The Best Bird Food

"Rainbow" before changing his diet.

This very frustrating syndrome of feather plucking, skin mutilation and generalized picking has long been a subject of debate and discussion for years on end amongst all of us who desire to care for our beloved parrots in a healthy and wholesome manner. We are left scratching our own heads wondering if we will ever find out what really causes them to participate in this unwanted, less than desirable behavior.

Veterinarians have told us that this syndrome is the result of anything from behavioral issues such as depression or anxiety and have even placed our birds on some heavy duty medications to curb these psychological problems. We have been told that our birds may have a disease such as liver disease or cancer that has not yet shown itself, to diabetes or other health issues in the way of parasitic invasions such as Giardia or worms. We have been told this syndrome is the result of not enough toys in their cages to too many toys in their cages. We have been told to go out and get a companion for our bird; we have been told to remove our bird from the “flock environment” because of the “hormonal environment” it causes, we have been told that our bird is suffering a hormonal imbalance and our vet has even suggested placing our bird on synthetic hormones. We have been told that the diet isn’t quite right, too much of this, not enough of that. We have been told that the air quality in their room is either too dry or too humid, or the lighting isn’t right, or that our birds need more natural sunlight and thus they lack natural vitamin D. We have been told that our bird lacks certain vitamins or minerals. We have been told to check for metal toxicity. We have been told that our parrot isn’t receiving enough human contact, or too much human contact. We have been told to use flower essences and herbs, or that if we are using them we are not using the right combination. As you can see, and probably remember your own journey with your own birds, the list is absolutely endless. Exhausting, isn’t it?

Well, the sad truth of the matter is, we have to be diligent and consider all of the above issues, there is just no way around it, there are no short cuts. We have to be our bird’s ears, eyes and sense of touch. Our bird is trying to tell us something by the very fact it is presenting a problem: feather plucking, skin mutilation and/or picking, the “Mutilation Syndrome”. This is the only way our bird can tell us that a problem is occurring somewhere in its daily life. We have to become sharp enough to figure the problem out and resolve the situation.  And even the brightest avian veterinarian can’t be the all-knowing problem-solver for these beloved creatures that are not yet fully domesticated from the wild. There is still much research that needs to be done for us to properly care for these birds of the wild.

Just recently I was able to uncover some very promising research that may help resolve some of the problems surrounding the issue of the Mutilation Syndrome. I have learned about an amino acid that contributes to problems in human lives, as well as animal lives when used in overabundance. It causes “flushing, hives, and itching” and the overall discomfort of the largest organ of any living creature, “skin”. Yes, skin is the largest “organ” of any living creature. And when “skin” experiences an imbalance our entire existence becomes almost unbearable, as we witness everyday in the lives of our birds that feather pluck, mutilate and pick.

Molecular Structure of L-Arginine

This amino acid, Arginine, is present in so many foods, so abundantly present, that it makes my head spin. It’s not that it’s a bad amino acid, it has its place in the food chain and performs many good functions. But place it in overabundance in a living creature’s diet and lookout!

And guess where we find Arginine in overabundance? Processed foods where “fillers” are used. The reason being is that foods that contain this amino acid are relatively cheap for food manufacturers to purchase, ergo the cost of production of their highly processed food is cheap to produce and their net profit is increased by the use of those ingredients.

*Side note and off topic for a moment: One of the newest fillers to arrive on the market for manufacturers to use in human and pet foods is “cellulose”, otherwise known as “sawdust”. Yep, and manufacturers can get away with it because according to the FDA, it’s “a natural and organic ingredient”! “Yeppers, step right up and buy a truck load of sawdust! It’s natural and doesn’t contain any fat to boot!”…and it’s cheap, really, really cheap. Just think of the profit a manufacturer can make while our digestive tracts are…”getting the fiber they need.” Yes, this is how manufacturers market it, they claim you are getting the “fiber” you need in your daily diet by consuming the “cellulose” in the processed food they are selling… I know, I know, I sound like a broken record, but please, read on because I’m going to be giving you a lot more information to help you sort out, in detail, what foods to avoid, and what foods to include in your parrot’s diet to begin weaning them off of ingredients that cause them to engage in the “Mutilation Syndrome”.

Now for those of you who need to understand how the amino acid Arginine works to cause the flushing, hives and itching, and mind you not all of these symptoms will necessarily be present in your bird, maybe only one, or two, but all three can be present at one time, then I will do my best to explain how this amino acid reacts within bodily functions.

Arginine is the precursor to nitric oxide which is a gas. This gas is released in the blood system causing the blood vessels to expand and dilate. When this occurs the nerves become activated and the flushing occurs, possibly hives as well, and the itching too. It’s like the nerves begin to vibrate and our bird wants to pick to relieve the vibrating, or the itching, just like we would want to. (Nitric oxide is one reason why migraine sufferers have instantaneous full blown migraines too.) (By the way, Arginine is the amino acid used in weight-lifter’s powders to give them that “popped-out” veins look, and it’s used in high-protein drinks as well. So if you drink these products and ever wonder why you might be flushing or itching, this could be your answer. It’s also a primary ingredient used in erectile dysfunction drugs! If you know what foods to supply to your honey-baby, he may just not need those horrible pharmaceuticals!) (In addition, Arginine has been linked to aiding in the treatment to people who have high blood pressure. If you, or anyone you know, are currently on a specialized diet for treating high blood pressure, DO NOT change your diet unless consulting with your doctor first. Additionally, DO NOT begin taking L-Arginine for the treatment of erectile dysfunction or high blood pressure unless you consult with your doctor first. This can be a very harmful amino acid if taken without the advice of a doctor.)

Normally we think that feeding legumes to our birds is a good thing because they are packed with protein, and since we are NOT supposed to be feeding meat, in ANY way to our birds…(I hope none of you are feeding meat to your birds…this is a HUGE NO, NO…they do not have the digestive acids to properly digest meat!)…but legumes are one of the main sources of Arginine, so we have to find a way to continue feeding foods that contain Arginine, but balance the Arginine with foods that contains Lysine. Yes, Lysine is the amino acid that balances Arginine.

At any rate here is a partial list of foods to avoid feeding to your mutilating bird:

(I’m sure in the future I will be adding to this list.)

• Sunflower Seeds
• Butternut Squash
• Yams / Sweet Potatoes
• Sesame Seeds
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Almonds / All Nuts for that matter
• Peanuts
• Watercress
• Fenugreek
• Swiss Chard
• Mustard Seeds
• Indian Figs
• Wheat
• Corn
• Soy
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Eggplant
• Peas
• Wheat germ
• Mushrooms
• Elderberries
• Blueberries
• Garlic
• Onion
• Blackberries
• Oranges
• Grapes
• Coconut
• Watermelon
• Legumes in general
• Chili Peppers (All varieties)
• Millet
• Cranberries

Now, all of this being said, remember, this is NEW information. Any time new information comes across our desks it takes time for all of us to ingest it, absorb it and make use of it. Likewise, I now realize that some of our BirD-elicious! formulas will need to be slightly changed, which is fine because we are not in production at this current time anyway. Let’s face it, we made huge strides in revolutionizing the parrot food industry, and one of the many reasons we LOVED the fact that we produced our own food in our own plant was that we could change our formulas at any given time in accordance to any new information that we uncovered! Our Feather Plucker’s Diet was a huge success and now, with this new information, it will be even better if, and or when we re-open our production.  Our focus is always on continuing  research, development, as well as educating our public. I digress, my apology.

For those of you who are feeding yams for the high content of beta carotene it provides, I suggest a source that contains a neutral amount of Arginine to Lysine, carrots. Although I don’t care for the abundant sugar in carrots that could potentially lead to a yeast infection, the benefit still outweighs the danger of an overabundance of Arginine in the system. So if you decide to use carrots as your main natural source of beta carotene, be sure to watch for any signs of a yeast infection due to an increase in natural sugars. Still the thing to remember about the sugar in carrots, they are predominantly monosaccharides, a type of sugar a living creature’s body readily recognizes as friendly carbohydrates and easy to metabolize. In other words, it doesn’t sit in the gut fermenting and waiting to be digested, it goes right into the bloodstream, unlike carbohydrates that come from starchy foods such as rice, wheat or corn. This makes carrots an excellent source of energy as well as an excellent source of beta-carotene. If you decide to use another natural source of whole-food for beta carotene and you are wondering if it contains a high elevation of Arginine, feel free to contact me at aidforthebirds@yahoo.com and I will do my best to research it for you.

Another product that I have NEVER promoted, because I don’t believe in feeding “animal-based” products to parrots, in order to increase the amount of Lysine naturally in your parrot’s system, is a VERY SPECIFIC type of yogurt. Mind you, I will reiterate, a VERY SPECIFC type of yogurt to use, Goat’s Milk Yogurt. You can usually find it at your local health food store. Yogurt overall contains a high amount of Lysine which will help neutralize any Arginine already present in your bird’s system. So a tiny amount, say about  ½-1 teaspoon per 450-500 grams of body weight per day is acceptable. Why goat’s milk yogurt? Goat’s milk does NOT contain the same kind of lactose like cow’s milk does. Therefore it is much easier to digest and assimilate because birds don’t produce the digestive enzyme “lactase” needed to digest and assimilate products containing lactose.  Also, goat’s milk does not contain the same kind of indigestible “casein” found in cow’s milk, a glue-like substance actually used in the glue we use in our offices, that makes dairy products stick to the innards making everything in the digestive tract stick to the insides and virtually impossible for anything to be thoroughly digested. So, NO cow’s milk yogurt IF you are going to feed yogurt at all, PLEASE!

Now, please remember, this probably will not put an end to all feather plucking, skin mutilation and picking. But this is new information that will help us further understand why our parrots continue to pluck when we seem to be feeding them otherwise healthy diets, even when we are performing due diligence and feeding them fresh foods each and every day avoiding highly processed foods.

Which brings me to the issue of feeding those highly processed diets manufactured by big pet food companies, why are we still feeding those formulas to our birds? Especially birds who continue to experience the “Mutilation Syndrome”? It just doesn’t make any good common sense!

Most, if not all, of those highly processed foods, if they are machine-formed in any manner, heat-processed, or pressed at high pressures, have far less nutritional value than any food you could be presenting if you would choose to feed fresh food to your bird. Having said that, I totally understand the amount of expense and labor that goes in to feeding your bird fresh, organic, whole foods each and every day, and I completely understand that not all of us can do that. But we must make an effort to feed at least 50% of our bird’s diet as such, fresh, organic, whole foods. It’s what they would live on in the wild. And remember, these birds are wild at heart, they are not domesticated by a long shot. Their entire nature, their entire being is calling out to return to the wild, but because they cannot, we must bring it to them in the best way possible. Feeding natural, organic diets is one of the ways we can begin to bring Nature to them.

I will begin to remind you, that highly processed foods not only lack in real natural, organic, whole-food nutrition, but the ingredients normally used are far less than quality ingredients to boot! Most, if not all, manufacturers use the very ingredients I listed above that are high in Arginine, the exact amino acid that, when fed in overabundance, actually contributes to feather plucking, skin mutilation and picking. These are cheap ingredients the manufacturer can obtain at low prices to “fill” or “bulk out” their product so that they can increase their “bottom line” of net profit so they can put their kids through college, and they can treat themselves to big, fancy vacations while your beloved parrot sits in its cage ripping and tearing its skin off its body and you pay exorbitant veterinary bills trying to find out why! Do you think these “pet food manufacturers” really care about your “Polly” and your hard-earned cash? No, they’re laughing all of the way to their bank and off to the next island party! And it’s like I have said before, you can pay for your parrot’s health up front by spending your money on healthy food now and have a healthy parrot, or you can buy cheap junk food and have an ill parrot and spend hundreds of dollars at your vet. Either way you are going to spend money; your parrot may as well be healthy for it.

As always, I have a lot more to express regarding the “Mutilation Syndrome”, some information that was fairly new just before we closed our business, and some information that I talked about repeatedly while our business was still open. But I don’t want to overwhelm you with information in this post. Please take this new information and ingest it, absorb it and begin using it. Try to understand that like with any change, it will take you some time to implement it, and it will take your parrot some time to adjust to it too. Then once you and your parrot adjusts to it, your parrot’s system will need time to begin turning around and showing signs of improvement. Allow anywhere from 30 days to 3 months before you begin to see any change. And for some, more stubborn cases it may even take 6 months before you see a change. Watch closely, you may begin to see a behavioral change, at first it may not be a positive change because your parrot may become cranky because you are taking a favorite food away. But then you may actually see a tiny bit less picking, or less nervousness. It will vary from parrot to parrot because each bird is special and unique just like each human is. The key is to be diligent and once you take the food(s) away, don’t revert or digress, don’t go backwards and reintroduce the food out of sympathy for your parrot’s forlorn or cranky look or behavior. Your bird will eventually adjust, and it will be for the better in the long run. Offer an additional bite of carrot, or the goat’s milk yogurt in place of the food you took away as a bargaining chip! See if that doesn’t help ease the transition. Remember, it really is for the bird’s best interest, and yours too.

Using all of the information I wish to supply you with may help you once you employ part, or all of it with your mutilating beloved bird. *Also, please understand that when it really comes down to it, in the larger scheme of life, it really comes down to “balance”. You might want to click on the hi-lighted word so you will gain a better understanding of what I mean about “balance” as it pertains to feeding our companion birds before you finish reading the entire multi-part series…

Be sure to read all parts of our multi-part series of “The Mutilation Syndrome”!     Part: 1  2  3  4  5 6

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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.