coumarin which impact live function - If you are going to use cinnamon, use Ceylon only. That is not to say that I have never fed my bird the regular stuff sprinkled into something, but now I avoid it, as I didn't know before.
No onion, garlic, leeks, chives, shallots etc.
No tomato, mushroom or avocado.

 

[ctwo]

I was thinking of spices such as curry, chili/cayenne/black pepper, mustard, cumin, etc. We use a no-salt seasoning mix as well but I cannot list the 12 spices it includes.

I was not aware of tomato and mushroom, and leeks are good to me.

Ginger might be another seasoning we'd use.

 

[chris-md]

Spices are great additions, absolutely go fore it. We use a lot of what you name.

As noodles notes there are some to be avoided. Do your research first before using a spice for the first time.

I’d avoid any spice mixes if you don’t know what’s in it.

 

[Inger]

I’d be careful with curry as well, since it’s actually a spice mix and you can’t be sure what’s in it.


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[ctwo]

Well, glad I asked. These are all good points.

I also found it intriguing that parrots are not affected by capsaicin. I found out when perusing the market for parrot food and saw a seed mix with full red chili peppers. My IRN seemed to love a habanero/jalapeno chopped salsa I made once, but it had tomatoes.

We use the no-salt seasoning a lot so will have be cognizant of the ingredients: Onion, Garlic, Carrot, Black Pepper, Bell Pepper, Tomato Granules, Orange Peel, Parsley, Bay Leaves, Thyme, Basil, Celery, Lemon Peel, Oregano, Savory, Mustard Seed, Cumin, Marjoram, Coriander, Cayenne Pepper, Citric Acid and Rosemary.

The curry has coriander, turmeric, funugreek, cumin, salt, and "other spices..."

These spices will not make it into their chop then.

Thanks!

 

[noodles123]

You do want to moderate citrus and citric acids as well because they can interfere with iron absorption when given too often. My vet said a tangerine slice a few times a week was okay for my cockatoo (but that I shouldn't go much over that).

Nutmeg is another "NO NO"- oh, and eggplant should generally be avoided (as it is also a member of the nightshade family, as is tomato). Rhubarb is also very bad for them.

The "Other Spices" part on the curry powder concerns me ---if they are normal spices, one would think that they would be listed...It makes me wonder what is in there.

I would think that a TEENY TINY bit of cooked garlic in a dish wouldn't cause major issues as long as it was infrequent and the quantity was small (say you used a bit on a chicken or something and then gave your bird some of the finished product, or gave your bird a tiny bit of a cracker with garlic towards the bottom of the ingredient statement) BUT I really do my best not to give any garlic/onion/related plants to my bird. Leeks and chives are within the same general family and although some websites say chives are safe, I strongly disagree with that statement (as do many other sources).

I would be careful with any herb that has medicinal impacts in humans (e.g., whole cloves etc).

The key to most of this is moderation, but there are some things that your just want to cut out completely.

 

[ctwo]

I suspect that the other spices are remnants of other things that the grinding machines process. Kind of like when you see mention of may contain peanut or soy or whatever other terms they use for that in products that do not have peanuts and such in the ingredient list, and you would not expect it.