Written by Gloria, all rights reserved
(First appeared on HolisticBird List.)
Hi Chris,
Diet is a subject of much passion on this and other lists. You should be on the
wellpet list when they are discussing BARF (Bones and Raw Food) vs some of the other diets
out there for dogs.<G>
When people were feeding their birds a seed-only diet, many birds suffered from
malnutrition. Some of the reasons were the lack of Vitamin A and a reverse ratio of
calcium to phosphorous.
Vitamin A is necessary for many of the body's functions including disease-fighting.
Many of the birds I purchased when I first started had respiratory problems, no
papillae in the choana, poor feather condition, and for some, the beginnings of fatty
liver disease. Most of them had to go on antibiotics and all of them received
vitamin shots to get them started back to health. Vitamin A deficiency beyond a
certain point is irreversible, according to my vet at the time.
Seeds also have a poor calcium/phosphorous ratio. This ratio causes hens to be prone to
egg-binding. Additionally, since birds require calcium for egg formation and it isn't
present in adequate amounts in a seed diet, the calcium will be leached from their own
bones in order to supply it to the egg. So besides causing egg-binding, the bird's
own skeletal structure is compromised. When babies are being fed all seeds, they
also don't obtain the calcium required for rapid growth.
Aside from these two 'biggies' there are a host of other vitamins and minerals lacking in
such a diet.
I remember visiting one person's home who had been bragging about her beautiful blue front
amazon. This bird was also on an all seed diet, but she did give it fruits and
veggies, which it didn't eat.
The bird had dull feathers, an elongated beak, was overweight, and had scaly feet. I
guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Since all her birds were in this
condition because of the poor diet, she never had anything healthy to compare them with.
She may have thought they were beautiful but I knew what they could have been had
they been fed better.
It is true that in nature many birds subsist mainly on seeds. Cockatiels, budgies,
and many of the grass keets are included in this. MAINLY, however, is the operative word.
Birds free to choose their diet do not eat only seeds. They have a host of
other foods to choose from, and this includes: leaf, bud, branch, bark, soil, flower,
pollen, green seed head, fruit, pond algae, other vegetation and bugs.
As they forage, they consume a wide variety of foods to fill their nutritional needs.
When they are sick, their body draws them to plants whose energies complement their
needs so they can be healed.
Birds in captivity have access to only what we feed them and it is nowhere near the
variety that nature provides. Even though, due to seasonal variation, the natural
environment is not always lush and food is consequently limited, this privation is not
ongoing throughout the bird's life. There is relief as the season changes. Not
so in captivity.
It is well documented by veterinarians that an all-seed diet causes malnutrition. In
my opinion a pellet diet provides many of the vitamins and minerals lacking in seeds, but
in its own way is also limited causing other problems of malnourishment. Some are problems
of excess and others are caused by nutrients still lacking in the pellets.
Did this help?
Gloria
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