Dehydrated food

[triplebbirds]

Does anyone else feed the birds dehydrated food? Does anyone do the dehydrateing themmeslves?
we started with peppers, the cyanne peppers like is in the parrot seed mixes. I have like 5 lbs of it. Then one day one of the puppies ate part of a sweet potato that was set aside for christmas dinner. So i chopped the eaten part off plus an inch or so and diced it up and threw it in there. Well then we started going crazy. I did a couple carrots diced up and an apple. I must admit they like the fruits and veggies this way and i dont have to worry about it spoiling.

[MandyG]

I don't know much about dehydrating so this might be a a dumb question, but does the food lose any nutritional value during the dehydration process?

[triplebbirds]

Supposedly the cayenne peppers increase their vit. A content when drying. This article here says that it stays the same. http://www.wisegeek.com/does-dehydrated-fruit-have-less-nutritional-value-than-fresh-fruit.htm I will have to check the article i have from 1980's issue of birdtalk to see exact ammounts.

[triplebbirds]

After a second look at the article i had where it listed the amounts. the regular hot pepper was like 21000 iu of vit. A but that was so many grams. When it was dehydrated it was like 77000 iu vit. A but that is the same weight. anyone who has even held a fresh cayenne pepper and a dried one can tell there is a weight difference.

[alexjoan]

Dehydrated foods, such as fruits and vegetables, have most of the moisture removed from them using heated, dry air to create a low moisture environment. Dehydrated foods are useful for camping and hiking because they are lighter and less likely to rot or spoil than other foods. Most sporting goods stores and grocery stores sell dehydrated foods, but are usually expensive. Dehydrating your own foods is much cheaper.

[oknuma]

i dehydrate a lot of fruits and veges for batman , I also went crazy with it originally but overtime have discovered some things she likes that way and others she doesnt

[Anna]

Yes, I feed my birds dehydrated food, mostly hidden in their foraging toys. In the fall, I pick apples and berries (bluberries, lingonberries and rowanberries) and dehydrate in my oven and it works just fine.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I think the main disadvantage to dehydrating is the moisture loss. I'm pretty sure Scooter gets a lot of his daily water out of his fruits and veggies, and he seems to prefer high moisture foods. I guess it also takes less time to eat, so provides a bit less entertainment value. But from a nutritional and convenience standpoint it is very appealing. Some mornings I feel like a GCC personal chef.