Rice and beans?

[Scotty T]

Do you think it matters feeding a sun conure rice and or beans uncooked? She seems to like it.

Thoughts?

 

[triordan]

I would be concerned about feeding uncooked rice, could it swell once consumed? I don't know~

 

[Lukask]

My GCC loves crunching on raw noodles. I dont see why raw rice would be any different...

 

[HalfInsane]

I've read that it is untrue that uncooked rice swells in a bird's stomach, but you hear so often that that is the case, I'm just not sure. Additionally, I know it is recommended people always cook rice and not leave it out at room temperature because of bacillus cereus (a bacteria often found it rice that causes food poisoning). I assume, as I do not know for sure, that this bacteria is also harmful to birds, and cook the rice and only offer it to my bird for a short period of time for this reason. That being said, does anyone know for sure if it is, in fact, harmful to birds?

Beans are always to be cooked, as certain beans contain enzyme inhibitors that block the bird's body from being able to absorb key nutrients (trysin and chymotrypsin specifically). Cooking the beans (or soaking and then cooking for dried beans) destroys these enzymes so they no longer pose a problem. Birds fed large quantities of uncooked beans can actually develop deficiencies for this reason.

 

[roxynoodle]

My understanding is beans should always be cooked. And I cook the rice because, well, that's how I like to eat it