Introduction
Kara Burns, MS, MEd, LVT, VTS (Nutrition), VTS-H (Internal Medicine, Dentistry) presented this distance-learning Lunch and Learn for the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine Exotics Club as part of the Lafeber Company Student Program.
Recording
The Avian Nutrition: Practical Applications webinar recording was reviewed and approved by the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE) program for 1 hour of continuing education credit for veterinarians and veterinary technicians in jurisdictions that recognize AAVSB RACE approval. You have three chances to take this post-test and pass. With a passing grade, you will see your results and a link to your continuing education certificate.
Kara Burns, MS, MEd, LVT, VTS (Nutrition), VTS-H (Internal Medicine, Dentistry) presented this distance-learning event for the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Avian & Exotics Club as part of the Lafeber Company Student Program. This RACE-approved webinar recording offers an introduction to the clinical approach to companion parrot nutrition. Topics covered include common clinical findings associated with malnutrition, nutritional assessment of pet birds, as well as key nutrients. This discussion concludes with a comparison of all-seed and formulated diets as well as dietary conversion to a healthy diet.
There are various approaches to provide food for the companion parrot. Each nutritional strategy has its own advantages and disadvantages including seed-only diets, pelleted diets, extruded diets, and/or foraging diets.
There are a number of potential nutritional problems that can promote renal disease. Excess dietary protein, excess dietary calcium, hypovitaminosis A, or hypervitaminosis D may lead to nephritis or other degenerative renal changes…
A clinical trial was conducted with cockatiels to compare a whole-seed balanced diet (Nutri-Berries) with that of a pelleted diet. Blood values, body weight, and other parameters were measured to assess the alternative diet’s clinical effects on birds.
Providing a bird with good nutrition often has different meanings for clinicians and clients. While the goal is to provide a diet that mimics the diet of that particular species in the wild, in captivity those strategies for feeding parrots are very different.
In their native habitat, some parrots like cockatiels, budgerigar parakeets, as well as many
cockatoos and macaws are seed-eaters. These birds are able to balance their diet because of the
large numbers of seeds eaten (over 60 types). Companion birds are often weaned onto all-seed
diets, but the number and type of seeds offered in captivity is insufficient to offer a balanced
nutrition. Commercial seed mixes lack the normal complement of nutrients including vitamins A,
D3, E and K, certain amino acids (the building blocks of protein), calcium, and other minerals.
Over time, seed diets lead to vitamin A deficiency, poor feather quality, and…
Little is known about the nutritional requirements of companion bird species. Dietary recommendations for pet birds are extrapolated from domestic poultry nutritional requirements; however these parameters are generally calculated to minimize cost while maximizing meat and egg production.
