Parrots cant eat it- too high in protein and would cause organ issues. But the chickens really liked it! I basically made a zucchini bread with pumpkin mash and through the treats in there. Still- I never got them to eat the stupid expensive bagged treats.
Ah I'm sorry I misread your first post. I thought you were going to try to feed the chicken treats to the parrots. It's a shame that your birds didn't want the treats. Could you try offering the "stupid expensive bagged treats" to wild birds? Maybe there's a very good reason your birds didn't want the bagged treats. Perhaps the dried insects taste horrible to the birds. An expensive lesson learned I guess.
Chickens (contrary to popular belief) don’t produce lactase, the enzyme needed to break down lactose. While a bit of yogurt likely won’t kill them, dairy can cause digestive upset, and nutrient absorption issues if given regularly. I know this is contrary to what is on the internet and touted by chicken keepers- at first I thought 'sure, okay- no birds can have milk products- I learned it in school for 8 years, but I guess chickens are different, but i doubt it' ... I went back in my textbooks, and consulted a specialty nutritionist who works exclusively with poultry from way back in uni, and they assured me I am correct- and told me it started on a goat farm with a small flock back in the 1970's when people started to understand that probiotics were good for humans. So no yogurt for my birds. Although they do like it!
Oh thanks, this is interesting. I understood that the sugars or proteins in milk were changed in some way through the fermenting process of becoming yogurt, and that chickens could indeed utilize it, in much the same way the people who are lactose intolerant can tolerate it. Guess that's not true?
Don't suppose you can cite your nutritionist? Not that I don't believe you, but it would be helpful in the way of mythbusting.
Oh, I wouldn’t be able to—this was months ago, and she only sent me a private link and a few text messages. I could reach out to her again, but there’s plenty of research online. The key point she made was that most studies focus on broiler chickens, not backyard layers or heritage breeds. In broilers or transgenic chickens, very small amounts of dairy seemed okay short-term and even enhanced some of the biome- but that is because the 'barrier growth was enormous', but in backyard chickens, there were noted long-term consequences—especially with routine feeding. She compared it to a pregnant woman having an occasional glass of wine: timing and moderation matter, but it’s definitely not something to make a habit of.Oh thanks, this is interesting. I understood that the sugars or proteins in milk were changed in some way through the fermenting process of becoming yogurt, and that chickens could indeed utilize it, in much the same way the people who are lactose intolerant can tolerate it. Guess that's not true?
Oh, yeah back in may. Not sure how or when this thread came back up, I just noticed it on my news feed again. The youngest is 5 months old now, amazing egg layers. They eat just about everything- especially green veggies, fruit, winter squashes and spring greens, but not scratch grains or dried larvae.
