Many avian species have “cecum” (plural). But you don’t see many parrot books speak of the “ceca” (singular). My question is “Why?” Well, it’s because it is virtually non-existent in Psittaciformes so there isn’t any reason to bring up the subject. Or is there? After studying the function of the ceca I have come to believe that it is absolutely essential to discuss the function of this important part of the avian anatomy when the daily diets of our beloved parrots are based on poultry that have highly-developed cecum.
For years upon years parrot diets have been based upon poultry dietary needs. Has anyone really ever asked why? Not really. When it comes right down to it, poultry (Galliformes) are completely different from parrots (Psittaciformes) and should be treated as a completely different species when formulating daily diets for our beloved companion birds, and not for the obvious reason you may think, because they live mostly outside as livestock, but rather for a reason that researchers haven’t disclosed to the avian community, the “cecum”.
What is the “cecum”? This almost hidden and ignored part of the digestive tract is largely present in some avian species, moderately present in other avian species (Passeriformes) and virtually non-existent in still other avian species. It is a “tubular blind-ended” sac located at the small intestine.
This is where I become very concerned regarding the formulation of parrot diets because I know, in accordance to research information that is widely available, that most parrot diets have been formulated based on poultry diets. We already know that poultry have quite a different digestive tract than parrots. But do we know just how different they really are? And if so, then why do we continue to base and formulate parrot diets off of poultry diets? It just doesn’t make good scientific sense, let alone good common sense!
Once I found research information that backed up my knowledge about detailed information regarding the extreme difference between poultry and parrot digestive tracts, I could no longer keep this information from the avian community; I had to share it with all of you. Knowledge is strength and should cause all of us to do better.
So here is the thing about the cecum in poultry versus parrots. Poultry have an extensive network of cecum and parrots have absolutely none! [1] And Passeriformes have only small, fairly under-developed cecum. What does this tell us about poultry? What does this tell us about parrots in specific?
Poultry cecum, similar to carnivores, ferment their food and parrots do not. Yes Carnivores have cecum as well. The ceca is a “blind-ended” sac in which fine food particles can be held for longer periods of time than can be held in the small and large intestine. The duty of the ceca is to collect and absorb the small fibers and fluids into itself and push all of it up against its own walls to extract all of the micronutrients and further the fermentation process, get as many nutrients out of the foodstuff as possible, before sending it to the colon for excretion.
But parrots don’t have cecum, so why are we attempting to formulate daily diets for parrots based on poultry diets when research scientists and other professionals supposedly know this critical information? Why are we attempting to feed foodstuffs to parrots that poultry actually need to ferment in order to derive the nutritional benefits?
It would seem to me by feeding foods that need to ferment in order for the species to derive nutritional benefits may be causing a cascade of problems, such as the case with corn for just one example. When corn is allowed to ferment it breaks down into a sugary substance which then converts to starch which then converts back to sugar. Most of us know that once this conversion takes place, if too many starchy, sugary foods are fed, it is very possible that a yeast infection is quite likely to follow.
But, okay, we can argue that parrots don’t have cecum so we don’t need to worry about corn fermenting in the first place. But if no real nutrition can be derived from corn without the fermentation process, the breaking down of this foodstuff in order to derive the nutritional benefit, it boils down to this ingredient passing through the digestive tract in a parrot without the parrot deriving virtually any real nutritional benefit from it. But what does begin to happen in the digestion process of corn is that the outer coating begins to break down into sugar. So our beloved parrots do receive sugars, an empty carbohydrate, void of any real nutrition, at minimum from an ingredient such as corn. Then why feed this ingredient at all? This is exactly one of the reasons our parrots become obese, and are developing fatty liver disease, but malnourished. They eat and eat, but derive no nutritional benefit from their food; they keep eating in an effort to fulfill their nutritional needs. Many of the harder grains take too long to break down and digest in their system, especially since parrots don’t have cecum where the grain can ferment to extract the micronutrients.
The point is we shouldn’t be formulating daily diets for our parrots based off of poultry diets when their digestive tracts are so very different from one another! Knowing that poultry ferment their food in order to derive nutritional benefits from the food they consume, and parrots do not, makes all of the difference in the world. We need to be feeding foodstuffs that offer high quality, quick nutrition to our parrots that don’t take long periods of time to break down and supply the necessary nutrients their physiological design requires. Diets that are formulated for poultry do not offer this kind of nutrition. Most parrots are mainly herbivores with a large palate of individual foods on the list including tender grasses, tender leaves, soft barks, fruits, seeds, pollens, but very little amount of grain in their diet unless no other food sources can be found. Some Psittaciformes will also be found consuming insects which make them a little bit insectivorous, showing us that they might need some amount of “animal protein” in their diet.
But this is the thing, you know the old saying “You eat like a bird”? Well, for birds that don’t have cecum this may very well be more true than we have previously understood. Their food literally passes right through them; there is no “holding tank”, so to speak, because they don’t have cecum. This is why many species consume 80% of their body weight each and every day. And this gives us even more reason why we need to be feeding super-high quality foodstuffs to our companion birds. Their digestive tracts need to be able to extract quality nutrition out of those foods as fast as possible, they need foodstuffs that release nutrients quickly and efficiently, not foodstuffs that hold on to their nutrients and require fermentation before any real nutrition can be obtained from the food.
There we have it folks, this is exactly why we need to move away from formulating parrot diets based on poultry nutrition. We need to get away from providing such hard-to-digest ingredients like corn, rice, soy and wheat. And we especially need to stay away from meat products. Our parrots just don’t have the organ necessary to ferment or breakdown these kinds of foods, let alone derive the nutrition from them they have to offer. Poultry has the slow-moving, fermenting digestive tracts needed to break down these foods, parrots absolutely do not.
I will go more in-depth about the ceca in my avian nutrition book I am presently working on. Be sure to stay tuned so you will know when, where and how my book is published!
[1] Mitchell 1896a, At-u; Mitchell 1901, Strigops; Beddard
1911, Nestor.
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Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved
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