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NUTS & SEEDS
- By DeAnn Waggoner, Executive Director, Wings
of Love Bird Haven
You talk to many bird owners and you will hear such things
as "I've fed my bird nuts
and seeds for 15 years and he is healthy so far..."
or "My bird was healthy--just died
one day all of a sudden for no reason at all."
Compare these comments to what we might hear said about
someone's ancestors...
"My ancestors always ate meat and did fine"
or "My grandfather lived 55 years on
an all meat diet". Have you heard this one...My father
at 50 was the picture of health
until he died of a heart attack." How healthy were
they really?
Let's take a look at the three main areas of nutrition
in an all seed/nut diet: total fat
levels, calcium and phosphorus levels and Vitamin A content.
Total Fat levels...
current nutritional research suggests that most psittacines
need no more than 15%
total fat in their diet. Safflower seeds represent the
lowest fat level in all seeds and
they have a fat content of 38.40%. This exceeds the maximum
levels by 250%.
Calcium (Ca), Phosphorus (P) and Ca:P ratio...Pssitacine
research seems to mirror
that of poultry findings showing that a diet should contain
0.50% calcium for
maintenance and 1% for proper bone development. Using
100 gms of any given
food, this would equate to 0.5 - 1 gm (500-1000 mg) of
calcium to contain adequate
levels for maintenance and growth. The highest levels
of calcium in seeds/nuts is
demonstrated by almonds at 266 mg, barely 50% of the levels
necessary for
maintenance and only 27% of the calcium needed for growth.
High-fat diets may
further exacerbate the situation by forming insoluble
calcium soups thereby
preventing calcium uptake in the small intestines which
would result in even less
percent.
Ca:P ratio analyzed in bone approximates 2:1. Any given
diet should deliver this
ratio of calcium to phosphorus to maintain equilibrium
within the body. The best
level to be achieved with seeds and nuts is represented
on the chart by macadamia
at 1:1.94, delivering 4 times higher phosphorus levels
compared to calcium. The
kidneys must excrete this excess phosphorus from the body
and when they do, they
also excrete calcium. This process further magnifies the
overall calcium depletion
within the body of the bird.
Vitamin A: Vitamin A is crucial to cellular function in
many parts of the body
including the formation of mucous membranes and epithelial
surfaces, for growth,
vision, development of the vascular system, production
of adrenal hormones,
formation of red and orange pigments in feathers and many
other functions. A
concentration of 5000 IU/pound of food is required to
prevent eventual signs of
Vitamin A deficiency. For a 100 gm portion of food, there
must be 1100 IU of
vitamin A to meet these requirements. The highest level
on the chart for nuts and
seeds is represented by pumpkin seeds at 380 IU/100 gm
wt...barely 1/3 of the
level necessary for sustaining avian health.
Profiling these three nutritional categories of seeds
and nuts should clearly
demonstrate how a diet exclusive of any supplementation
will eventually lead a
bird to multiple nutritional deficiencies and a shortened
life span. The deficiencies
are masked for an extended period of time due to each
organs reserve capacity.
For example, the kidneys can perform 100% of their function
with only 30% of their
total mass. This is why people can donate a kidney and
still live normally. The liver
can perform 100% of its function in some species with
only 10% of its total mass.
The same has also been seen in psittacine birds. Once
this threshold is crossed the
clinical symptoms are not only obvious, but usually severe
and often life threatening.
It has been said many times that "ignorance is bliss",
but as it relates to one's health
we know that this is not true. A diet for a pet bird must
contain ALL nutritional
groups (protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals)
in the right proportions
to support each bird's genetics for maximum life expectancy.
One last comment. The claim that supplementing a seed
diet with fruits and
vegetables will make the diet "complete" is
not an accurate statement.
Supplementation solves some of the problems, but tends
to create others. Science
does not have all of the answers, but much progress has
been made in the last
several years. Blood tests are now available and often
required to determine the
current nutritional condition of a bird and serve as a
guide to demonstrate
improvement once nutritional therapy is instituted. Ask
your veterinarian to help you
plan the proper nutrition for your specific species of
pet bird. If you don't ask...you
won't know. Approximately 94% of the birds tested at most
clinics have some form
of nutritional imbalances. The bird is the result of what
it eats. Please feed a large
variety of foods STARTING WITH veggies and sprouts, then
add pellets, nuts, seeds,
grains, legumes, et cetera to "round out" and
complete the diet.
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