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Spinach

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Spinach

Postby Pajarita » Thu Sep 28, 2017 9:49 am

I can't find the posting and I don't remember where it was but there was somebody who said he/she liked spinach and that he/she gives it to his/her birds. Spinach is very good for people but not good at all for birds because of the high iron content.

When you are trying to decide whether some type of raw or frozen produce is good for everyday, sometimes or never, you need to take into consideration three things:

1. Just because it's good for people, it's not necessarily good for birds
2. Just because something is not toxic, it's not necessarily good when fed often
3. Just because the bird likes it, it doesn't mean it's good for it

Always look at the nutritional values of the item and for these things in particular:

- low protein
- low fat
- high fiber
- high moisture
- extra low iron
- low oxalates

If you keep within these parameters and offer a varied diet [making sure the bird gets different 'colors' every day], you'll do just fine.
Pajarita
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Re: Spinach

Postby DanaandPod » Fri Oct 06, 2017 7:43 pm

I have been trying to get my Jardine and meyers to eat it, by eating it infront of them. Since i like it. But, only the Jardine has barely nibbled so far.
So far they only eat peas, and sweet potato and carrot out of a baby food, half mixed with banana and or mango baby food.
In this case, what green veggie IS best for them to keep trying?
Thanks for the info about iron. They both love pumpkin seed or garbonzo beans as a treat, both of which are high in iron.
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Re: Spinach

Postby Pajarita » Sat Oct 07, 2017 9:56 am

My birds eat a lot of broccoli. They eat it in the gloop and they also get it once a week as their 'green'. The rest of the days they get a different green every day: romaine/boston/redleaf lettuce, chicory, escarole, rapini, dandelion/carrot greens, nappa/green/red cabbage, bok choy, kale, celery, red and green Swiss chard, etc but I try to give them the ones that are high in oxalic acid only once every two weeks and I never give them spinach or collard greens. Try giving them a 'crunchy' green like the very heart of the romaine, bok choy or chard [they love to munch on the stalks].
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Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Flight: Yes

Re: Spinach

Postby Navre » Sat Oct 07, 2017 10:14 am

I know spinach doesn't have as much iron as people think, and, at least in humans, the iron isn't really absorbed well like it would be from an animal source, but it's still about 4x as much iron as broccoli.

Sometimes there is some spinach in the chop at the rescue. They get so little of it as there is so much other stuff, and it happens infrequently enough that I don't really worry about it.
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Re: Spinach

Postby DanaandPod » Wed Oct 11, 2017 8:07 pm

I think i will cabob raw brocolli for them in their cages. Green beans? I recently made green beans mixed with blueberry and banana. My Jardine took some. The meyers learns from him luckily. But it takes forever. As it took a whole year to like green peas. But im estatic everytime Piccolo eats them. Usually a couple times a week now.
Im really going to try and scrap the peanut butter.
Good thing i found out about garbonzos. It was becomming an every day thing since i thing them
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Re: Spinach

Postby Pajarita » Thu Oct 12, 2017 9:58 am

ALL my birds like raw broccoli - even the parrots that would not touch a leafy green if their life depended on it! And they prefer the stalk to the florette, too! It's the crunchiness that they love.
They all eat blueberries, bananas AND green beans although their very favorite is the sugar snaps.
Pajarita
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Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Spinach

Postby Navre » Thu Oct 12, 2017 11:32 am

Tanya used to throw every piece of broccoli florets out of the bowl. She only would eat the stalk.
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