Wing Tips TIMELY TIPS FOR BIRDKEEPERS... Feeding Made Easy

Abstract

B irdkeepers in general are amazingly devoted to the health and welfare of their avian charges. Many aviary owners devote a great deal of thought and effort into the care of their flock, including their birds' diet. Although a few birdkeepers feed their birds only formulated food (pellets), the great majority of aviculturists offer a wide and interesting array of foods in order to cover all the nutritional bases and to provide their birds the enjoyment of colors, textures, and flavors in their food. A typical daily offering might include freshly sprouted seeds, grains and legumes; fresh fruits and vegetables; a variety of leafy green foods; cooked mixes of corn; beans and grains; wholegrain breads; cornbread; seed mixes; pellets; and other dried foods.

Here are a few tips to make feeding the flock faster and more efficient. Following these tips are some easy guidelines to remind us of those birdkeeping chores that are not a part of our daily routine and therefore, much too easily forgotten.

Food Choices

• Research is the first step toward establishing an appropriate diet for each bird species that you keep. Besides inquiring of other established and successful breeders of your birds' species as to what keeps their flock healthy, check out all available sources of information about your species of birds' life in the wild. Looking to Mother Nature is a logical way to arrive at a diet that closely approximates

what your birds would eat in their natural habitat.

• Pesticide-free foods are more affordable than one might suppose. Thanks to a report by the Environmental Working Group on the toxicity of produce, it is easier to select foods that minimize the exposure of our flock to toxic pesticide residues. The EWG report outlined the toxicity of the best-known fruits and vegetables. The most toxic fruits and vegetables are strawberries, bell peppers, spinach, domestic cherries, peaches, Mexican-grown cantaloupe, celery, apples, apricots, green beans, Chilean-grown grapes, and cucumbers. The least contaminated produce list includes corn, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, domestic grapes, bananas, plums, watermelon, and broccoli. Obviously, the more heavily we feed from the least contaminated foods, the healthier our birds. When feeding foods from the list of most contaminated foods, it is important whenever possible, to choose foods that were grown organically.

• Sprouting is a frugal way to provide organically grown food to our flock. Sprouted seeds, grains, and legumes are fresh and inexpensive LIVE foods full of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. Sprouts cost no more than twenty to forty cents per pound and they grow easily in limited space without soil, sunlight, or fertilizer. The feeding of sprouts can revolutionize our bird feeding routine and make our

flock healthier and more productive. It is as easy as soaking seeds overnight and rinsing them a few times the next day and feeding them when they developed short tails. What could be easier? When we "grow our own," we can be sure that there is no pesticide contamination.

• Seasonal foods not only mimic Mother Nature's way of feeding birds, but by stocking up when they are available, we can take advantage of the low prices that accompany abundant seasonal harvests and special holiday foods. The day after Halloween, hundreds of pumpkins bursting with vitamin A and tasty seeds can often be taken away by the truckload for free. I always freeze as many bags of baked pumpkin flesh as my freezer will hold. I also dry many pounds of pumpkin seeds. After Thanksgiving, the oversupply of gourds and squashes is usually on sale in supermarket chains. After Christmas, most supermarkets slash prices on the nuts that large parrots like Macaws enjoy so much. By feeding daily the current crop of fruits and vegetables, and preserving the oversupply, our birds will be healthier and enjoy a great variety of foods year round.

• While fresh foods are always the best way to meet our birds' nutritional needs, natural food supplements including wheat grass powder, barley grass powder, carrot powder, beet powder, wheat germ, cranberry juice concentrate, and a favorite of many parrots - fresh fruit and vegetable juices - can supply the nutrients missing from foods that are grown in nutrient-depleted soil.

Clean and Disinfect Produce

• To reduce the pesticide residue on fresh fruits and vegetables fed to our flocks, the USDA recommends that produce be washed under tap water and that we peel away and discard all outer leaves, skin and rinds. Vegetables like potatoes and carrots should be scrubbed if the fiber-rich skins are to be preserved to feed to our birds.

• Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) is an inexpensive and safe disinfectant for cleaning produce. To make a disinfectant soak for produce, add 10 to 15 drops of GSE per gallon of water and submerge the fruits and vegetables for 15 to 30 seconds or more.