soy milk

[cfulhage]

Is soy milk okay for birds? In small amounts of course. My dad is constantly trying to give Ollie new things *camille, what about cheese, ice cream, turkey, etc, etc* He is on this soy milk kick and won't leave me alone about it. Usually when he asks me about something, I automatically say NO, which I have been doing with the soy milk for 2 days now. Finally I just decided to ask you guys. Does anybody know?

[Alika]

It should be okay. You're not supposed to give regular milk to birds because of the lactose, but soy milk is made from soy beans, which is high in protein and void of lactose.

I am 99.9% sure that soy beans are fine for parrots, but dig a little deeper before you take my word for it... (I have been known to be wrong, and I'm getting ready to go to bed... maybe I'll help you research it tomorrow, if nobody else has replied...?)

[Monica]

I've read that soy products are not good to feed to parrots. Maybe a small amount would be fine, but not in large amounts.

[Alika]

Okay, well, I did some research and found some conflicting information. Apparently, soy products aren't really that great for anyone, but drinking soy milk in moderation is better than drinking mammal milk (for birds). It seems like it is okay as long as it's only a small treat now and again... but again, this is the best I can pull out of it given the conflicting information I am finding.

When in doubt, call your vet :) Even better... when in doubt, just avoid it entirely.