CheekyandMalolo wrote:I have a question about only offering meals rather than feed there all day.
Is there any knowledge about whether birds need to graze all day or if they're ok to have just meals?? There are certain animals who need to maintain food in their system or they risk issues with their intestines/gut. Does anyone know if birds fall into this?
I'd just hate to remove my birds access to any kind of feed apart from when I say they can eat, if there's a chance it'll cause issues later on. They may well cope with only eating in meals but I somehow doubt it's good for them.
I think for now I'll continue providing food for them to graze on all day and change there water when needed
I can't speak for all species of parrots (although I think it's similar for others) because I'm mainly familiar with Poicephalus. However, when I traveled to Africa I did not see any birds (including parrots) during the midday. However, in the mornings and evenings they were all out and about. From what I've heard and read this is also the case. Finally when I look at my own parrots on free feed, the still choose to eat in the morning/evening anyway and ignore the food midday.
Birds have a crop so food is stored in it until necessary. It's kind of like a buffer between the digestive system and feedings. They get a pretty constant and steady flow of food into the digestive system this way while feeding only in the morning and evening. They could eat a pellet once an hour or they can eat 5 pellets in the morning and 5 in the evening with the same result. Mine choose to fill their crop and go off that. My guess is that the crop can store 2-3 days of food. So a sick, injured, or unfortunate bird can go that long without eating before muscle mass begins to get depleted. Even a full day without food can be replenished into the crop since it was only half emptied in the process.
Leaving food around all day is probably more harmful than not. It is well known that free feeding captive animals (and humans for that matter), leads to obesity and all the problems associated with it. More care needs to be taken to measure out appropriate portions and to replenish the bowl twice every day and take it away (or give just the amount that will get eaten and not more). However, if you're the kind of person that is very responsible and constantly changing food/water anyway, then it's fine.
In the morning I measure out an amount of food and leave it in the cage. It gets eaten within the first hour and the bowls remain empty all day. Then in the evening I train the slightly hungry birds, and then I give them a generous portion in their bowl. Usually whatever doesn't get eaten in the evening I save to give the next morning. I'm pretty efficient about giving them just the right amount after tracking their weights for years. Not only is this more hygenic, it also makes them better behaved. Forget training, just issues like biting and being bossy. Overfed birds just seem to get this over the top confidence that they rule the world.