Mustard?

[cstone01]

Last night I gave Hephaestion a little slaw I made with red cabbage, chopped cherries and sprouts, I used an organic whole grain mustard Instead of dressing. (It sounds gross but it is actually good)He liked it but I’m not Sure if I should feed... The only ingredients in the mustard are water, whole-grain mustard seed, apple cider vinegar, spices and citric acid.(it’s really thick chunky mustard) It is 10 cal for 1 tablespoon .5 g of fat, 10 mg of sodium 0 g carb, 0 g fiber, 0 g sugar, 0 g protein. Is this okay in moderation? I guess I could always give it to him without the added mustard but he is definitely getting less than a teaspoon of the actual mustard.


I was also wondering about sprouts, my husband and I eat a lot of sprouts but Hephaestion tends to not like the smaller sprouts like alfalfa, broccoli, clover, he likes the lentils buckwheat, barley, kamut and fenugreek better. His absolute favorite is sprouted green peas. I like these two but was recently shocked to find out how many calories they actually have in them especially compared to the other sprouts. I know that they are legumes not vegetables or grains like the others, should I feed these in tight moderation? I do weigh him at least once a week and he does a lot of flying around the house but I don’t want him to start gaining weight as he gets older. Years and years ago I found out my poor cockatiel weighed almost double what she should have when I took her to the vet so I’m trying to learn from that lesson . I know I have cut down on my Pea sprouts addiction to try to avoid getting quarantine fat myself so I don’t know if I should cut down on his as well.

[cstone01]

For clarification they are sprouted peas not pea sprouts, I am looking more online and the calories estimates vary widely but I think it’s 400 a cup compared to 8 calories in a cup of Alfalfa sprouts, he’s 8 1/2 ounces I doubt he can burn many calories during the day Even with flying.

[Pajarita]

I would not worry about the mustard. I don't use prepared condiments on my birds gloop (well, except for chili powder but I don't know if you can consider a mix of spices a 'prepared' condiment) but I doubt that the mustard is going to harm him in any way and, most likely, he throws out more 'slaw' than he actually eats. As to the sprouted peas, for one thing, calories are not everything. Peas are high in fiber and, believe it or not, also quite high in protein and, although they do have a significant amount of carbs, they are complex carbs, not simple. And, for another, alexes are short day breeders so it's entirely possible that he is now chowing down more than he would at any other time during the year in preparation for the breeding season.