Kentuckienne
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- Oct 9, 2016
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- Roommates include Gus, Blue and gold macaw rescue and Coco, secondhand amazon
First, much of this info comes from the chicken-raising world. But since chickens are avians, itās useful. Chicken raising is big business, so there is a lot more published research about commercial poultry diets than about companion bird diet. I thought it would be worth sharing some info, because there are many discussions about birds with strange health and digestive issues, and many ārecipesā for improving their diets.
Turns out that some things which are very good for us are very bad for birds. For example, indigestible starches (polysaccharides) can be good for people who donāt get enough fiber in their diets by creating intestinal goop to keep things moving. But birds digest starches differently, and the resulting goop can cause overgrowth of bad gut bacteria and interfere with nutrient absorption. And birds require different ratios of vitamins/minerals for balanced absorption, and supplementing a commercial diet with them can cause problems.
So here are some links, and I am curious to know what more details people can findā¦
1. An article about a flock of chickens who began to sicken and die after being changed to a new āenhancedā diet, and another that goes into a bit more detail. TL;DR: oatmeal, diatomaceous earth and vitamin/mineral supplements can kill birds. We are talking about well-meaning owners trying to improve the health of their birds with stuff thatās good for humans.
the-chicken-chick.com
the-chicken-chick.com
2. A scientific explanation of why some forms of polysaccharides (like those found in oatmeal and barley) can harm avians. The reason has a lot to do with the avian immune system, which is quite different from our own. This article has a very detailed description of the avian immune system:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Turns out that some things which are very good for us are very bad for birds. For example, indigestible starches (polysaccharides) can be good for people who donāt get enough fiber in their diets by creating intestinal goop to keep things moving. But birds digest starches differently, and the resulting goop can cause overgrowth of bad gut bacteria and interfere with nutrient absorption. And birds require different ratios of vitamins/minerals for balanced absorption, and supplementing a commercial diet with them can cause problems.
So here are some links, and I am curious to know what more details people can findā¦
1. An article about a flock of chickens who began to sicken and die after being changed to a new āenhancedā diet, and another that goes into a bit more detail. TL;DR: oatmeal, diatomaceous earth and vitamin/mineral supplements can kill birds. We are talking about well-meaning owners trying to improve the health of their birds with stuff thatās good for humans.

How Altering Feed can Hurt Your Chickens
If the health, longevity and ability of your pet chickens to


The Shocking Effect of Feeding an Oatmeal Breakfast on Chickens
Every winter when the mercury dips, charming images of backyard chickens being fed a comforting-looking breakfast of oatmeal by their devoted caretakers on cold mornings begin appearing online. Prepare to be shocked by the truth about the detrimental effect of an oat meal on chickens. While oats...

2. A scientific explanation of why some forms of polysaccharides (like those found in oatmeal and barley) can harm avians. The reason has a lot to do with the avian immune system, which is quite different from our own. This article has a very detailed description of the avian immune system:
Barley Ī²-glucan in poultry diets - PMC
There has been an increased interest in the use of immunomodulators as substitutes for antibiotics in food animal production. Beta-glucans from yeast and fungi may be ideal substitutes because of their positive effects on the avian immune system ...
