Abstract
fat, calcium, amino acids, etc. our birds need but they never, never state which seeds, fruits, or vegetables should be fed and what percentage of each we should use to achieve these minimums?
One prominent breeder states that swiss chard used for greens will do great damage to the livers of some grass parakeets. (I wonder why it doesn't affect all of them the same?) Another breeder said sunflower seeds caused his birds to feather pick. How does he account for the birds that eat sunflower and don't feather pick? Another breeder used a dusting powder Buhach and claimed it killed a lot of his young peachfaced lovebirds. I used up the remainder of the powder he discarded and had no adverse effects on my grass parakeets. One acquaintance of mine who packages and sells his product to many bird breeders stated that his formula contains no sunflower seed because it contains a narcotic and could be compared with marijuana. My birds get sunflower every day and don't get high enough for me to notice. I'm sure most breeders will agree that sunflower seed is fattening and it should be doled out accordingly.
The list goes on and on. There is controversy regarding wheatgerm oil, corn, and nearly everything else you can think of. I think it is time we stopped all this wrangling. I really think it is time the true facts are brought out pertaining to our birds' daily needs and requirements
including which feeds in what amounts are good for our birds. This information should be of a scientific nature compiled by reliable sources that have no product to sell.
So, let this be a challenge to all of our fine bird-oriented veterinarians and others with scientific degrees. How about some straight answers to our problems, broken down so that even I, a mere breeder and ex pipe-fitter can understand them.
Ralph V. Smith
California
Ah, Ralph, my dear fellow, there ain't no such answer. When you consider that the scientists and doctors can't even agree upon what people should eat, how can you expect them to agree on bird food? All science, in my opinion, is just one big experiment. There are no fixed answers. In medieval literature doctors were called "leeches" because of the custom of using the actual leech to suck the blood out of ailing patients. Now they are called leeches because they suck the money out of your wallet. My point, however, is that a couple of centuries ago the best scientists really felt that bloodletting was actually beneficial to the ti/. Nowadays, of course, nobody would agree with that remedy.
Eskimos eat virtually nothing but meat. Many other people (including the late Adolph Hitler) eat nothing but vegetable matter. Most people eat a combination (my wife being an exceptionshe lives on cigarettes and Pepsi), yet the vast majority of folks live lives of normal duration and activity. One interesting statistic is that the highest breeding rates generally take place in the parts of Asta and Africa where the nutrition is the poorest.
How can we figure these things out?
Like you, I should like to feed my birds the very things they should have. Perhaps, as jack Eitniear says, we should study what the birds eat in the wild. But even there many problems can occur. What tf two or three years of drought louse up the natural balance of food? Too much rain could also cause an inevitable shift in the wild bird's diet. The critters have to be somewhat adaptable or they do not survive.
Use the old rule of thumb, my fri.end.
If your birds stay on their perches and make lots of babies, something must be right. If most of your birds go belly up in a few months, something must be wrong. Don't worry too much about the
professors and doctors. Test their theories and tf the results work in your aviaries, use them. If not, discard them.
The main concern I should think is to avoid too much stress and worry about positive laws of nature that no one seems to understand very well. Such stress may blow your pump and your birds wzll outlive you on their wrong diet.
Nothing delights me so much as seeing a radical health-nut get run over by a truck whzle jogging the roads to preserve his health.
Ed.