Any good bird recipies?

[Chantilly]

Hi everyone, I was worndering if any of you know a good recipie for bird treats, thats healthy at the same time.

I recently made bird bread, after finding a rather natural recipie online. It had no salt or bicarb and Tilly absolutly loves it!

Also what are your thoughts in using egg in bird recipies? I substituted it for chia seeds soaked up in water, (Till at an egg consistancy) It worked realy well.
Thanks in advance!

ps: I am really sorry if this is under the wrong catagory I was unsure whether to put it under Health, Nutrition& Diet or Toys, Accesories& DIY. I appologise if I got it wrong, please tell me and I will fix it up. Thx.

Chantilly

[Pajarita]

No, you put it in the right place. I make birdy bread in my bread machine so I use yeast. For one thing, my birds are not much into stuff made with baking powder and, for another, yeast is nutritious while baking powder is not. I highly recommend buying a bread machine for anybody with birds. I put all the stuff in it at night and, in the morning, I have a nice loaf of birdy bread ready to be served (can't beat that, right?). As to treats, I will admit that I don't really make any for them.... well, I guess you could say that the cookies I sometimes bake for them are treats but I don't really have a recipe for them (I am an old-fashioned kind of cook... you know, a bit of this, a pinch of that kind of thing). I just throw things together like whole wheat flour, oatmeal, corn meal, pureed pumpkin, nuts, pepitas, raisins, etc , add a bit of juice until it gets to a nice consistency and drop little balls off a spoon on a cookie sheet, bake until set and golden and voila: birdy cookies! You can also make bars in pretty much the same fashion only you bake the dough as you would a very flat cake and at a lower heat in the oven and then cut into pieces when it cools...

[Chantilly]

That sounds really cool! Thankyou Pajarita.
i was unsure whether baking powder was ok, had any benifits, or was bad.

And I'm quite intrested in cooking for Tilly more. Thanks again!

[Pajarita]

Aluminum-free baking powder is safe for birds but it doesn't really bring anything but 'fluff' to the end baked product while yeast provides nutrition as well as great enzymes (the fermentation does it!)and, in my personal experience, parrots seem to prefer denser and heavier stuff which you can only get using yeast.

See this: http://www.livestrong.com/article/39808 ... der-yeast/

[Chantilly]

Thanks! That is a reallly good article, when I cook for Tilly next I'll try using yeast

[seagoatdeb]

i try not to give my birds baked treats, the more raw and less processed the better for me. I have made different treats and dont have exact recipes, since I throw it together. i start usually with something sprouted or soaked, so nuts, seeds, oat groats, buckwheat etc. While its still wet I gently press it together with bits of fruits so it just barely sticks. Then I put it in my dehydrator at low heat, until it just holds together and is still on the moist side. It keeps 3 days in the fridge, but if you dehydrate it more it will store for months. I also mix cinnamon, ginger, turmeric etc in the mix. I eat those treats too....lol

[shikoba]

I have rye flour, is that okay to use for birds? also with flax seed, is there anything I need to do with that or can they digest it the way it is?

[Wolf]

I make gloop for my birds and sprinkle flax seed on it when I serve it. I don't know why but it appears that many birds don't like rye.

[Pajarita]

My birds don't like rye, either. I guess they are pickier than one would think

[seagoatdeb]

I never use wheat rye or barley for my birds, so many people are gluten intolerant and I dont want to get that way so dont even have those flours in my house. I prefer to use nut flours for anything cooked or baked my birds eat. I serve my grains, soaked, sprouted and occasionally cooked. Although seeds are okay to give as is, I give a large amout of my seeds soaked/sprouted. There is a point when seeds and nuts just start to sprout when they have the most nutrition. For my recipe for their daily meals. I use a grain, a legume, vegetables, seeds, nut, and for the latter meal fruit is added too. I vary what I put in to it depending on what I can find fresh.