It’s as if We Need to Start All Over…
July 6, 2012 § Leave a Comment
*For Clarification: This post pertains mainly to the larger species of parrots, not the smaller species like Cockatiels, Budgies and other softbills.
In the beginning exotic birds flew free and were never considered for human enjoyment inside the walls of any home or institution, they were totally careless and flighted and went where they cared to go and sought out what they wanted to consume with no care or fear of being captured and forced to eat what someone else pushed in front of them.
Then came the hunters and poachers.
The lives of these beautiful, majestic free-flighted creatures began to change, dramatically.
It was not long before they would not have choice of what they would be forced to eat.
And most of what they would be fed would be seed-based.
Then many years would pass and it would be found that a seed-based diet was insufficient to keep them healthy.
So what they would be fed would be a highly processed mash that would be formed into pellets and then dried at high temperatures. The process of grinding, forming and drying would remove almost all of the original and whole nutrition from the ingredients so synthetic nutrition would be added back in to the kibble and this is what many exotic birds would be fed for decades.
Then many years would pass and it would be found that a highly processed diet was insufficient to keep them healthy.
So raw foods would be added to their pellet-based diets.
But even this has proved to be somewhat insufficient in maximizing the total nutrient profile for these exotic birds of the Wild, even though these beautiful and magnificent creatures are becoming more domesticated now after years and years of breeding them rather than capturing them from the Wild. We may be able to breed some of the “wild” out of them, but their base nutrient requirements still remain mostly the same as when they were plucked from their natural habitats.
So many of us have resorted back to feeding only fresh foods, but unfortunately many of us don’t completely understand what “fresh” means to an exotic bird of the Wild.
“Fresh” does not mean cooked, nor does it mean ingredients that they would not find in their own, natural habitat that does not at least, minimally mimic the nutrients they would consume in their natural habitats.
Therefore cooked legumes and grains are not what an exotic bird would consume and neither are vegetables, mainly because the type of fiber (carbohydrates) these foods offer is not what our exotic birds would seek out and consume in the Wild.
It’s time for a new beginning. It’s time to start all over again.
Our exotic birds need, no require, raw foods for the nutrition they have to offer to their digestive and metabolic system! But the raw foods they require must be specific and at least mimic what they would consume in their Wild and natural habitats.
These would include and be limited to berries, fruits, seed and nuts, a small amount of tender and young grasses, herbs, leaves and barks, and some flowers as well as a minimal amount of insects found within those berries, fruits, seeds and nuts. All of these items contain the type and kinds of amino acids, fatty acids, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals our exotic birds thrive on, their digestive tracts know how to metabolize these kinds of materials, they cannot properly digest and metabolize unbalance amino acids, long-chain fatty acids, and multi-unit carbohydrates efficiently without causing undue stress on their metabolic system and other vital internal organs such as the liver, kidneys and pancreas. By forcing our exotic birds to consume foods that their system is not meant to process we are exposing them to avian diabetes, fatty liver disease (hepatic lipidosis), kidney disorders, and cancer.
Our job is to not only find those food items that mimic what our exotic birds would seek out and consume in their Wild and natural habitat, but to find what is specific to each species, not just any old berries, fruit, seed, nuts and grasses will do for each and every bird, we must learn what each species needs to thrive!
I believe that there are many, many of us that want to reverse what we are seeing in the decline in good health in our exotic companion birds! Because there are so many of us that want to reverse the decline in good health, we are willing to set the course straight by beginning to feed correctly, thus preventing illness to begin with! This means that many, many of us must make the decision to feed raw, or as close to raw as we possibly can, and feeding the correct foods that mimic what our birds would seek out in their Wild and natural habitats, before humans barged in and began planting crops of legumes, vegetables and grain, and start anew feeding those berries, fruits, seed, nuts and tender grasses their digestive and metabolic systems so vitally need!
Join me in starting all over, let’s begin again, a new feeding revolution for our exotic companion birds for their good health in the prevention of illness so they will thrive, not just survive!
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Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved
*Information supplied by The BEST Bird Food or any of its contributors, associates, et al, does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any symptom, illness or disease. Any information provided is strictly for the purpose of “sharing” resources. Should a reader decide to use any such information they do so at their own risk and holds author(s) and associates, et al, of The BEST Bird Food blog harmless in any and all legal matters concerning their health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom they may practice the information upon.
