|
|
|
|
|
 | refined
sugar |
| refined
white flour |
| dairy
products (with the exception of non or low fat organic yogurt) |
| salt
(although if blood work shows low sodium...occasionally a little salt in the
diet may improve plucking, but if sodium is normal, then adding salt could
harm kidneys) |
| fried
foods |
| chemical
preservatives |
| chemical
dyes |
| artificial
flavoring |
| soy |
| corn
(found in packaged foods/mixes or manufactured foods...organic table corn
used as a vegetable should be ok) |
| sweet
potato |
| spirulina |
| wheat |
| peanuts |
| citrus |
| sunflower
seed |
| semolina |
If
the plucking continues then you may also want to try removing the following
grains:
| rye |
| barley |
| spelt |
| kamut |
| oats
in some cases |
If
plucking stops after taking away the rye, barley, spelt, kamut and oats you can
try slowly reintroducing them later, after the plucking has stopped.
Other
foods that you may wish to try eliminating would be members of the nightshade
family:
| Sweet
peppers |
| potato |
| tomato |
Diet
to try is:
| Organic
WHOLE grains soaked for 24 hours and then sprouted or lightly cooked
(amaranth, quinoa, millet, spelt, kamut, barley, rye) |
| Organic
WHOLE legumes (lentils more protein) ( mung and adzuki are most easily
digested) soaked for 10-24 hours and then cooked. Bring to boil for 10 min.,
simmer for 20 OR sprouted. For legumes, sprout until you have at least 1/4
" tails, preferably longer. |
| Organic
greens and veggies in season such as dandelion leaves, collards, kale,
carrot tops, radish tops, dark leafy lettuce, bok choy, celery, cucumber,
mustard greens, fennel, broccoli, cauliflower, radish, beet root, cactus
leaves, okra |
| Organic
fruits in season such as apple, papaya, mango, pineapple, banana, fig,
coconut, berries, melon |
| Finely
minced garlic for a small bird only about 1/8 of a clove, a large bird 1/4
clove, mixed into food a few times a week, NO more than once a day. |
| A
small bit of FRESH ginger no more than a few times a week |
| Supplement
with a small amount of powdered alfalfa, you can purchase capsules.
Suggested amounts: 1/8 capsule
for birds up to 250 g, 1/4 capsule 250-500g, 1/3 capsule 500g-750 g, 1/2
capsule 750g-100g. |
| Also
supplement with a tiny bit of kelp. It's best to add a small amount of kelp
to a recipe that lasts a few days. On a daily basis, the amount of powdered
kelp would be like what you may fit on the end of a pen. |
| A
quality refrigerated cold pressed flaxseed or hempseed oil |
| An
unrefined palm oil a few times a week instead of the flax or hemp seed oil |
| Quality
probiotics |
| A
squirt of apple cider vinegar on fresh foods (approximately 1/4 teasp birds
up to 250g, 1/2 teasp up to 500g etc) |
| Raspberries.
You can use fresh or frozen..thawed. Mix a few daily into fresh foods.
Put through food processor if you need to. |
Optional:
| Veggie
Magma or Berry Green powders |
| Hemp
protein powder |
| A
holistic approach is usually needed so besides diet … |
~Take
parrot outside for at least 20 min. of sun and fresh air, more is better,
weather permitting of course. Be sure that your bird has adequate shade on sunny
days.
~Daily
exercise. Have your bird walk, maybe go up some stairs. Flap its wings on a
hoop. If it flies, work on flight training. Supply plenty of activities and
projects in its cage to keep busy/active.
~Bathe
your bird several times a week. If it doesn’t like baths, don't force them but
gradually work on making bath time a good thing.
Here
is a recipe for a spray to ease the itching often associated with feather
picking:
| 1
TBS dried calendula herb |
| 1
TBS dried chickweed herb |
Steep
each herb in 1 cup of water for 5 minutes. Combine and store in refrigerator for
up to one week. Spray on bare skin
only.
For more on Feather Plucking check out our articles page.
Copyright © 2004 Toews Parrot Place Last modified: November, 2007 |
Toews Parrot Place
