plumsmum
Regular Member
Found this article by Dr. Stephanie Lamb, DVM - hope that it provides some food for thought
"Too much of anything is a bad thing. If a bird gets more calories a day than it needs its body is going to have to store those extra calories for possible future use. The body will convert sugars to fats at a certain point and store them in the liver. Over time, more and more can build up if they are not working it off.
So, whether it's sugars or fats, the final outcome will potentially be the same. Now, how much they actually get is what makes the difference. Just like people have specific calorie need, animals do as well. As an example, an African Grey size bird that is in good body condition is going to need about 50 calories a day. A single grape is two calories. So, it take about 25 grapes to give that bird its daily calorie need. Most people won't be feeding that many grapes.
When feeding too much fruit to your birds you are going to also be missing out on proteins that a birds need. Lack of lysine and methionine protein in the diet will result in fatty liver syndrome. So, if they eat a lot of fruit and not a lot of other items there will be an unbalance in their diet. Fruit should not be considered as the main factor that can cause fatty liver disease as there can always be other underlying factors that can contribute. As I usually say, balance in diet is the most important thing. "
Dr. Stephanie Lamb, DVM
"Too much of anything is a bad thing. If a bird gets more calories a day than it needs its body is going to have to store those extra calories for possible future use. The body will convert sugars to fats at a certain point and store them in the liver. Over time, more and more can build up if they are not working it off.
So, whether it's sugars or fats, the final outcome will potentially be the same. Now, how much they actually get is what makes the difference. Just like people have specific calorie need, animals do as well. As an example, an African Grey size bird that is in good body condition is going to need about 50 calories a day. A single grape is two calories. So, it take about 25 grapes to give that bird its daily calorie need. Most people won't be feeding that many grapes.
When feeding too much fruit to your birds you are going to also be missing out on proteins that a birds need. Lack of lysine and methionine protein in the diet will result in fatty liver syndrome. So, if they eat a lot of fruit and not a lot of other items there will be an unbalance in their diet. Fruit should not be considered as the main factor that can cause fatty liver disease as there can always be other underlying factors that can contribute. As I usually say, balance in diet is the most important thing. "
Dr. Stephanie Lamb, DVM