yogurt - good/bad???

[rylnitu]

ive got an indian ringneck parrot..he loves yogurt...bt im confused if yogurt is good for them?? Thanks in advancee..

[Kim S]

there are a lot of good nutricients in yoghurt. Some of the bacteria in the yoghurt are supposed to give the digestive system a boost. I know puppies are given yoghurt on a regular basis to help the digestive system recover after vacinations.

But how much of this is also true for parrots?
Many people give their parrots a bit of cheese. Thats also dairy (diary? how do I spell that?).

Just make sure its pure yoghurt, preferably biological, without any extra sweeteners and such.

[kaylayuh]

A small bit of yogurt won't be bad, I'm pretty sure. A lot of processed dairy like yogurt and cheese don't actually have lactose in it, which is what the bird can't digest, so you should be okay in small quantities.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I don't think I'd make it a part of the daily diet, but an occasional treat should be OK.

[patdbunny]

I read somewhere that yogurt contains lactose when it's made, but the live organisms in yogurt consume the lactose so by the time it's ingested there's no more lactose. So if that's the case yogurt's safe for birds.

I was discussing with someone birds and birds' favorite foods. I was telling them just like little kids, you can't serve pizza every day just because that's their favorite food.

I'm with Entranced - don't make it a daily thing. I like to save favorite foods for training.

[zazanomore]

I just avoid any and all dairy products. They don't contain anything that they would naturally get through nature (oats, nuts, grains, etc.).

Better safe than sorry.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I just avoid any and all dairy products. They don't contain anything that they would naturally get through nature (oats, nuts, grains, etc.).

Well, it's a good source of calcium which is important for reproducing birds -- they can get that from plant sources, but it's a lot more difficult to balance it out. And a cuttlebone isn't a normal thing they'd be getting in the wild either. It also is a good source of complete proteins which they'd get from some ingestion of insects and insect eggs. The bacteria in it (probiotics if it sounds nicer) I'm not so sure about... since they don't eat dairy, I doubt they'd have dairy-digesting bacteria in their digestive tracts.

Do they need it? definitely not. Does it have some beneficial stuff? Yes. I think it really depends on the individual owner and bird. Mine have only occasionally gotten any dairy but I have no problem offering it from time to time in a cultured form.

[Sarah&Rico]

Rico LOVES yogurt, and I'll give him a little bit when I'm having some. Not a lot, jst a small bit on a saucer and he'll lick it up

[captwest]

Yes yogurt is good for your birds, but like entranced and roz said .too much of anything is bad ,I feed mine homemade yogurt, plain, and they love it , i also feed lots of cheese , cottage cheese,sour cream, etc. and my birds are still with me..I did make them birdie sundaes one time with a banana split tpye of thing with cut up fruit and melted peanut butter poured on top and cool whip on top.Well the cool whip was a mistake , it glued all their feathers together , what a mess.Oh yeah , i forgot about my pets and ice cream , you've got to try that. " Jake's " favorite is Butter Pecan.

[rylnitu]

Thanks alot every1 for your valuable advicess! So a little yogurt seems to b ok