Nutrition

[BlueToast]

Besides a high quality pelleted diet, nuts, fruit, veggies etc is; there any vitamins or minerals that a macaw would need that isn't found in those foods? Or is there any supplements my SevereMacaw would benefit from. Or ,aside from sodium, sugars and fats, is there any minerals or vitamins that I should be aware not to over introduce to the bird. For example i'm on this site and they are offering calcium blocks for a bird to lick at and I'm thinking a: is a birds diet lacking calcium so much so that a block of it needs to be in the cage at all times? or b:would too much calcium have adverse effects ie: kidney stones?

Is there any nutrition charts for birds like the ones us humans ignore that out lines nutritional requirements?

having a bird has my mind racing in circles i'm starting to think I need to go veterinarian school just so I don't frig this up

ya know this is how i got started in the automotive business i got 1 car and i wanted to know everything about it. i dived in head first eat, slept and breathed as many facets of the industry up to and including including aviation maintenance and repair. cut to 13 years later i can't stand the car game anymore and just about despise every angle of it except the end result, which is me driving home from work conspiring in my mind how make it so i never have to go back.

maybe i should just dabble in this whole affair and keep it fun.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I don't know of any well made nutritional charts for birds as a decent one would take quite a bit of research and would be specific to one species. We have a pretty good system for humans which is based on decades of work by a vast number of people overseen by several government agencies (that last point of course is more often a hindrance).

However any reputable pet food company making pelleted food works hard to provide a properly balanced diet. Unless your bird is sick and you are advised by a vet there should be no reason to ever use 'vitamin supplements' especially no those that are supposed to be added to their water. These are never well balanced and the companies that provide them are just out to sell a product - they are almost always a waste of money and rarely (but on occasion) dangerous for the bird.

That said calcium is one nutrient that birds need a lot of and it is virtually impossible for them to get to much. There are species differences here to of course: Greys really need extra calcium. I do leave a calcium block in Auggie's cage though he rarely touches it; these are handy not just as a mineral source but also as something to chew on or rub/file their beaks on.

Lastly consider the changes in the nutritional value of those fresh veggies you are giving. Many people in recent years (at least in the US) have began having minor problems due to mineral deficiencies. One used to be able to get all the calcium and magnesium they would need by eating some leafy greens, but out agricultural lands have been used and abused, there is virtually no magnesium left in the soil and so none makes it into the plants. All the magnesium has been sucked up, processed, and concentrated into tablets sold in bottles at your local pharmacy - so now it needs to be purchased separately from the foods it used to be in. Remember the first time as a kid you got the toy that said "batteries not included" now our foods are going to need labels saying "minerals not included".

Anyhow, getting down off my soap box, plants are still perfectly capable of synthesizing vitamins and they should not be an issue in any healthy parrots diet. The pelleted food should be a good source of needed minerals so you should also not worry there, but if you are to supplement anything some good mineral sources (calcium blocks, egg shells, ...) could be good.

 

[parrotparent]

I agree with everything Auggies Dad said except for the calcium. Hypercalcemia can become a problem. Mostly only hens laying eggs or chronic egg layers need extra calcium. If you are feeding a high quality pelleted diet and giving fruits and veggies the you should be okay. Offer scrambled egg with the shells a couple of times a week and if you make birdie bread put the egg shells in there also.