Avian Tea

[MerlinsMom]

Is this a fad? Or is this something that really helps our fids?
Thought about getting some Hormone Havoc for Merlin since he is a little moody right now. But then again, I figured I needed to just stick it out and give him some more things to chew on. He's a good boy, and NOT a morning bird! Don't talk to him before NOON!!
Let me know your thoughts on the Avian Tea - I'm intrigued

 

[charmedbyekkie]

I always felt like the teas for birds are a bit overpriced. I went to an organic bulk food store and managed to pick out my own ingredients for cheaper

While I have made teas out of the ingredients, Cairo isn't always interested in drinking liquid, so it often goes to waste (maybe just one or two sips unless he's fishing for his favourite chamomile pieces in the tea).

Instead I prefer to offer him the dry ingredients for him to eat himself, either mixed in with his chop (his two main meals) or as a side dish throughout the day. I use them to spice up his regular chop, which hardly changes base ingredients.

By picking up the individual ingredients myself, I can then test to make sure Cairo doesn't have an adverse reaction to them (ekkie quirk of toe-tapping or whatnot).

But overall feedback on the impact?

Cairo loves the chamomile. Does it have an impact? Maybe I'm seeing a placebo effect - just imagining slight changes. He had a bad poop reaction after the hibiscus (and my partner did too, though I was fine..), so we cut out the hibiscus. He warmed up to chomping on ginger root and ceylon cinnamon (and he has great breath afterwards!) As for dandelion, I give him no choice - it's incredibly healthy and he's picky about greens, so it gets mixed in regardless.


TL;DR
Individual ingredients are fun, but buying a tea pack might be a bit overpriced.

 

[chris-md]

Great post by charmed above.

I’ll reemphaize what she says: you can brew the ingredients or serve the dried leaves. Both are great, though each bird will especially be different in adoption of the liquid.

Overall tea in general, here’s how I would put it:

Will it cure problems? No. Don’t look to it to help with plucking/anxiety/any array of ailments people often turn to it to help with.

Is it a fad? Perhaps. I’d personally call it a bit of a fad. But there is a THERE, there.

What It is, is a nice way to add a small bit of additional nutrition to your birds diet. To an extent... Given that they are dried. Often dried spices lack much in the way of nutrients, depending on the individual spice/leaf.

Just be careful WHAT tea you offer. Avian tea itself is great in that you have someone who know what they are doing mixing ingredients. If you know what you are doing and know what your bird can and can’t have (I.e., you know they shouldn’t have ACTUAL tea leaves, nothing with caffeine) you can actually find teas in the grocery store to give, or as charmed mentions above, source the individual ingredients and make your own blend. They will always be herbal teas, btw.