
There is nothing like wakeing up in the morning to the sound of your birds singing and chirpping, awaiting there breakfast. And of course sharing my breakfast with a few of my favorite birds at the kitchen table is very rewarding. But how do you know if sharing your favorite cereal is safe for your "Feathered Firend"? Well I went looking to find out and came across a few very helpful articles on this subject. As you already know cereal is nutritiously designed for human consumption, so it is not routinely tested for birds. A senior research associate at Cornell University's Veterinary Medical Center in Ithica, N.Y say's that she often feeds cereal to her pet birds. And also said "I see nothing wrong with feeding in moderation, some of the low surgar, whole grain cereals to birds". She also advises bird owners to "look for genuine whole-grain cereals like shredded wheat". Some commercial cereals are more fortified or enhanced than other cereals so a tiny amount should not be harmful, but we know that human vitamin requirments are not comparable to birds so I would avoid feeding any cereal that has a higher iron content than others. Now, If you are concerned about additives you can always go the organic route. It's funny for us because the cereal we buy for our birds is more expensive than the name brand cereal that we eat ourselves. We deffinately use cereal as a bit of a treat to get them to do things that we want, like fly from one oerch to the next. We have a neat little tabletop basketball toy for the birds, and everytime they put the ball through the hoop it gives them a peice of cereal. Some people are worried about the presence of Zinc in cereal and feeding it to their birds. Board certified Avian Veterinarian Robert Monaco says that "Natural un-sweetened cereal like Cheerios or Shredded Wheat is fine for birds" and he feeds it two or three times per week to his pet birds. He goes on to say " Zinc is an essential element in everyone's diet. If the body gets to much,it will compensate. Too little, and there are major problems. There will not be a Zinc toxicity problem by feeding a bird cereal." You can also feed cooked cereal like oatmeal, and there can be an advantage to that. If you ever need to medicate your bird, the cooked oatmeal will be the perfect disguise to get her to take the medication without even knowing it. To wrap up, I would say go ahead and share your meals with your birds, Some even enjoy there own place at the table! Make it fun, change things up to keep them thinking and to give them variety. You can comment on this blog, If you have any questions, comments or advise just post them up and I will do my best to help you and your bird. (Posted on 6/26/2013 at 12:17)