Nuts, as food that is.

[Kim S]

Kika gets nuts as a part of his regular diet. He gets pellets during the week, and on weekends he gets an extra bowl of seedmix with a tablespoon ful of junglemix. The junglemix is a mixture of dried fruits, coconutshavings and cracked nuts.

I have'nt fed him nuts in the shell yet, we dont eat a lot of nuts ourself. But my dad has a great big wallnut tree in the garden, so when their in season he wil probably get some wallnuts.

[a.susz]

But my dad has a great big wallnut tree in the garden, so when their in season he wil probably get some wallnuts.

that is so cool! wish i had a walnut supply like that... lol. My dad has just started a fig tree( he's into the fruit trees for now) but it probably won't start producing for another 2 years.


Here in arizona we have alot of nut farms, especially pecans. I should see about their rates on going and picking your own...

[birdvet]

Stay away from Walnuts, they are the ones that run the highest risk of causing aflatoxicosis in your birds...fungal toxins = dead!

Otherwise I agree, a few nuts here and there are good. Cape parrots, macaws and black cockatoos require more protein and fat so these guys can have a few more.

Macadamia and cashew nuts are pretty good too...

[a.susz]

Stay away from Walnuts, they are the ones that run the highest risk of causing aflatoxicosis in your birds...fungal toxins = dead!

what if you were to just buy the meat shelled? would you be able to wash them just before serving even?

[birdvet]

Its up to you and not all walnuts have fungal toxins, however, I have seen (and heard of) way too many parrot deaths due to aflatoxicosis and eating walnuts. I would never ever ever feed them to my birds, its not worth the risk. There are ways of testing the nuts for the presence of aflatoxins but at $250 per test in NZ its not worth it. My guys get the occasional cashew and macadamia nut and unshelled peanuts. I think its all the grooves in the walnuts, washing might not remove all the toxin? Not too sure

[Michael]

Is boiling the nuts (walnuts, peanuts) a good idea? Will it ruin the nut in the shell? Will a minute of boiling sterilize to the point it is safe for the bird to eat even if there were fungus on it?

[entrancedbymyGCC]

So if both peanuts and walnuts are prone to aflatoxin contamination, and it may be the shell texture, what about almonds? They also have a porous, rough-textured shell? And are pecans OK, being rather similar to walnuts except for the smooth shell? I discount peanuts, being a legume...

Is the concern equally prevalent for in-shell nuts marketed for human consumption?

[birdvet]

Boiling may help but it's not so much the fungas as the toxin that causes the issue so if the toxin has seeped into the nut no amount of boiling is going to help with that I'm afraid.

I haven't heard about almonds or pecans causing problems but wouldn't rule it out, however, we give birds in hospital almonds occasionally. I'm not sure what it is about walnuts that the fungus seems to like so it grows readily. And the human grade ones are also contaminated I'm afraid. If you eat enough walnuts you'll probably stuff your liver up due to aflatoxicosis...

The problem with aflatoxins is that they accumulate so you (or your bird) could be eating contaminated nuts for a few months before the signs of toxicity start to show.

So yeah, I'd hate to commit and say yes, the walnuts will be fine if boiled. Its a hard one...

I'm heading back to NZ tomorrow (sigh...24 hours of travel ahead of me...groan!!) so I'll see what I can do about starting that nutrition article soon. I'll make sure I do a section on aflatoxins and include lots of links etc.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Thanks birdvet! Is there an educated-lay-accessible publication or source of information you could recommend? I'd love to have something like that at hand.

What do you know about Grapefruit Seed Extract? It seems to be all the rage as a nontoxic antiseptic (which is an oxymoron, but I'll perhaps buy "minimally toxic to birds") and having been introduced to it for use in sprouting, I'm now finding it popping up all over! But I've been unable to find any solid information... many sources state definitively that it IS this wonderful thing, but without citing any supporting material, and one source, which did cite some supporting material, but not overly convincing material, stated that there was evidence it was actually the preservatives in the GSE, not the GSE itself, that had an effect. Would love to know if there is any evidence that it is worth spending money on!

By the way, is it acceptable to hijack my own thread?

[birdvet]

I'll see if I can find anything on walnuts...most of my comments are based on personal experience but I'm pretty certain there are articles out there that will be of interest to you chaps

I'll look in to grape seed extract, not too savvy yet this end

Hehe...hijacker!!