The Best Bird Food

Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) – Its Many Uses

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Machelle

We’ve heard a little bit about grapefruit seed extract, and it is gaining notice, but not enough is being said about all of its wonderful properties. So I want to discuss just how wonderful this product from Nature is and how keeping it in your house at all times should be considered absolutely necessary!

First of all, what is it and where does it come from?

Just like it sounds, it comes from the seed of grapefruits. It was discovered in 1919 by Jacob Harich just coming home from WWII, a Yugoslavian budding scientist who devoted his life in the studies of gynecology and immunology. He bit in to a grapefruit seed, noticed how bitter it was and that’s where it all started.

By 1990 holistic health practitioners began understanding the wonders of this extract and all of the beneficial properties and started using it widely. Then by 1995 scientists began using it as a prophylactic against the HIV Aids virus. Farmers in Europe also began using it as a means to control E. coli in the fish market to keep the fish preserved longer. Now even hospitals use it to sanitize their operating rooms. It’s effective in killing Staph., Strep., Aspergillus, Salmonella and many other pathogenic organisms. Ordinary concentrations are 300ppm, but hospitals typically use a 1% concentration for sanitizing purposes.

Knowing this, we should be using GSE to clean our bird rooms and everything our birds come in contact with such as their cages, their bowls and their toys. This product is an absolutely wonderful sanitizing agent that doesn’t leave any sickening scent or sticky residues behind!

But grapefruit seed extract can be used for so much more. It can be taken internally to boost the immune system. It supplies many vitamins as well as important minerals. Breaking the beneficial properties down even more, it contains bioflavonoids, amino acids, fatty acids, tocopherols and an onslaught of other wonderful nutritional properties.

GSE acts as anti-oxidant fighting free radicals that may cause cancer and it is an anti-fungal as well. In addition it is a natural anti-histamine relieving allergy symptoms. It can help fight candida, sinusitis and giardiasis. And there have been some reports of using it effectively in the treatment of “bumblefoot”.

In order to be taken internally GSE has to be diluted to a minimum. In the case of where I purchase my GSE, Mountain Rose Herbs, I would dilute it to 16 drops to one gallon of purified drinking water for your birds. I purchase my GSE from Mountain Rose Herbs because I believe in the purity of their products. When using their brand of GSE and mixing it as a cleaner for your bird room or your house, you will simply mix 20 drops of GSE to a 32oz bottle. You can see this product goes a long, long way. So to say that it is too expensive to use is a fallacy.

You may be asking at this point why I am not mentioning vinegar, or apple cider vinegar, for cleaning our bird rooms. It’s a natural and organic product, so why not use it? I have a very good answer for you. It’s a “natural histamine” and can actually add to feather plucking and skin mutilation for any bird that may be suffering from “The Mutilation Syndrome” or generalized picking of any kind, or just plain scratching or dry skin. GSE does not add to this problem because grapefruit is a natural anti-histamine. I discovered this years ago when I was working with birds that plucked in my own flock, and dealing with my own “itching disorder”. When I removed the apple cider vinegar from my cleaning regimen and replaced it with the GSE, cleaning time no longer caused me to break out even more with my own acute itching, or my flock members to break out with acute feather plucking attacks! It seems that just the scent of it in the bird room during cleaning time would cause my birds to pluck even more, and me to itch beyond belief during cleaning time.

And regarding using an additive to your cleaning solution, you should be using something as a sanitizer to clean your bird room, otherwise you are just asking for trouble in the case of any kind of bacterial or viral illness breaking out in your bird room. GSE will help prevent this from happening. And adding it to your birds’ water bowls will help fight off any illnesses that may be lurking as well. Besides, with the added benefit of boosting the immune system, supplying vital vitamins, minerals, bioflavonoids and acting as an anti-histamine, you can’t go wrong with this wonderful product Nature has supplied to us! It’s a well-documented fact that birds consume seeds from fruits in the wild anyway. They seem to like these bitter tastes. It’s as if they intrinsically know the health benefits they receive from these bitter seeds. And if that’s the case, and it seems that it is, then it’s time we begin to understand what the birds in the wild are telling us about these bitter seeds they are consuming and use this knowledge to our captive birds’ advantage!

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*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.

Amino Acids: The Building Blocks of “Complete Protein” – Part 2

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Machelle

“Willo”

Until fairly recently it was believed that all captive parrots required about the same protein levels in their diet, about 12%-15%, based on poultry protein requirements. Gradually we are beginning to realize that each species may, in fact, require very different protein requirements based not only on their own species and body types, but also based on the regions of the world they originate from as well.

Of course different species require different protein levels in their diet, why would anyone think anything different? How we go about determining this and making sure they receive the proper amount of protein in their packaged food is the great challenge.

Once again I have to tout a diet high in natural, organic whole-foodstuffs. We cannot feed a highly processed diet and expect that our birds will receive adequate nutrition from finely ground, “pre-digested” substandard ingredients.

Why do our parrots need protein, and specifically “quality” protein, in their diet and how do their bodies utilize protein once it is ingested? It’s been long understood that a bird’s body has a tough time metabolizing protein because bird’s need essential amino acids introduced into their digestive tracts in order to metabolize protein. In other words, these amino acids, the building blocks of complete protein, aren’t naturally present in a bird’s chemical make-up, they have to be ingested by the bird, in balance, and then synthesized properly in order for the bird’s system to recognize the proteins to metabolize them appropriately.

Many of us think protein is needed for energy. While this is correct to a certain extent, it is mostly false. Protein is used to build muscle mass, regenerate internal organs as well skin, the largest organ of the body. It is also used to regenerate feathers, beaks and talons, although these parts of a bird’s body are mostly made up of the sulfur-containing amino acids like Methionine which converts to Cysteine and Cystine. All of these items are part of the “bulk” of our birds’ bodies, and add to the total weight of our birds. So it stands to reason that while protein is very important, it is not needed in the same quantity as carbohydrates which give our birds energy. Nonetheless protein is needed for a healthy heart, and all of the other organs our birds need for healthy bodies that function like a Swiss clock.

Remember, in the wild, while they need muscle to maneuver the limbs of trees and take off to flight, they don’t need so much body mass that they can’t fly. And as the caregiver of a captive bird, each of us must decide what the proper forms of protein are in order to build and regenerate these parts of our birds, but not to the extent that our birds look like “muscle builders” when they are creatures that live fairly sedate lives in our homes, and much of that time is spent inside their cages.

First let’s look at the ingredients most often used in highly processed diets when their main ingredients are corn, rice, soy or wheat. None of these ingredients are reliable ingredients from which to supply protein. Wheat may be the only ingredient on that list that may contain enough protein to supply a parrot’s dietary need, but honestly highly processed diets don’t normally contain wheat as their primary ingredient. And even if they did, wheat has too many negative factors to be a good source of protein to feed your companion bird, such as gluten, and indigestible protein that has a tendency to cause allergies. Gluten is the causative agent behind Celiac’s Disease in humans. Wheat is also made up of “insoluble” dietary fiber, not the kind of fiber most companion birds need in abundance in their diets in which to convert into readily available energy. Soy may also be a source high in protein but the problem with soy is that it is very high in phyto-hormones. This can dramatically alter your bird’s natural hormones leaving you with a bird that has ongoing hormonal issues. Research has found that Soy may inhibit endocrine function as well. This not only interrupts the regulation of hormones, but it can cause pancreatic disorders and insulin issues, as in the case of diabetes. Soy, if not processed at high temperatures, that removes most nutrients, contains high levels of phytic acid which inhibits the absorption of many minerals such as calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. And again, just like wheat, soy is made up of insoluble dietary fiber. So this source of protein, while it looks great at first glance, really isn’t that great overall. And as far as corn and rice, well they just don’t offer much protein anyway. And for any protein they do have to offer, they add too much sugar which converts to starch, which then converts back to sugar, a simple, and empty carbohydrate that can add to yeast infections and possibly diabetes, and may eventually contribute to fatty liver disease. Rice and corn are made up of “resistant starch”, a kind of dietary fiber that literally doesn’t digest and metabolize. While this kind of dietary fiber may be good for a diabetic to some extent, it is an enemy for a healthy bird that needs a quick energy source because it literally sits in the gut and ferments.

Animal Protein

So where do we turn to for quality protein? Well it certainly isn’t meat. Meat is far too difficult for parrots to digest; their delicate digestive system, with its low Ph balance, and the manner in which it is designed, just isn’t designed to break down meat products. And as I have said before in other posts, never, never feed your parrot raw, uncooked meat as it may harbor bacteria that will literally kill your parrot. But even cooked meat is too difficult for your parrot to digest. If you want to feed your parrot “animal protein”, turn to mealworms purchased online and raised on human foodstuffs. Never feed your birds worms you find in your garden as they may have accidentally come across some kind of chemical fertilizers or pesticides, even if it wasn’t in your own yard.

Plant Protein

But our parrots need more than “animal protein” in their basic diet, they need a different kind of protein in their daily diet because they are herbivores, they need “plant” protein. Most of their protein needs to come from reliable plant sources, but not necessarily from grains that are made up of mostly insoluble dietary fiber. Most of the plant protein our parrots would consume in the wild comes from berries, fruit and greens like grasses, bushes, leaves and herbs.

Interestingly enough, and to much surprise, in the wild birds probably get most of their protein from the berries and fruit they consume in the wild! As an example, berries, mango and papaya all have some of the highest protein percentages of any of the food stuffs our birds would consume in the wild. Most of the time birds consume berries for the seed contained in the meat of the fruit, not the berries themselves, and the seed are extremely high in protein and fatty acids. We must remember this kind of plant protein consists of medium-chain fatty acids, not long-chain fatty acids found in animal proteins. Exotic birds are much more able to metabolize medium-chain fatty acids than they are long-chain fatty acids.

They also like nuts. Nuts are eaten mostly for their fat content which is quickly converted into energy, although they do contain a high amount of protein. And parrots love nuts. And why not? One of my favorite nuts to feed parrots is almonds. They are naturally high in both protein and calcium and that’s probably why I like them so much. But they are also one of the less fatty nuts too. Another favorite nut I like to feed are macadamia nuts because they are high in oleic fatty acid, a monounsaturated Omega 9 fatty acid, that is essential to the health of many parrots, also found in Palm Oil, a key to good heart health. But we have to be careful with nuts because they are high in Arginine which may lead to plucking and skin mutilation. So be extra careful in the amount of nuts you are feeding to your birds.

Obviously we cannot find and feed the very same bushes and leaves our birds would consume in the wild, but we can find good quality greens to mimic the plant proteins they might find in their natural habitat. One of my very favorite plants to feed is alfalfa. It hovers at about 15% protein on average, but that level of protein is knocked down when combined with foods of a lower protein percentage. Alfalfa is what I call a “balanced” or “complete” plant protein in that it contains balanced amino acid content. This is one of the reasons it is used in the cattle industry and also why you will find horse owners feeding it to their horses in abundance. The amino acids in a whole food constitutes the building blocks of a protein and alfalfa is wonderfully balanced in the Lysine to Arginine ratio, therefore it is also balanced in the Ph ratio, inasmuch that it is not too acidic, nor is it too alkaline. So overall, this whole food is really the foundation from which to build your bird’s entire diet for good nutrition, in my opinion. This wonderful, leafy green really needs to be looked at more in-depth for feeding many of our herbivore pets.

I will lightly mention legumes here, but not because I consider them a good source of quality “plant” protein, only because legumes contain good and fair amounts of protein supplies. Legumes include cooked and dried beans, peas and lentils. But in order to supply nutrients most legumes need to be at least partially cooked before serving, and in doing so some amount of the real nutrition is lost. So in comparison to leafy greens, such as alfalfa that I mentioned above, legumes still don’t provide that raw “whole-food” nutrition I am such an advocate of because they need to be partially cooked in order to release their nutrition to be available for absorption. Obviously birds do not cook their legumes in the wild before consuming them. In addition, legumes are high in Arginine that amino acid that I believe may contribute to The Mutilation Syndrome. *Since originally posting this article I have found research regarding the dietary fiber of legumes that supports aborting the use of legumes in our companion birds’ diets. The dietary fiber of legumes is largely “insoluble” which renders it useless for the class aves that needs to convert their foods into immediate useable energy. Not only that but insoluble fiber causes inflammation in the large intestine which interferes with the absorption of vitamins and minerals which may be the reason we see so many companion birds suffering malnutrition and hypocalcemia in particular.

*I wish to add a side note here about different kinds of seaweed and algae proteins. Please, please do not feed these on a regular basis to your birds in hopes of boosting the protein intake of your bird’s overall dietary needs. Our oceans have been permanently putrefied with petro-chemicals and radiation. Gone is the day we can rely on nutrition from ocean products. Besides this fact, many algae products, i.e. the blue-green strains, contain the essential amino acid Phenylalanine which is known to contribute to PKU in humans. I believe this is a leading cause of Toe-tapping and Wing-flipping in parrots. I will write an in-depth post on this later in the future.

Amino Acids Necessary for Complete Protein

How do our birds’ metabolize protein?

Protein is metabolized by an amino acid synthesizing process. In other words there are 10 essential amino acids which must be introduced into the body via the diet in order to have a complete protein, and all of the 20 amino acids must be synthesized by the body either by the food that is ingested, or by the body’s natural synthesizing process. It’s fairly easy to find most of the 10 essential amino acids in any of the foods you would normally feed your bird. But one of the most important essential amino acids needed by our companion birds to metabolize protein is Methionine, and it can be difficult to find this amino acid present in most food sources. It must be introduced to our birds’ diet in order for protein to be broken down into a form for our birds’ systems to utilize the protein they take in. When combined with enough Lysine with other foods that contain Arginine, and all of the other essential amino acids and non-essential amino acids, this constitutes a “complete” protein our birds’ systems recognizes as well as one they can utilize. But Lysine, Arginine and Methionine seem to the major players in this process.

The 10 essential amino acids that must be introduced by food are:

1) Phenylalanine

2) Valine

3) Threonine

4) Tryptophan

5) Isoleucine

6) Methionine

7) Leucine

8) Lysine

9) *Histidine (Considered to be a “conditionally” essential amino acid because it is not normally required in the diet, but must be supplied in the diet to specific species that do not synthesize it.)

10) *Arginine (Considered to be a “conditionally” essential amino acid because it is not normally required in the diet, but must be supplied in the diet to specific species that do not synthesize it. It is not concretely known if parrots synthesize Arginine. All research is based on poultry who do not synthesize Arginine.)

The 10 non-essential amino acids which will be synthesized by other amino acids are:

1) Alanine

2) Asparagine

3) Cysteine

4) Tyrosine

5) Aspartate

6) Glutamate

7) Glutamine

8) Glycine

9) Proline

10) Syrine

Most foods contain Arginine in high quantities. It is a little more difficult to find foods that naturally contain Lysine and Methionine so I’m going to list some to help you out.

Foods high in Methionine:

Cooked Egg Whites (Do not buy and use powdered egg whites, these contain preservatives.)
Eucalyptus Leaves –Organic if possible (Do not feed if sprayed with insecticides)
Sesame Seed
Sunflower Seed

Foods high in Lysine:

Papaya – However, be careful with papaya because it is a natural histamine, it can cause allergies. Watch to see how your individual bird responds to it.
Beets – However, beets are high in sugar that can lead to yeast infections. So if your individual bird is prone to yeast infections keep a close eye out for any signs of a developing yeast infection. Beets are also a good supply of beta carotene, the precursor to vitamin A.
Mango – This is a good all around ingredient and has no side effects that I am aware of. A good supply of beta carotene too!
Apricot – A little on the sugary side, but not too bad.
Apple – I don’t recommend apples because they are way too high in sugar content for the little amount of nutrition they offer.
Pear – Excellent source.
Alfalfa – Excellent, balanced ratio of Lysine/Arginine which makes this a good base food.
Pineapple – This can be somewhat of an allergen to some birds, so watch your individual bird carefully. Otherwise it is an excellent digestive agent.
Persimmon – A good source.
Peach – A good source.
Plum – A good source.
Green beans – A good source.
Lentil SPROUTS – A good source. (Do NOT feed alfalfa and/or red clover sprouts, these are highly toxic as they contain the amino acid “Canavanine” which is thought to be a carcinogen. However, mature alfalfa is FREE of Canavanine and is safe to feed your parrot.)
Cauliflower – A good source.
Guava – A fair source.
Cinnamon – A fair source.

I cannot stress how important Lysine is to the overall diet. This is the one “limiting amino acid” that Vegans are sure they receive in their diet to accomplish having a complete protein source. “Limiting” means that without it proteins cannot properly be absorbed and metabolized. Lysine is also necessary for calcium absorption.

And finally, Methionine; in reviewing this important amino acid, if it’s not available in the diet through foodstuffs then none of the proteins will be absorbed and metabolized. We must find quality foods that contain Methionine so that our birds’ digestive tracts and metabolic systems will be able to make use of the protein they receive.

Most commercial bird foods have been neglectful in formulating daily diets for our companion birds overall. They have not taken into consideration that a completely balanced protein must consist of including whole-foods that contain both naturally occurring, and equally balanced, Lysine to Arginine amino acids with enough Methionine to properly metabolize the available protein. When we look at the package backs of these processed foods we will be sure to find ingredients that are extremely high in ingredients that contain Arginine. But where are the ingredients that contain Lysine, the all-important amino acid that balances the Arginine in order to make a complete protein? They are virtually non-existent. And how about the Methionine ingredients? Where are they?

Personally, I’m not satisfied if they tell me that they have added the Lysine and Methionine by supplementing them with laboratory-produced, chemical versions because scientists are still debating whether these substances are utilized by a living creature the same way as a natural and organic source is metabolized by a living creature. I would much rather be sure to use the real version, a living version, a whole-food that was made by Nature.

Click for: “Amino Acids: The Building Blocks of Complete Protein – Part 1″

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Categories: Basic Parrot Nutrition, D) Amino Acids, The Building Blocks - Part 2 | Tags: amino acids, Amino acids and Complete Protein, Amino acids and Parrots, bird food, bird nutrition, Bird-elicious, Birdelicious, Building Blocks of Protein, Complete Protein, complete proteins and parrots, Parrot, parrot nutrition, Parrots, protein and parrots, Proteinuria in parrots, the best bird food | 2 Comments

Hide and Cecum – Your Parrot’s Digestive Tract, Finally Understood!

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Machelle

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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Categories: A) Anatomy - Digestive Tract, Specialized Information | Tags: bird food, bird nutrition, Bird-elicious, Birdelicious, Ceca in parrots, cecum in parrots, Diegestive tract of parrots, healthy bird food, Parrot, parrot food, parrot nutrition, Parrots, the best bird food | Leave a comment

Liver and Kidney Disease – Part 2 – Hypervitaminosis A

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Machelle

In “Liver and Kidney Disease – Part 1 – Protein” we discussed how too much protein, or more accurately, the wrong kind of protein, may contribute to liver and/or kidney disease. In part 2 we will be discussing how hypervitaminosis A, or too much vitamin A, or again, more accurately the wrong kind of vitamin A, may contribute to liver and/or kidney disease. And I really, really want to stress, that I’m talking about the wrong kind of vitamin A more than I am the overdosing of vitamin A. However, the symptoms may very well look like the overdosing of vitamin A, but then the overdosing of vitamin A are very similar to the lack of vitamin A, so one cannot be absolutely sure which situation you are dealing with, the lack of this vitamin, or the overdosing of vitamin A because of feeding the wrong form of this vitamin unless you have your licensed avian veterinarian perform a blood test. Now that being said, let’s continue with our post regarding liver and kidney disease and how hypervitaminosis A contributes to this disease.

We hear so much about how our companion birds are not receiving enough vitamin A, and that is called hypovitaminosis A, or lack of vitamin A in the diet. That condition can very well be true if a diet high in seed and low in fresh produce is being fed.

But what if a diet primarily consisting of highly processed ingredients is being fed and then on top of those processed, or basically “dead” ingredients, a combination of laboratory-produced synthetic vitamin mix of supplements are added to the pressed and shaped pelletized kibble? This removes the need for the bird’s body to synthesize the vitamins from any whole-foods that they would normally ingest if they were being fed whole-foods rich in living digestive enzymes, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. In other words, when a diet that has already been “pre-digested” and smothered in artificial vitamins, like highly processed pellets, are fed to our birds, the need for our birds’ bodies to function as they were designed to function is removed from the entire digestion process; the need to utilize, synthesize and metabolize all of the digestive enzymes, fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins and minerals they were specifically designed to do all on their own becomes virtually unnecessary! Our birds’ entire digestive systems, endocrine systems, metabolic systems and every other natural bio-synthesis action becomes weak, lethargic, sluggish and lazy. We are taking away Nature’s miraculous built-in processes and actions.

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin, meaning that it requires the fat in a living creature’s body in order to be metabolized. And where are the fats metabolized? Among many, many of the vast functions of the liver and kidneys, fat metabolism is only one of the functions they perform. When too much “synthetic” vitamin A is introduced to the body, or any fat-soluble vitamin for that matter, the liver and kidneys have to work overtime to metabolize it. If they cannot metabolize all of it, then these organs become over-taxed and disease sets in, especially if the bodily system is already lazy due to the kind of low-quality diet of a highly “pre-digested” diet it may be accustomed to.

There are two kinds of hypervitaminosis A, “acute” and “chronic”. Acute is when too much vitamin A is ingested over a short period of time and chronic is when too much is present in the system over a long period of time. Chronic overdosing is what I am so concerned about when feeding highly processed kibble that has been fortified with synthetic forms of vitamins, like the fat-soluble vitamin A that cannot be so easily thrown off and out of the system like water-soluble nutrients can. When we feed highly processed diets that contain synthetic forms of vitamin A we are constantly introducing and re-introducing this “artificial” source of vitamin A into our bird’s diet on a daily basis, without even knowing if science is correct about the amounts we should be feeding to our birds of this all-too-difficult-to metabolize-synthetic-form of vitamin.

So what actually happens when the liver and/or kidneys become over-taxed with synthetic vitamin A? You may see black spots on the feathers, feather loss, an overgrown beak, or talons, cracking, peeling or itching of the skin, abnormally oily skin, bright green urine, decreased appetite, lethargy, vomiting, and/or hypercalcaemia (too much calcium in the blood), and cataracts. Not all of these conditions need be present in order for your bird to be suffering from hypervitaminosis A. Interestingly enough; these can be the symptoms of hypovitaminosis A as well. But if you witness even one of these symptoms, I strongly encourage you to set up an appointment with your licensed avian veterinarian and have a test performed to check on the blood level of vitamin A in your bird.

Synthetic vitamin A, the kind produced in a laboratory is really a inferior substitute for the real thing, in my opinion, when so many whole-food sources are available for us and our companion animals. If the source of vitamin A listed on your brand of food says “acetate” or “palmitate” the source is synthetic. If the source is not listed, if it just says “vitamin A supplement”, the source is most likely synthetic, not natural. And even if it is natural, remember, because it is “oil-based”, it has to be preserved with something so that it does not go rancid. As I have mentioned many times, scientists, even after years and year of debate, still cannot agree whether synthetic vitamins are readily absorbed and metabolized by any living creature’s body. Therefore we have no concrete evidence that any synthetic vitamin is actually utilized in the very same manner as whole-food nutrition is utilized by a living creature’s body.

So what is the better, more natural approach to fulfilling our bird’s need for vitamin A, how can we be sure our bird is receiving enough vitamin A when all of this talk is going around that our birds are actually suffering a lack of vitamin A? It’s not all as difficult as it is made to sound.

We only need to know how to supply whole-foods, not highly processed foods that contain synthetic forms of nutrients, but whole-foods that supply the body’s need for the precursor to vitamin A, the nutrient that is needed for the body to synthesize vitamin A, so that the body can synthesize what it knows it needs in the proper amount of vitamin A. If that natural and organic nutrient is available in abundance then your bird will have plenty of what is needed to have all of the vitamin A it needs.

What is that nutrient? It is beta-carotene. Foods high in beta-carotene, like mango, apricots, and carrots are what are needed to manufacture vitamin A. These are my first choice of foods because they are also high in the essential amino acid “Lysine”, the other half of the chain of amino acids also necessary to make a complete protein. There are many other foods that contain beta-carotene, but unfortunately they are high in the essential amino acid “Arginine”. Our birds normally receive too much Arginine, the predominant amino acid which makes the other half of the complete protein, so that’s why I always try to get my readers to add foods that contain high amounts of Lysine to their bird’s diet. We want to be sure to introduce foods that are high in Lysine to make sure our birds are receiving complete proteins.

In addition to supplying the foundation to vitamin A, beta-carotene is an anti-oxidant which means that it helps in fighting the free radicals that cause so much harm to our birds’ bodies, like any carcinogenic agents. Beta-carotene helps heal minor skin irritations and wounds, it actually cleanses the liver and helps to excrete fats and bile, helps fight respiratory ailments and illnesses, helps fight anemia, boosts the immune system, and improves eyesight among many other important properties.

At any rate, beta-carotene is fairly harmless in comparison to synthetically produced vitamin A. Because it is a whole-food source, and only a precursor to vitamin A that the body uses to produce its own vitamin A as it needs it, the body can also rid itself of any beta-carotene easier than it can synthetic vitamin A. Don’t get me wrong, you will still need to be watchful about the amount of intake of beta-carotene through whole-food sources, you want to exercise common sense. But overall, vitamin A when synthesized from whole-food sources of beta-carotene, are a much safer form than synthetic vitamin A from laboratory-produced sources found in highly processed foods, especially when we still aren’t absolutely sure what each bird species really needs in their daily diets; we are basically guessing based on poultry diets even with all of the research that has been performed. So all said and done, doesn’t it just make sense to allow our birds’ bodies to decide how much vitamin A they really need and supply the beta-carotene needed to synthesize their own supply? It is my personal opinion it does makes good common sense.

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Categories: Ailments/Illness/Disease, Liver and Kidney Disease | Tags: bird food, bird nutrition, Bird-elicious, Fatty liver disease in parrots, healthy bird food, Hypervitaminosis A in parrots, Hypervitaminosis in parrots, Hypovitaminosis A in parrots, Kidney Disease in Parrots, lack of vtamin A in parrots, Liver Disease in Parrots, parrot disease, parrot diseases, parrot nutrition, Parrots, the best bird food, too much vitamin A in parrots, vitamin A and parrots | Leave a comment

Liver and Kidney Disease in Parrots – Part 1 – Protein

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Machelle

Liver and kidney disease runs rampant among companion birds. One holistic veterinarian, Robert D. Ness, DVM, believes, along with me, that it has to do mostly with the diets we are feeding to our beloved feathered friends. He believes that we need to lower the amount of protein we are feeding to our birds.[1] I personally believe that it may be possible that we are feeding diets too high in protein, but more accurately, we are feeding the wrong kind of proteins, animal protein in many cases. Even more accurately, when we adhere to feeding only plant protein, we still, after all of these years of research, are not feeding a balanced “complete protein” along with the appropriate amino acids, the building blocks of complete proteins, in which to aid the metabolism of those proteins. What happens next is an abnormally heavy burden that taxes both the liver and the kidneys in metabolizing these proteins without any help from the already over-taxed metabolic process, using the naturally occurring enzymes that would be produced by the body’s system if all of the amino acids were present to do the job they were meant to do, work as a team to break the proteins down in a way the body could actually utilize them, and recognize them as a nutritional substance.

Let’s begin with the nutrients being feed to our feathered friends. Normally we are feeding pellets which are virtually void of any real “living” nutrition to begin with. And usually the main ingredients, if you look on the package in order of ingredient listing from most to least, are either corn or sunflower seeds first, and usually soy follows not too far down the list, eventually you may find rice, barley or wheat too. All of these ingredients are high in the amino acid “Arginine”. And the holistic veterinarian I mentioned earlier, Dr. Ness, believes that our feathered friends who are suffering from kidney disease needs to go through kidney detox to remove some of the Arginine overload.[2] Now, I have discussed this amino acid at great length on our blog and I have indicated that because so many formulated bird foods are so heavy-laden with ingredients, lop-sided in containing this amino acid in comparison to its balancing partner “Lysine”, needed to make up a “complete protein”, that I highly suspect this may be one of the factors leading to “The Mutilation Syndrome”. But here we have yet another problem this imbalance of nutrients could be contributing to, liver and/or kidney disease.

And don’t think those of us who don’t feed highly processed foods are going to get off Scott-free! Because if we aren’t performing due-diligence and doing our homework, learning which foods to offer in order to feed a completely balanced diet to our birds, we could very well be causing the same problems that are caused by feeding highly processed foods. As I have indicated before, formulating a well-balanced daily diet isn’t a snap job!

So anyway, here we have diets that are high in “incomplete proteins”, and to add insult to injury we may be feeding animal proteins in addition to these diets that are lacking in the real kind of protein our birds need to thrive. It’s no wonder our birds are ending up with liver and/or kidney disease. Interestingly enough, if a bird has one, say liver disease, it seems that the other follows, kidney disease as well, or vice versa.

So what do we do then when our birds are found to have either or both of these diseases? Well, I’m assuming that if they have been “found” to have either of these diseases you have already had the disease(s) confirmed and diagnosed by your licensed avian veterinarian. And following your vet’s advice is definitely what you should be doing in the case of severe disease. But what can you do homeopathically at home to further aid in the detox your bird’s liver and kidneys?

I have compiled some information for you from a number of resources, one of which is from Dr. Ness himself. I have thoroughly checked out this information to make sure that this information is, I believe to be, reliable, useful and harmless for our birds. But of course, as always I must reiterate, I am not a licensed veterinarian so I cannot claim to diagnose, treat or cure any ailment, disorder, illness or disease in humans, pets or livestock. Any information I offer is purely for use at your own discretion.

*Important Note: Any detox program will deplete your bird’s mineral reserves to some great extent. For this reason I strongly recommend offering your bird freshly juiced fruits and vegetables on a daily basis as adding these juices will reintroduce a new supply of micronutrients consisting of enzymes, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals to your bird’s diet!!! This will also aid in the detox process. When I say “freshly juiced”, I mean using a high quality juicer to actually juice the fruits and vegetables yourself at home, not some juice you buy at the grocery store, those juices have been so overly processed, and have been sitting on the shelves for so long, their real nutrition have been long lost.

Here is a recipe to replenish your bird’s minerals while at the same time detoxing your bird’s kidneys: Please use organic fruits and vegetables, these will always supply the best nutrition and remember, you are attempting to “detox”, that means removing all chemical substances too, like fertilizers and pesticides!

4 cups watermelon (No rind) *If your bird is suffering “The Mutilation Syndrome” do not use this ingredient!

2 tablespoons raspberry *If your bird is suffering “The Mutilation Syndrome” do not use this ingredient!

6 strawberries

1 carrot

½ cucumber (May use skin as long as it is organic)

½ cup parsley

Here is a recipe to replenish your bird’s minerals while at the same time detoxing your bird’s liver:

2 kale leaves

6 spinach leaves

1 beet(you can use the tops too, if you have them

1 dandelion leaf(you can also get this in herbal tincture form)

2 carrots

1 beet (May use leaves)

¼ cup of cranberries

3 apples (Please use the skins)

1 handful of parsley

1 handful of alfalfa

And if your bird has both liver and kidney problems, just combine both recipes together for a wonderful and nutritional, replenishing and supportive juice! Buy only enough fresh, organic produce to last only a few days so that it doesn’t spoil or loose its nutritional content. And after you juice the produce, be sure to keep it in your refrigerator tightly capped so that nutrients don’t leach out. Feed only as much as your bird will consume at one serving and do not allow the juice to remain in open air any longer than say, about ½ hour due to spoilage concerns. Then toss what your bird does not consume.

Secondly, I would begin brewing either organic white or green tea and using it as your bird’s drinking water while taking your bird through the detox program which should last as long as your veterinarian is treating your bird for the specified disease. Organic white teas are the best teas to use for chelation, but they are also more expensive. I prefer to purchase my teas from Silk Road Teas. They literally travel to China and hand picks their teas. I use only their organic teas. Obviously allow the tea to cool to room temperature before serving to your bird. Do not allow the tea to sit openly all day long once your serve it to your bird, but you can allow the tea to sit for a few hours without worry of spoilage. Don’t serve water at the same time; make this the only beverage available so that your bird will be forced to drink it. Most likely your bird will readily drink it as birds actually like the tannins in teas.

Thirdly, combine and feed just a couple to a few pinches of this mixture on top of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. Or, if preferred, mix it in with the fresh juice you are offering:

1/8 tsp of ground Burdock root (Arctium lappa)

1/8 tsp ground Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra)

1/4 tsp part Bupleurum (Bupleurum chinense)

1/4 tsp ground Oregon grape (Mahonia spp.)

1/2 tsp of ground Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

3/4 tsp of ground Cilantro (Coriandrum sativum)

3/4 tsp of Chlorella (Chlorella vulgaris)

3/4 tsp of ground Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum)

1/2 tsp of Echinacea purpora root

3/4 tsp of ground Calendula flowers (Eschscholzia californica)

3/4 tsp of ground Cleavers leaves (Galium aparine)

3/4 tsp of Tumeric (Curcuma longa)

Few drops of Gardenia extract (Gardenia jasminosides)

In addition, the kidneys need Omega 3’s in order to flush out the bad fats/cholesterols, the LDL’s. Feeding organic flax seed and/or oil, as well as organic hemp seed and/or oil are good during this time of detox, but in small quantities because again, we don’t want to overburden already stressed kidneys. So offer just a couple to a few drops of each, the flax and hemp oil a couple times a week only depending on the size and species of your bird. And as far as the seed is concerned, probably 1/8 to 1 tsp of the two seeds mixed together, again depending on the size and species of your bird. Obviously a Budgie will only need a drop of oil a couple times a week compared to a Macaw who can consume as much as 5 to 15 drops several times a week when they have already over-taxed liver and kidneys. And again, a Budgie will only need a few sprinkles of the seed mixture a couple of times a week compared to a Macaw who can consume as much as 1-2 tsp per day while it is detoxing. So any species in between these sizes of birds you can kind of estimate in your mind.

Together with the above added detox you can add the following to your list of kidney detoxification regimen: Couch grass (Elymus repens) (aka Dog grass root), Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) and Marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis). I would combine them in equal parts of ¼ tsp each, ground, and add just a pinch on top of your bird’s fresh fruit and veggie mix, or as above, directly in their fresh juice mix.

Please understand, I’m not discussing the chelation process in regards to heavy metal toxicity, this is a topic I will cover in a blog post further down the road. Although this detox program will help with metal detox to some good extent, this detox program is mainly for general liver and kidney health and vitality in regards to over-taxed organs due to high protein or inaccurate/imbalanced protein intake without the necessary means, the correct amino acid present, to help metabolize the proteins that are being consumed.

It is well passed the time that all of us, bird lovers and avian nutritionists alike, but especially those who formulate daily commercial diets for our feathered friends, to wake up and realize we are not formulating diets for poultry who’s digestive tracts are much different than exotic aves. In addition, if we are really serious about the health and vitality of keeping companion birds in our homes for our pleasure, then we must also be serious about their long term health, not just the short term pleasure we may receive from the time we enjoy their presence in our life span before passing them off to someone else to carry the burden we can no longer carry for whatever reason we had to relinquish them, be it our own illness, death or financial situation. These beautiful creatures deserve the very best we have to offer them because they offer us, without any conditions forced upon us by their nature, their companionship…that’s what “companion” means…companionship. And it is supposed to go both ways, they offer us unconditional companionship, and we offer it back to them as well.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Liver and Kidney Disease in Parrots. I will be covering Vitamin A and how it affects these precious and miraculous organs!

[1]Clinical Avian Medicine – Volume 1 Pg. 361

[2] Clinical Avian Medicine – Volume 1 Pg. 361

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Categories: Ailments/Illness/Disease, Liver and Kidney Disease | Tags: best bird food, bird food, bird nutrition, Bird-elicious, Birdelicious, Kidney Disease in Parrots, Liver Disease in Parrots, Parrot, parrot disease, parrot diseases, parrot nutrition, Parrots, Proteinuria in parrots, renal disease in parrots, the best bird food | Leave a comment

Safe Bird Toys – It’s ALL About the Safety of Our Birds!

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Machelle

I’ve never been one to make friends in the avian retail products community based on my congeniality with other parrot product retailers…and this post probably will not earn me any additional friends in the industry. Oh well. My main concern is about the birds; I’m about the health, safety and overall well-being of parrots, especially after what I have been through with my business and now, in addition to my business, my brand new future hopes of a non-profit foundation and private trust… Who better to be an outspoken advocate for parrots than someone who has literally gone through the worst of the worst? I figure I’m a pretty good candidate for that position, therefore if anyone wants to be the judge of what I recommend for the well-being of parrots, let them step up and be the first one to throw the first stone when all I have are the best of intentions for these dearly beloved creatures.

Okay, that off of my chest and having been said, let’s get right into what constitutes, in my opinion, the safest of the safest parrot toys for your own beloved feathered friends!

The holiday season is upon us and many of you will be purchasing brand-spanking new toys and enrichment tools for your birds. And just as we are warned on the nightly news about which toys are, and are not, safe for our children and grandchildren, we need someone educating us about bird toys as well. Yes, there are many, many toys on the market that birds absolutely should not have on their gift list this holiday season no matter how much they plead with you and Santa that they want that toy! If you have already purchased that “oh, so much desired bird toy” and you may learn after this post it isn’t all that safe, then return it as soon as you finish reading! It just doesn’t matter how much “Polly” in the picture is seen loving her new toy…if it isn’t safe, it isn’t worth the money you pay for it!

Let’s begin with the hardware because this is where most people think it’s okay to accept second best, and it’s just not “okay” because this can be one of the most deadly decisions you make in choosing your bird’s toy that doesn’t show up until much further down the road. The hardware are the parts that literally hold your bird’s toy together, the chain, the washers, the O-rings, the swivels, the quik links, you know, the nuts and bolts of the toy. Zinc, aluminum, steel (iron), brass, copper, and other metals are completely out of the question, most of us bird lovers know that because they are “heavy metals”. The reason for this is that ingested or even licked they can cause, and most likely will cause, metal toxicity. Have you ever seen a bird with metal toxicity? You don’t want to. It becomes clumsy, even to the point of falling off of its perches, lethargic, looses it’s desire to eat, and eventually dies.

Many people will tell you it’s “acceptable” to use nickel-plated hardware because it’s plated solidly to the steel that’s underneath the nickel and nickel isn’t toxic to our birds. Hold on…did I say it’s plated to steel? Yes I did. That means that there is the possibility of the nickel flaking off at some point down the road. And come on; let’s get really real here, what do birds do with their awesomely strong beaks? They nibble, chew, ply, pull and literally destroy. We can’t see little, tiny bits and pieces that might be flaking off of these coated pieces and getting swallowed, before the bigger chunks begin to alarm us, but be assured, it’s happening. The main reason nickel-plating begins to flake off in the first place is because the metal under it is beginning to rust! That in itself should caution us that using this kind of hardware for our birds is just not worth the risk! As much fluid as our birds’ toys are around, and the slight bit of moisture that the hardware is exposed to from our birds’ mouths and tongues, on a constant basis, is reason enough for me to stay as far away from nickel-plated as I can just in case there is a slight crack in the plating, giving way to moisture seeping in allowing rust to begin, only adding to more flaking of the plating.

So what’s the better, safer choice all around for the hardware? Stainless steel and the highest grade of stainless steel you can find, the harder the stainless steel, the better. You want toys that are constructed with stainless chain, washers, O-rings, S-hooks, swivels, quik links, whatever, you always want to find toys that use only stainless steel for the health and safety of your bird. Will you pay more? Yes, of course, but it’s well worth it when you consider you may literally be saving your bird’s life! And if you are constructing your bird’s toys yourself, my advice is to adhere strictly to stainless steel unless you absolutely cannot find the hardware part you need available in stainless steel. And if that is the case, then you may need to redesign the toy around the hardware.

Secondly, let’s talk about the quality of any woods used in the construction of your bird’s toys. Not all wood is the same. Now, I’m not talking about whether you choose hard woods or soft woods that choice is up to you. Obviously hard woods are going to last longer, and you will pay more for these woods. The thing is about the “kind” of wood being used is that you want to ask that particular question to make sure it’s not a wood that might be poisonous to a bird. But what I’m mainly speaking of is whether the wood is “treated” or “untreated”. Many lumber yards buy wood that has been treated with chemicals to help prevent both fires as well as degradation by fungus, pests and just the plain old aging process. So you want to make absolutely sure the toys you are purchasing are constructed with wood that has not been treated with chemicals of any kind.

Third, what about all of those beautiful and bright colors? We love color don’t we? But have you ever thought about the safety of those colors, those dyes and your birds getting them into their mouths and ultimately their bodily system? There are mainly two kinds of dyes that are used, artificial and natural, or organic. Obviously we want to stay away from the artificial dyes because these are chemically produced and contain an entire laundry list of “FDA” approved chemicals. But as we have come to understand, the FDA approves many, many items that are not necessarily suitable for consumption that we later learn should have never been approved in the first place…we learn that they may cause allergies at minimum and at worst may be highly carcinogenic. But what about the “natural or organic” dyes, are they okay for our birds’ toys? In my own opinion, absolutely not! And I have a two-part answer for you.

First of all, something has to be used to preserve those dyes, otherwise they will spoil. And most likely the preservative of choice, when these dyes are produced on a mass scale, will be a chemical preservative, usually some form of MSG (monosodium glutamate) that can wreak all kinds of havoc in our birds’ delicate system. It is hidden is all sorts of other “ingredients”, I encourage you to click on the previous link to learn more about it. So if you are not purchasing toys that are literally handmade and dyed with organic dyes and preserved with natural preservatives like herbs such as rosemary, then beware!

But there’s a stronger reason you may not want to buy toys with bright and loud colors. And this may come as quite a surprise to many of you, but I assure you the information is well-founded by the research studies I have performed with my very own flock. I am absolutely convinced and because of it I will no longer be supplying colored toys, whether they are wood or acrylic, to any of my personal birds. And that is on the subject of hormonal stimulation. It is fact that birds “display” their color when mating season arrives. You can find this research information, shared with the public, just about anywhere. And one of the main reasons they do this is to stimulate the opposite sex into the desire to mate. In other words it stimulates the hormonal activity in both birds. And when does this breeding behavior occur most in Nature? Usually around the time most plants and flowers are in bloom in their natural origin and location, when everything is in full color. Could it be then, that we are actually stimulating our birds to remain in a type of breeding state during the full calendar year by hanging all of these colors in and around their environment? Even to the point of painting their bird rooms with bright colors? I personally think so. It could be that we are causing our birds to become, and remain, “sexually frustrated” on an ongoing basis by the use of all of these brightly colored objects and painted environments. In my opinion this is just one factor leading to “The Mutilation Syndrome” in so many of our captive companion birds. In order to mimic their surroundings we need to step back and really look at the “normal” environment” they would be living in on a day-to-day” basis, not what they would be living in only during the mating season. For this very strong reason I implore you to purchase toys that are only natural in color, no colored plastic or acrylic parts, and no colored wood, whatsoever.

Now, if after offering you my reason why we should not be offering colored toys to our birds, and adding to that my own personal belief that color is more for “us” and then it is for our birds, you are determined to have colored plastic parts on your bird’s toys, I’m about to help you choose the safest plastic parts to have on those toys. Soft plastic, or even semi-soft plastic, like the plastic chains, contains a lot of zinc, a heavy metal that causes metal toxicity. Zinc is what is used to bind the color to the plastic. Please do not purchase toys with soft or semi-soft plastic parts. The only “plastic” parts that are safe, and it really isn’t plastic at all, is acrylic. This is so hard that you don’t have to worry much about your bird ingesting too much of unwanted material, although birds with really strong beaks, such as Macaws, Cockatoos, African Greys, Amazons and the like, can still get little, tiny pieces off with their mighty beaks.

The last topic I wish to discuss with you is the overall safety of the toy. No matter how safe we try to make bird toys, there is always some amount of harm that can come from any toy, it just goes with the territory. Birds can get their feet or their beak tangled up in rope, leather strands, chain, raffia, grasses, all shreddable materials, this is the mischievous nature of birds, and they are naturally curious creatures. And any tiny parts that can be popped off, or accidently broken, can be easily swallowed, this is why you don’t want these parts to be cheap metal, or colored with dyes that are chemically derived or preserved, or made of plastic that contains zinc as a binder. A number of “accidents” can happen during your bird’s play time fun and what was meant for an enriching experience can all of a sudden turn deadly. It is important to carefully watch our birds as they play with their toys, just as we would with a human child, to make sure they remain safe at all times.

Please understand, I don’t mean to put a damper on your bird’s activities, or your holiday gift-giving, I just simply want to help you choose the safest toys and tools possible to help eliminate most of the dangers in your bird’s environment! The main idea though is to watch with an attentive eye when your birds are most active and see what fascinates them the most. Many times this will be exactly what you need to make sure is the safest part of the toy!

With all of this in mind, may you and your flock have a happy and SAFE holiday season!

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Well, we are seriously thinking of bringing all of our SAFE natural, organic toys back to market for your birds to enjoy! Obviously our end desire is to bring all of our foods back to market, but we need to fund our capital in order to accomplish that goal. Beginning with the toys would provide a foundation for that end goal.

So what do you think? Give us your opinion.Your vote is completely confidential.

“I look forward to getting more toys from you. Yours ARE the best!“ Nancy H. of CA on 12.12.11

Thank you for sharing your opinion!

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Categories: Best Bird Toys! Enrichment Widgets & Gizmos | Tags: Beakery, Best Bird Toys, Bird toys, BirD-elicius! bird toys, colored bird toys, dyes and bird toys, feather destruction behavior, feather plucking, metal toxicity in birds, metal toxicity in parrots, plastic and bird toys, Rain Forest Foragers, safe bird toys, skin mutilation in parrots, skin mutilation syndrome in parrots, Stainless steel and bird toys, wood and bird toys, zinc and bird toys | Leave a comment

Amino Acids: The Building Blocks of “Complete Protein” – Part 1

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Machelle

We don’t often think of amino acids in relationship to the protein requirements of our companion birds when we pick up a package of food for them at our local pet shop, we simply may look at the protein percentage on the back of the package and think, “Hmmm…okay, this looks good enough” and be on our merry way. But what actually goes into formulating that protein percentage? What has to be mixed and calculated to arrive at that number in order to make sure our feathered friend is receiving the “complete protein” it needs to not only survive, but thrive?

“Complete protein” is what is needed in order for any living creature to survive. But complete quality proteins are what is needed for a living creature to thrive. Any food manufacturer can throw ingredients together and force the protein percentages to come out to a level that meets the criteria equaling the amount necessary for survival for the particular animal species they desire to sell to the consumer purchasing the food for their beloved pet. But it takes a nutritionist who is passionate about the health of animals, and one that really has the animal’s best interest at heart to formulate a food that not only meets the protein percentage criteria, but also combines the amino acids in a balanced manner that they complement each other in a symbiotic and synergistic way that actually forms an actual “complete protein” in every aspect of the true nature of the definition.

The absolute best way to provide complete protein to an overall diet is to combine a vast array of fresh, organic whole-foods, based on the nutrients that would be found in the natural habitats of the living creature, and understanding what each food contributes individually to the overall equation.

The only way to come close to maintaining the integrity of the nutrients, resulting in high-potency food, is to utilize a method of minimal process. That usually requires the food being mixed by hand, using minimal equipment, and only stainless steel equipment so as not to introduce metal toxicity, leaving most of the ingredients whole, or semi-whole then gently dehydrating as the means of preservation. Dehydration is the oldest method of preservation known to civilization and is still being used by present-day naturalists.

But back to the amino acids and building a complete protein for our birds’ daily diets. Amino acids are the “building blocks” of proteins in a living creature’s dietary needs, as well as within their very bodily make up, they provide the fiber of a living being’s physical existence!

There are many amino acids that go into the equation of a complete diet, but there are specifically two main amino acids we need to take into consideration when building the complete protein profile in which our birds need in order to thrive. Unfortunately here again, most commercial bird foods do not provide these two essential amino acids in balance in the ingredients they include in their packaged foods. The reason most manufacturers do not include ingredients that contain both amino acids is because the price is more costly because they are more difficult to grow and process in mass quantities, in order for commercial foods to contain both amino acids in balanced ratios. So commercial manufacturers use a laboratory produced synthetic source for one of the primary amino acids, Lysine. They use laboratory produced L-Lysine as a cheap substitute. But this should not be any excuse for the proper formulation of commercial foods for our beloved feathered friends, their very lives are at stake!

The term “essential” amino acid means that it is not synthesized by the body itself. In other words, it must be introduced into the body by other means, hopefully by whole-food sources rather than a laboratory-produced supplement. The body recognizes whole-food sources, in my opinion, more efficiently than it does laboratory-produced substances. This is a topic of long-debate by scientists spanning the entire globe. Still no concrete decisions have been made on this issue.

The two most essential amino acids we need to take into consideration when building our birds’ daily diet are Lysine and Arginine and they must be balanced in order to provide the complete protein your bird needs to thrive, not just survive. Too much of either and your bird will, eventually, begin to suffer some kind of ailment, disorder, illness or disease, mark my word.

In addition to those two amino acids your bird needs another essential acid, in a more limited amount, but essential nonetheless, Methionine, in order to metabolize the proteins, because first of all birds do not synthesize methionine on their own; neither do they metabolize proteins very well.

What does all of this boil down to? Well if you are going to be feeding your bird(s) fresh, organic, whole foods yourself, without any commercially packaged foods, you need to know how to go about providing a “complete protein” source for your bird’s daily diet. Otherwise you’re only guessing at what your bird needs in the way of a total diet.

And complete protein isn’t the only dietary need you should be taking into consideration. You have to take into consideration your bird’s fat requirements, calcium and other mineral needs, and make sure your bird isn’t receiving too much iron in its diet that could lead to “Iron Storage Disease”. When it comes right down to it, formulating a complete and total diet for your bird just isn’t a snap! And if you are feeding a commercial food that contains synthetic vitamins, or you are feeding synthetic vitamins yourself, you need to be really careful because you can easily overdose your bird and cause hypervitaminosis, a case of too much synthetic nutrition, which your bird’s system, primarily the liver and kidneys, just cannot metabolize. This is usually due to overdosing of “oil-soluble” vitamins, those which cannot be thrown off the system by the dilution of water-soluble body fluids, they need to be metabolized by the liver and kidneys. This can lead to an enlarged liver, fatty liver or liver and/or kidney disease. Many commercial bird foods contain these types of vitamins in them.

And if you are feeding, or you decide to feed, a commercial diet to your bird(s), please find one that is as close to organic, whole-food, minimally processed without synthetic vitamin supplements as you can possibly find. I know that’s a tall order considering what’s on the market today, but please try. Optimum health for your bird begins with optimum nutrition. It’s all about using food as a natural, holistic medicine, the first line of defense against all ailments, disorders, illness and disease.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of “The Building Blocks of Complete Protein“!

I’ll be discussing the importance of amino acids in more detail in my upcoming book, so be sure to stay tuned to learn how, when and where I’ll be publishing my first volume of avian nutritional information!

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Categories: Basic Parrot Nutrition, D) Amino Acids, The Building Blocks - Part 1 | Tags: amino acids, Amino acids and Complete Protein, Amino acids and Parrots, Arginine and Parrots, best bird food, bird food, bird nutrition, Bird-elicious, Complete Protein, complete proteins and parrots, healthy bird food, Lysine and Parrots, Methonine and Parrots, Parrot, parrot nutrition, Parrots, the best bird food | Leave a comment

Movie Suggestion: “Food Matters”

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Machelle

I watched a very interesting movie tonight and I want to share it with all of you.

It touches on about everything that I believe about nutrition, whole-food, fresh fruits and vegetables and including all of the necessary vitamins, minerals and necessary amino acids in our diets while excluding processed foods.

This movie, Food Matters, speaks of the “Gerson Therapy” which I am in the process of learning about. I am finding I am highly interested in learning more about the “Gerson Therapy” for curing many disorders and illnesses in place of Western Medicine.

The movie is geared towards human diets, but it provides a good basis for understanding just how important a fresh, whole-food diet is to a living creature’s body. This information is highly important for our birds’ well-being, and it doesn’t hurt for us to partake of this type of diet for our own well-being as well.

The one topic you will need to keep in mind while viewing this movie that I do not necessarily support in relation to birds is the consumption of laboratory-produced vitamins in their diet. In my opinion this just is not necessary for our birds if you are feeding a diet high in whole-food nutrition of the right, and balanced, foods.

Also, they recommend spirulina as a good protein source…I do not. The protein in spirulina is bound in such a way that it is not readily available for metabolism. Plus spirulina contains a particular amino acid that I believe induces toe-tapping and wing-flipping (to be discussed in a later post).

But notice, corn, wheat and soy are not recommended as nutritional foods and should not be consumed…the very foods I do not include in our BirD-elicious! formulas.

Also, vitamin C is highly recommended by the speakers, in high doses. I am a strong advocate of the use of vitamin C for many reasons. It is a natural anti-histamine, and also a wonderful anti-oxidant. But listen to what the speakers have to say about it, you will be amazed!

Again, the name of the movie is Food Matters and I highly recommend watching it. I found it on Netflix.

Categories: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Dangerous Sprouting: Amino Acid “Canavanine”

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Machelle

What may not be all that lethal to a human being could, potentially be deadly to our fine feathered friends in even small quantities because their systems are so much more delicate than ours. Maybe that’s why we see them consuming “dirt” at the all-famous clay licks in Peru and other such sources around the world in their natural habitats.

Recently I came across research regarding a discreet little amino acid that not very many people know about, let alone talk about, “Canavanine”. It is a non-essential amino acid, which basically means that a living creature does not need it introduced into its system, it is synthesized by other food substances that are introduced into the body’s system.

This unfamiliar amino acid is akin to Arginine, the essential amino acid we have been discussing so broadly on our blog recently, attributing to the possibility of “The Mutilation Syndrome“. Canavanine is a non-protein amino acid and actually inhibits the protein metabolism. In addition scientists believe it could also be an attribute to immune depression and dysfunction causing allergy-like symptoms as well as Lupus-like illnesses. Tremors and other nervous system disorders (itching…plucking and mutilating?) can be the result of Canavanine in the system of unsuspecting victims. Lethargy and/or apathy may be present as well. It may also be carcinogenic because it acts as a “pesticide” during the growing process in alfalfa and red clover sprouts to protect the plant in their early stages of growth.

This is where my concern enters regarding sprouting for our birds. I know many of us believe in sprouting for our beloved companion birds because sprouts are so high in nutrition, and in fact, they are high in nutrition. So this post is not intended to cause you stop sprouting for your birds, but only to further your knowledge on what kind of sprouts are healthy to sprout for your birds. So it looks like alfalfa and red clover are NOT healthy sprouts because of the amino acid Canavanine contained in them, it is potentially highly toxic for all living creatures, but especially a bird’s delicate system.

If you have fed your bird(s) alfalfa and/or red clover sprouts and had no side effects, you might still want to reconsider and at least offer CA-Montmorillonite Clay (not the white bentonite version, but the tan/brown version is best from California Earth Minerals – TerraMin) to detoxify their system. Or, even better, just stop sprouting the alfalfa and/or red clover all together and sprout all the other vast array of seeds/legumes. Evidently these two varieties are the only two that contain high amounts of Canavanine, so all of the other seeds/legumes are safe as long as you are following safe sprouting methods.

Now, I need to say something about mature alfalfa, it does NOT contain Canavanine. Once the plant matures past sprout age it loses the lethal amino acid Canavanine and becomes a balanced complete protein and that’s why I recommend it as the base food to feed your bird in the daily diet.

As always, as soon as I find any reliable nutritional research information that may benefit the avian community I will pass it on to you!

Better health to all!

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Categories: Sprouting | Tags: amino acids, Bird-elicious, California Earth Minerals, Canavanine, complete proteins and parrots, healthy bird food, parrot food, parrot nutrition, Parrots, Sprouting, Sprouting for birds, Sprouting for parrots, TerraMin, the best bird food | Leave a comment

Seed to Combat “The Mutilation Syndrome”

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Machelle

Lately we have been discussing some of the possible causes of “The Mutilation Syndrome“, one of which is the imbalance of the amino acid ratio of Lysine to Arginine in manufactured foods the pet food industry produces for your beloved birds. We are learning just how vitally important it is for you to educate yourself regarding each of the ingredients in your bird’s daily diet.

I have been attempting to help you learn how to properly judge those ingredients from the wholesomeness of those foods, to the vitamin content, the fatty acids, and now we are talking about the amino acid content which make up the protein and whether the protein is balanced and constitutes a “complete protein”. It is my belief that if your bird is not consuming a complete protein it is highly possible this may be one of the causes of “The Mutilation Syndrome“.

But what if your bird already has “The Mutilation Syndrome” and you are attempting to counter it? Then you need foods to balance the system. I have been searching for foods that will help you accomplish that task and I have been posting them on our blog as I complete the research.

Today I want to add a few seeds to our list of foods you can feed that are high in Lysine, the amino acid you want to feed to your plucking, mutilating bird. These seeds should not add to the problem, but instead help deter your bird away from this harassing disorder if it is, indeed, a physiological problem.

Amaranth, Buckwheat and Quinoa are all seeds (some people categorize them as grains) that are high in Lysine, the amino acid that counters Arginine. While Lysine is only half of the protein needed for a “complete protein”, if your bird is already consuming too much Arginine from all of the other foods it is consuming, adding these seeds to your bird’s diet will help balance the Arginine/Lysine ratio.

And don’t worry about “Buckwheat” containing wheat, it contains no wheat at all, and therefore no gluten, that indigestible protein that Celiacs cannot consume.

Okay, so for this reason, I am adding these seeds to our “do feed” list of ingredients for daily diets as well as the diet for “The Mutilation Syndrome“.

*Word of caution: Millet is high in Arginine, as well as Phenylalanine, (an amino acid we will be discussing further down the road when we discuss the issue of toe-tapping and wing-flipping), therefore I will be adding this seed to the list of “Do Not Feed” for birds suffering from “The Mutilation Syndrome”.

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Categories: Mutilation Syndrome (AKA Feather Destruction) | Tags: bird food, bird nutrition, Bird-elicious, feather destruction, feather destruction behavior, feather mutilation, feather mutilation syndrome, feather picking, feather plucking, foods that contribute to feather plucking, healthy bird food, Parrot, parrot food, parrot nutrition, Parrots, the best bird food | 7 Comments

Bee Pollen and “The Mutilation Syndrome”

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Machelle

Bee Pollen is naturally high in Lysine, and almost balanced in ratio with the amino acid Arginine. This makes it a wonderful source to add to your bird’s daily diet!

Our mission is always to provide a complete protein source for our birds. Knowing that birds have a predisposition in difficulty to absorbing and metabolizing proteins, it is absolutely necessary to provide the best possible proteins for their consumption we can find.

Not only does bee pollen offer a good ratio of Lysine to Arginine, it also contains a fair supply of Methionine, the amino acid necessary for the metabolism of protein.

In addition, bee pollen contains many, many natural vitamins and minerals not found in other food sources, making this food source an almost perfect food completely standing on its own.

One might say that a living creature could, if absolutely necessary, survive on bee pollen alone if desperate times called for it.

For these reasons I am adding bee pollen to our ever-growing list of foods “to feed”, not only for daily diets in general, but for birds suffering from “The Mutilation Syndrome“.

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Categories: Mutilation Syndrome (AKA Feather Destruction) | Tags: bird food, bird nutrition, feather destruction, feather destruction behavior, feather mutilation, feather mutilation syndrome, feather picking, feather plucking, foods that contribute to feather plucking, healthy bird food, parrot food, parrot nutrition, the best bird food | 2 Comments

Regarding and Remembering BirD-elicious! Toys

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Machelle

Remember our BirD-elicious!(TM) toy line, the “Rain Forest Forager’s (TM)”? They were rough, they were tough, made of natural and organic material and fibers. The hardware was only stainless steel to make sure your birds never came in contact with any heavy metal to prevent “heavy metal poisoning”. Our long-lasting foraging toys were unique to our company and were definitely one-of-a-kind and we couldn’t keep them in stock!

In addition we produced a line of edible foraging toys from “The Beakery(TM)” that also provided hours of foraging fun. These edible toys were made of organic foodstuffs and were truly unique and one-of-a-kind. Some toy-makers are attempting to replicate these toys today!

I wish I could present photos to you, but for obvious trade secret reasons, and the fact we are not currently in production, I cannot do so…I hope that many of you who remember our toys will vote, or comment, so that others who did not experience our toys will receive confidence through your comments and opinions…

Well, we are seriously thinking of bringing all of these natural, organic toys back to market for your birds to enjoy! Obviously our end desire is to bring all of our foods back to market, but we need to fund our capital in order to accomplish that goal. Beginning with the toys would provide a foundation for that end goal.

So what do you think? Give us your opinion.Your vote is completely confidential.

Thank you for sharing your opinion!

Please feel free to share your ideas with us too! Just enter your comments in the “Comments” section at the top of this post. Or, email us at aidforthebirds@yahoo.com.

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Categories: Best Bird Toys! Enrichment Widgets & Gizmos | Tags: Beakery, Best Bird Toys, BirD-elicious! Bird Toys, Rain Forest Foragers, Rainforest Foragers | 3 Comments

Updated Post!

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Machelle

Click to read: http://wp.me/p1jDDP-9W

Categories: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

My Bird Scratches All of the Time! – Allergy Help!

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Machelle

Does your bird appear to have allergies? Does your bird scratch constantly? Even to the point of some amount of generalized feather picking, but not to the point of actual feather plucking or skin mutilation?

Well if this is the case your bird may be developing, or has already developed, allergies that are air-borne or contact allergies. It could be though that your bird is simply lacking in some nutrients that have caused it to develop food sensitivities that it would otherwise not be sensitive to. Sometimes a bird will develop a food sensitivity if it has been eating the same food for too long, or if a certain nutrient has been lacking in the diet for too long, or both situations are occurring simultaneously.

If you have not been offering fresh, whole foods to your bird’s diet other than a packaged, processed food day after day, it could very well be that your bird’s system is trying to tell you that it is developing a resistance to the food. So you may want to consider switching brands, or adding fresh, whole foods to your bird’s diet.

But let’s examine the possibility of certain nutrients lacking in a bird’s diet.

Many of you already know that I have a hypothesis that because parrots are quickly becoming the third most loved animal to keep as “pets” in our households, thus the “wild” is being bred out of them through the little amount of domestication that has taken place, they are losing their natural ability to synthesize vitamin C. And because of this they might need small amounts of vitamin C supplemented in their diets. I suggest feeding grapefruit as the natural food source for vitamin C. Besides acting as a natural “anti-histamine”, the vitamin C found in grapefruit will also help to make your bird’s system more alkaline, keeping it on the good side of the Ph range for optimum health.

Foods I would, as well as foods I would not feed that contain natural vitamin C are:

(Organic, please)

Red Grapefruit (You may feed the entire fruit, rind, seeds and all)
Grapefruit Seed Extract (diluted)
Lemon

And foods I would not feed:

Please do not feed oranges, they are not as high in vitamin C as grapefruit, and they actually contain histamines. The myth of eating oranges during the cold and flu season is just that, a myth.

In addition, another dietary need that helps squelch the release of histamines is the essential amino acid methionine. This particular amino acid is also necessary for the metabolism of protein in our birds’ diets. Unfortunately it is not naturally synthesized in a bird’s body, therefore is must be introduced by way of the diet. It is not found in abundance in very many foods so we have to be diligent in finding foods that contain methionine.

Foods I would feed that contain methionine are in order of highest amounts are: (Organic, please)

Eucalyptus Leaves (Do not feed leaves that have the potential of being sprayed with pesticides)
Egg Whites (Cooked, always)
Eggs (Cooked, always)
Pumpkin Seeds (Raw)
Squash Seeds (Raw)
Sesame Seeds

Of course I rarely suggest adding laboratory-produced nutrients to our pets’ diets. Instead I suggest adding natural whole foods that contain the nutrients in their purest form. Scientists, even after decades of use, are still debating whether synthetic nutrient supplements are absorbed and metabolized by living creatures in the same or similar manner as natural whole food nutrients. Since this is the case, I would rather err on the side of caution and obtain as many of the nutrients as I can for myself and my pets from natural whole food sources.

*Just in case allergies are not the cause of bird’s scratching and picking, you might want to take your bird in for a checkup by your licensed avian veterinarian. Your bird may have a parasite infestation such as Giardia or some other parasite. Birds are even known to be infested with lice and/or mites. It’s always good to rule out all medical reasons for your bird’s “itchiness”.

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Categories: Ailments/Illness/Disease, Allergies | Tags: feather destruction, feather mutilation, feather mutilation syndrome, feather picking, feather plucking, Parrot, parrot allergies, parrot disease, parrot diseases, Parrots | Leave a comment

BirD-elicious! – The Best Bird Food – Blog Web Address Change

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Machelle

Blog Web Address Change: www.TheBestBirdFood.com
It looks like we have success in changing the URL to our blog!

We have managed to drop the .wordpress.com from the blog address.
Now the blog address is simply www.TheBestBirdFood.com! This should make it easier for everyone to remember and to find!
However, no matter how you type it in, it will always take you to our blog, so no worries, you will not get lost!

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: best bird food forum, bird food, bird nutrition, Bird-elicious, bird-elicious forum, Birdelicious, feather destruction, feather destruction behavior, feather mutilation, feather mutilation syndrome, feather picking, healthy bird food, the best bird food | Leave a comment

Chili Peppers: High in Arginine

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Machelle

Many of us know just how much our parrots LOVE chili peppers!

Unfortunately if your bird is suffering from the “Mutilation Syndrome” this particular delicacy may not be the food to feed to your beloved avian friend.

As it turns out chili peppers are high in “arginine” an amino acid, a precursor that produces “nitric oxide”. “NO” causes blood vessels to relax and dilate so that blood rushes through the vessels more freely which stimulates the vessels so much that they almost “vibrate” causing a “tingling” almost “itchy” feeling. In my opinion this is what alerts our birds to begin plucking their feathers out, leading even further to skin mutilation in some extreme cases.

In addition, as we all have experienced, chili peppers contain capsaicin which causes a “heated sensation” on top of the “vibrating sensation”. All of this lends to the itching sensation and adds to the plucking and mutilation syndrome.

Besides this issue of blood rushing through the vessels too fast, thus causing this itchy, tingling sensation, too much arginine in the diet, and not enough lysine, makes for unbalanced protein, or better said, an incomplete protein, one that cannot be properly metabolized. And as we already know, the avian species, overall, already has a difficult time at best metabolizing proteins.

For this reason I am adding chili peppers to the list of foods not to feed to birds that are suffering from the “Mutilation Syndrome“.

For further reading regarding chili peppers, here is an interesting article: Chili Peppers

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Categories: Mutilation Syndrome (AKA Feather Destruction) | Leave a comment

Digestive Enzymes: The Beginning of Good Health

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Machelle

Digestive enzymes are something your bird’s digestive tract naturally contains if your bird is basically healthy. Birds have a slightly acidic digestive tract, on the lower side of the Ph level, suitable for digesting plants, seeds, nuts and insects. The digestive tracts birds have don’t contain enough acid to breakdown meat thoroughly. For this reason I strongly discourage feeding meat of any kind to your companion bird, even if you cook it. Never, never, feed raw meat to your bird, doing so may introduce harmful bacteria into your bird’s digestive tract that its immune system cannot handle literally killing your bird! If you are concerned about the potentially “low” amount of “animal protein” your bird is consuming, please resort to utilizing insect protein only. This is the kind of “animal protein” your bird would most likely consume in the wild. (Be sure to purchase insects raised by reputable dealers who grow the insects on human quality foodstuffs. Do not feed insects you find outside as they may be coated with insecticides.)

The natural digestive enzymes your bird produces are good enough to begin breaking down any foods your bird would naturally consume in the wild, similar to the foods you should be feeding to your bird. For instance, in addition to hydrochloric acid and pepsin, your bird’s digestive tract contains mucous. The mucous acts as a barrier against microorganisms to prevent infection. The hydrochloric acid is a mild gastric acid with a low Ph that begins to break down even the toughest of seeds and nuts as well as fibrous grasses. Together, the hydrochloric acid and the mucous get (plant) proteins ready for the pepsin to do its job by denaturing the proteins. Once the (plant) proteins are denatured, the pepsin begins to do its work and further breaks down the (plant) proteins into a useable nutrient for the body system to absorb and metabolize.

How do we ensure that our bird maintains healthy digestive enzymes? It’s mainly in the diet we feed. Birds are meant to eat lots and lots of vegetation, seeds, and some amount of nuts if they are of the larger species. Without this constant influx of vegetation into their digestive tract their system will become sluggish and eventually they will most likely need some form of “good bacteria” re-introduced into their digestive tract in order to rebuild their digestive enzymes. Here again we have another reason why I am such an advocate for feeding whole-foods to our companion birds. Whole foods already contain a myriad of natural enzymes, acids and all kinds phyto-chemicals a living creature needs to maintain a well-balanced digestive system.

When we rely on highly processed foods, such as ingredients that are finely ground and then re-mixed with other finely ground ingredients, then formed into shapes, dried or baked at moderate to high temperatures, the manufacturing process “pre-digests” the wholesome nutrients to the point where there is no real nutrition left in those “foods”. This is why you see so many added laboratory-produced “vitamins” added back into these processed foods, to help ensure that the “food” contains the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of each standardized nutrient the FDA has set for basic survival. Unfortunately, after all of these years of allowing laboratory-produced nutrients to be added back in to our nutrient-deficient highly-processed foods, scientists are still debating whether a living creature actually has the ability to absorb, metabolize and utilize the artificial vitamins and nutrients in the very same manner as Nature’s very own naturally-occurring nutrients found in whole foods!

I have heard people say they feed probiotics on a regular basis to their birds to ensure their bird has good digestive enzymes in their digestive tract. In my opinion this is not only unnecessary if a good, healthy diet, high in a variety of organic whole foods are being fed, but could actually be harming your bird’s own ability to manufacture its own digestive enzymes, primarily hydrochloric acid and pepsin.

But what do you do if your bird has been ill and its digestive enzymes have been depleted by illness and/or antibiotics? Again, some people feed probiotics to ensure their birds have adequate digestive tracts. I am strongly against using products that tout they are able to build your bird’s digestive enzymes. They normally contain preservatives, colorings or ingredients that are high in the amino acid L-Arginine, which, as I have discussed in earlier articles, can be potentially harmful to our companion birds.

First of all, like I have mentioned, be sure you are feeding a diet high in vegetation such as herbs, fruits, leafy greens and vegetables. But if your bird has been ill, and/or on antibiotics for any length of time, I recommend using something I don’t normally recommend because it is an “animal-based” product. But for the reason of re-building your bird’s digestive enzymes, I will recommend the product. And this product is “Goat’s Milk Yogurt”, preferably organically produced. Now the yogurt has to be specifically goat’s milk yogurt, not cow. The reason being is goat’s milk does not contain the same kind of lactose as cow’s milk. Neither does it contain the same kind of casein like cow’s milk. Instead it has very similar lactose to that of human lactose. And both human milk and goat’s milk lacks this large-curd indigestible casein all together. In addition, the fat globules are much smaller than those in cow’s milk, thus easier for their smaller digestive tracts to handle. The kind of lactose found in cow’s milk is too difficult to digest because of the complex proteins, and the casein it contains is a glue-like substance that our office glue is literally made from. It causes everything that is ingested to stick to the innards and slows down the absorption process overall. In other words, goat’s milk and the products made from it are relatively easy to digest for even the most delicate of digestive systems. So introducing the “good bacteria” through the goat’s milk yogurt to your bird is a fairly safe method. I recommend offering only a tiny amount, say about ½-1 teaspoon per 450-500 grams of body weight per day to see how your bird’s system is going to respond to it. This is acceptable for about two weeks to three weeks. And this little amount is so packed with “good bacteria” is should be enough to restore your bird’s digestive enzymes. After that time period discontinue for one or two weeks and see how your bird is doing. If it seems like your bird is still suffering digestive problems, or that your bird’s system is still slow to digest and eliminate, or not completely digesting its food, then place your bird back on the goat’s milk yogurt for another course of two to three weeks, then discontinue again and see how this works out. If this doesn’t work, it may be time to visit your avian veterinarian for medical help in rebuilding your bird’s digestive enzymes, or to test to see if other medical problems are involved. In fact, it would probably be a good idea to have your bird visit the veterinarian anyway to rule out any serious illness or disease if you notice that your bird isn’t digesting its food properly.

Digestive enzymes are one of the first levels of defense against illness and disease, plain and simple. If a living creature’s body cannot properly break down the food it is ingesting then the creature will not have the benefit of utilizing the food as its “homeopathic medicine”, because that’s one of the roles food plays in a living creature’s existence. Besides offering the building blocks to muscle, organ and skin tissue, as well as providing energy, yes, food really does offer healing capabilities. The body must be able to break the food down into microscopic particles, then further down into liquids so that the body can use the micro-nutrients to provide sustenance as well as healing properties to the entire body chemistry. Without the digestive enzymes, one of the very first parts of the digestion processes, all of this would not be possible. And this is why it is so vitally important that we make absolutely sure we are feeding a diet high in natural, organic whole foods consisting of lots of vegetation, seeds, and if your bird is of a larger species, some amount of nuts.

I have a lot more to offer regarding “digestive enzymes” in my upcoming book regarding “avian nutrition”. Please be sure to stay tuned as I continue to provide updates regarding how my book project is coming along!

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Categories: F) Digestive Enzymes, Specialized Information | Tags: best bird food, bird food, bird nutrition, Bird-elicious, Birdelicious, Digestive enzymes, Digestive enzymes in birds, Digestive enzymes in parrots, healthy bird food, Parrot, parrot disease, parrot diseases, Parrots, Pro-biotics in birds, Probiotics in birds, the best bird food | Leave a comment

The Avian Nutritionist’s Recipe for Healthy Poop! – Your Bird’s Droppings

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Machelle

The topic of our birds’ “poop” may be an old one, and a bit boring, if not taboo, but it’s really important to address because this is one of the best ways to tell if our bird is healthy or beginning to suffer from an illness or disease. And let’s face it; if you’re feeding a typical highly processed diet to your bird, without any additional “whole foods”, then you may not know what a really healthy poop should look like!

Let me describe what your bird’s poop looks like if you are feeding a strictly highly processed diet without any added whole foods or seeds. Then I will describe what a robust and healthy dropping will look like if you are feeding your bird a diet high in whole-food nutrition.

If you are feeding a diet consisting primarily, if not completely of highly processed food, your bird’s droppings most likely have the color of cardboard through and through. When your bird excretes, the droppings most likely come out fairly un-formed. That is, there is no real definition; they may just “plop” onto the bottom of the cage. However, this is not always the case; they may be semi-formed into an almost worm-like state. But for the most part your bird’s droppings are on the light side of cardboard with no real solid form. This makes it difficult to detect the true “stasis” (a state of static balance or equilibrium) of your bird.

Healthy Poop!

But if you are feeding your bird a diet high in whole-food nutrition, that is you are feeding real, whole, foods, straight from the store to your home, chopping them up, and feeding most of them raw, after cleansing them thoroughly, then your bird’s droppings will look completely different from a diet of highly processed food. On a whole-food diet your bird’s droppings will have three parts consisting of the feces, the urates and the urine, and the droppings will be well-formed, almost into a “worm-like” shape unless your bird is ill, or your bird consumes high volumes of fruit. In the latter case, a bird that consumes large volumes of fruit will have loosely formed droppings.

Let’s break the droppings down into the three parts so all of us will understand what they consist of and how they should appear when they are “healthy”.

There are three parts to healthy droppings.

The first part is the feces. This is the solid part which constitutes the part of the food your bird’s system derived the bulk of the macro and micro nutrients from and excreted the parts its body could not utilize. The feces should be well-formed, like a “worm” if you are feeding a “whole-food” diet. And they should be dark green in color if you are feeding a diet rich in dark, leafy vegetables with a mix of some amount of fruit, nuts and seed. If you are feeding a large amount of fruit, as in the case of fruit-loving birds, the feces may appear dark brownish-red in color, and may not be as well-formed. There should be no undigested foods present in the feces when they are excreted. If you see undigested food in the feces this is a sign of illness, get your bird to your avian veterinarian immediately.

The second part of the droppings is the “urates”. This is the part of the droppings where the proteins are excreted. When you are feeding a well-balanced diet you will also see this “white-iysh” or slightly “white-light/yellow” part of the droppings. You don’t usually visually see this in the droppings of birds who consume pelleted diets because the feces and the urates are all mixed together in the excretions, there is no definition or separation of the two because of the nature of the food going in to the bird is highly processed going in, therefore it is highly processed coming out, plain and simple. And if you do see this, it is so mixed in with the feces it is nothing more than very thin threads running through the feces, but not distinctly separated out from the feces. Unfortunately this makes it more difficult to “read” the health of your bird simply by looking at the droppings of your bird. But when you are feeding a well-balanced diet, the droppings are just as “well-balanced” as the diet you are feeding, therefore it is much easier to “read” the overall health of your bird by looking at the droppings. This is another reason why I am such an advocate of “whole-food nutrition” for our companion birds.

So anyway, urates contain proteins your bird has digested and metabolized, or those your bird could not utilize and are being eliminated. If they are off-color in any way, say a greenish, reddish, brownish, definite yellow, or black, beware, something is wrong. Or, if they have an “off” smell to them, something is wrong too because your bird’s droppings should have no apparent scent.

A greenish color could be a sign your bird is suffering from Chlamydophila psittaci or even liver disease. And a definite yellow color could mean liver disease as well. A reddish color could be a sign your bird is suffering from internal bleeding, metal toxicity or kidney disease. A brownish color could mean lead poisoning or general metal toxicity. Black urates could indicate old blood. A definite increase in urates could indicate dehydration.

In addition, droppings may just look oily, or bulky overall. This may be a sign of generalized illness or bacteria. You will want to have your licensed avian veterinarian perform a stool sample and check for common bacterium such as streptococcus, staphylococcus, e. coli, diplococcus, citrobacter and pseudomonas. While you are at it, have your veterinarian check for parasites, especially Giardia.

The third part to your bird’s droppings is urine, separate from the urates. This is the actual “water” part of the feces. The amount of urine will increase and decrease depending on the amount of water your bird consumes on a daily basis. It can be clear to a chalky white. If it changes color, then you need to consider illness may be setting in. The color code is basically the same as the codes for the urates.

I haven’t gone into great depth about poop, and how individual illnesses relates to it, because I believe this subject has been covered to great extent in many other articles written by other wonderful authors who are more well-versed from a medical point of view than I am. I am an avian nutritionist, not a veterinarian, and it is from that point of view I try to comment from. My main point is to clue you in on the difference between how droppings should appear when a bird is consuming highly processed food versus a whole-food diet.

Having said the above, in my opinion, you just cannot get a really good visual clinical diagnosis of the true nutritional health of your bird when you are feeding a highly processed diet. As I mentioned above, a well-balanced diet will provide the foundation for “well-balanced droppings”. But with highly processed food a bird’s droppings will look almost uniformly the same regardless of the stasis of the bird’s overall health. Yes, you will undoubtedly see some kind of change in your bird’s droppings even on a highly processed diet if your bird becomes ill, but the change in your bird’s health will not be as evident as it will if you are feeding a “whole-food” diet. It is for this very reason, among many other reasons, that I firmly believe in feeding organic whole-food diets to our companion birds.

I’m sure I will be addressing this topic again in my book I am currently working on. But for now, I strongly encourage you to feed your bird an organic whole-food diet. If you are already doing so, great! If not, I suggest you begin transitioning your bird over, gradually, to an organic whole-food diet. Many of us live in areas where Farmer’s markets are available in which to shop or barter for wholesome, organic fruits and vegetables. I encourage you to take advantage of these markets in your locale. There is mounting evidence that feeding our companion birds a diet that is more “natural” to what they would consume in the wild provides a better platform for homeostasis overall. While we cannot copy exactly what they would consume in their original homeland, we can at least offer organic, whole foods. Doing this is at least a start in the right direction to improve the quality of their health and better their living conditions overall.

Be sure to visit our “forum” on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Parrots-The-BEST-Bird-Food/169623509768097

Categories: Healthy Droppings, Specialized Information | Tags: bird droppings, bird food, bird illness, bird nutrition, bird poop, Bird-elicious, droppings, healthy bird food, healthy bird poop, Parrot, parrot disease, parrot diseases, parrot droppings, parrot food, parrot nutrition, Parrots, poopology, the best bird food | 1 Comment

The Mutilation Syndrome – Breeding

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Machelle

It is a well-known fact that companion birds have not been fully domesticated, not by a long shot. Any person who has a parrot in their house for any length of time understands this simply by observing their behavior and attempting to interact with their “companion” bird, they quickly experience the “wild” that is still abundant in their feathered friend.

"DNA"

Unlike dogs (domesticated since between 30,000-15,000 BC) and cats (domesticated since 7500 BC), domesticated for literally centuries upon centuries, exotic birds (domesticated only since 300 BC) have only been seriously kept as pets for a much shorter period of time, if our record-keeping is correct. Keeping parrots for pets really caught on in the early 1500’s in Great Britain, even though the Roman’s regarded them of great value even before this. But still, this is not long enough for gene pools to split, expand and provide high and variable gene pool differences which guarantee that breeding anomalies will not occur at some point in any given breeder’s flock. And when you consider that the original “breeder birds” were literally captured from the wild, and this is where the foundational gene pools have been obtained, and because this is considered a “black market”, therefore difficult to smuggle these creatures across border lines, it is obvious that the gene pools, aka blood lines, are going to be relatively limited. This is what adds to, or constitutes breeding anomalies. Because of a lack of gene pools from which to draw in breeding these exotic creatures for the commercial market coupled with the lack of good DNA data and record-keeping, birds are being paired with other birds they should not be paired with and producing offspring that are less than healthy enough to possess that “survival of the fittest” DNA. Add to that a high demand for companion birds from the public at large and we have, out of our own lack of knowledge, created an absolute breeding nightmare. (In fact parrots are only third behind dogs and cats as the largest growing sector of “domesticated pets” in the U.S.) What we have been left to deal with are birds in our cages who are suffering a combination of physical, mental and emotional deficiencies. This is not a pretty picture.

There is a very specific name and category to the medical problem I am describing in this post. However, I will not be going in-depth here in my post because the overall problem cannot be solved with one post. This problem is one that will need to be addressed on a very wide-scale within the breeding community, as well as in the the commercial market of selling and buying parrots. This is a large-scale problem dating back to when parrots were first introduced as “domesticated pets” for us to enjoy in our homes. This wide-scale problem can be corrected, but it will require many, many years and a lot of diligence on the part of avian societies, groups and clubs working alongside breeders, as well as the general parrot-loving community getting involved and educated about the genetics of these beautiful creatures.

Much of what has happened, if my hypothesis is correct, was done out of lack of knowledge and our sheer desire to enjoy these wild creatures in our presence. As humans, we do what humans do; we welcome the wild into our civilized arenas hoping to co-habitate in a friendly manner. Unfortunately, often we don’t see the harm in such actions until it is too late and our actions cannot be reversed.

Now, let me state very clearly, my intention is not to condemn breeders, or anyone who has one of these dearly beloved creatures in their home. I only wish to help solve the problem of the Mutilation Syndrome so our avian companions can enjoy a healthier lifestyle with living in the misery of itching, scratching, plucking, picking and mutilating.

I also want to make sure that my readers understand I am not throwing out the premise of a good, healthy and balanced diet for birds who suffer from the Mutilation Syndrome just because I am sharing my hypothesis of the hidden cause of the Mutilation Syndrome. The very nature of my research findings, based on the genetics of the disorder, absolutely requires a specific diet for these birds. So please understand the means to the end of this research is a specific diet for a bird who’s genetics are such that they will have this disorder for the remainder of their life. After all, the general meaning of a “genetic disorder”, is that it will be in the DNA code of the living creature forever, it was born with the disorder.

I will go into a lot more detail about this “genetic disorder” in my future book I’m embarking upon. I have already begun writing my book, so be sure to keep your ears and eyes open for future updates. It will cover, in-depth, a myriad of topics that I only slightly touch upon within our blog-o-sphere.

Be sure to visit our “forum” on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Parrots-The-BEST-Bird-Food/169623509768097

Categories: Breeding, Mutilation Syndrome (AKA Feather Destruction) | Tags: bird nutrition, Bird-elicious, Birdelicious, feather destruction, feather mutilation, feather mutilation syndrome, feather picking, feather plucking, foods that contribute to feather plucking, healthy bird food, mutilation syndrome, mutilation syndrome in parrots, Parrot, parrot disease, parrot diseases, parrot food, Parrots, the best bird food | Leave a comment

BirD-elicious! Recipes

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Machelle

Based on all of the new information I have found regarding the Mutilation Syndrome, and still additional information I am finding I have not yet shared with you, I will be reformulating all of the BirD-elicious! formulas.

For this reason I have removed the All-Bird Basic diet from the listing on our blog because I don’t want to supply you with misleading information on how to properly feed your companion bird. While yes, we made revolutionary strides regarding how to properly feed our companion birds in comparison to the overall commercial bird food market, I always knew that we would be improving our BirD-elicious! foods as new information became available to me.

That time has come, and I am confident that even better information will come farther down the road! So to that end, I am officially declaring our former BirD-elicious! formulas obsolete. So if you see anyone attempting to copy our recipes, know that they are nothing but a mere shadow of our foods and better formulas are around the corner!

Categories: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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The Avian Nutritionist’s Recipe for Healthy Poop! – Your Bird’s Droppings

The Mutilation Syndrome – Breeding

BirD-elicious! Recipes

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