A NEW TWIST ON FRUIT & VEG

[Bird Junky]

I got this info from a retired Vet friend who keeps a mixed
collection of birds.
It seems, the latest thinking from the men in white coats with
test tubes & things, about the normal feeding of captive birds
with the usual mix of fruit/veg, is under investigation.
Without getting too technical, it seems that in a bowl containing
the usual fruit/veg mix, some have been found to contain
chemicals that interfere or neutralise the uptake of nutrients
from others in the same bowl.
Which means the birds/animals are getting some but not the
full value from the normal fruit/veg mix we provide.
This study is a work in progress. The findings of which fruit
& veg enzymes interfere with which nutrients etc. will no doubt
be published sometime in the future.
The Vet suggestes feeding, seed, dry soaked & sprouted but
no additives as some have also been shown to inhibit or slow
down the intake of natural nutrients in fruit/veg. Those added
to water become inefective in a few hours. His suggested feeding
only one type of a fruit/veg per day. Until all the data has been
published.
For instance ..The 4 most important requirements for birds are.
Calcium, Carbohydrates, Protein & Vitamins, so feed..
Day 1. Broccoli for it's Calcium content.
Day 2. Eggfood for it's Protein content.
Day 3. Apple for it's Vitamin content.
Day 4. Sweet potatoe for it's Carbohydrate content.
Day 5 Cress for Calcium
Day 6 Cott Cheese for Protein.
Day 7 Banana for Vitamins
Day 8 Cooked rice for Carbohydrates.
Repeat ad infinitum .
The choice of which foods provide the Cal, Pro, Vit, & Carb are
my choice. You can choose your own.
I did asked him, would he care to write a piece himself, for us but
he declined & handed me some notes he had used for a talk on the
subject at his bird club. Needless to say I couldn't read them.
Vets write worse than Doctors.
I only offer this post as a suggestion that may help & certainly
won't harm. I think this is about as natural as you can get.
A birds body was designed by evolution to extract all the
nutrients it needs from the food it eats but not necessarily all on
the same day........... Yours B. J.

[Gaile]

very interesting point of view!!!

[Hezz]

This is not new. It is what doctors have been telling us for ages. Do not drink if you are taking this particular drug. Do not take certain chemicals if taking these chemicals.

And if we were to take this all too seriously we ourselves would be eating only one type of food a day - no thank you! Also changing the food daily doesn't mean you get around the interference of one chemical to another as different minerals/chemicals etc are absorbed at different rates and by different parts of the body.

As we as humans mostly overfeed ourselves and our pets, this really isn't such an issue. For the serious breeder yes additives are necessary, but for the most part the binding of one mineral by another can actually be beneficial to us and our birds - the problems occur where the body has a malfunction and minerals/chemicals etc are not absorbed normally either too little, deficiency, or too much, overdose.

[Bird Junky]

Hi I know the general info isn't new. The study

is to determine which fruit/veg & to what extent

the interaction between the various enzymes

affect or is it effect the take up.

The bit about one at a time sounds sensible when

you think about it. In the wild birds fly to where a

tree or crop is ripening & gorge themselves on it.

It don't do them no harm. Just thought someone

might be interested. Yours B.J.