Soybeans??

[JDykstra]

Are they good for Parrots? My husband works for MSU and he brought home a pail full of organic soybeans. Is that something I can use in a mash, feed raw, or what? Also we have organic field corn, how should I feed this or should I feed this?

Thanks,
Jen

[greyburd]

I feed my bird roasted soy nuts.... I'm not really sure of the difference, but I'm sure you can feed them to your bird (if I'm wrong, someone please correct me!!)

As far as the corn, that can be a treat. There's really no nutritional value to corn, so I wouldn't make it a main part of their diet. There is corn in the mixed veggies that I feed. And they also enjoy going to town on dried corn on the cob!

[mamalovesrico]

Jen,

I love edamame and eat them almost weekly for at least one meal a day. I have been sharing them with my birds for a couple of months now. So far so good! They love em! The peel of the minute skin and then, down the hatch. I would think they are very good for them. Thanks for reminding me that I have 7 more bags in the freezer.

I bring the water to a boil, dump in the frozen bag. They say once they start floating, drain them. I have done this, but like them better when they've boiled for about 5 minutes.

[tielfan]

I belong to a bird-nutrition group that can be a bit fanatical at times, and they're generally opposed to feeding birds soy (although they're OK with edamame in moderate quantities). Soy is one of the more common causes of allergies in birds, and there are also some issues with toxins and phytoestrogens. If you want to read a long article about it, go to http://environment.guardian.co.uk/fo...828300,00.html

Since many birds thrive on a diet that includes pellets with soy in them, I'd think that soy is OK in moderate quantities for birds that don't have a sensitivity to it.

In general, any kind of dried beans/legumes need to be cooked before eating because cooking gets rid of naturally-occurring toxins. A few kinds are OK if they're sprouted but not cooked: lentils, mung, adzuki, and garbanzo. And maybe one more that I can't think of at the moment.

[birdyland]

I have also done some research, and concur soy nuts MUST be cooked before feeding to neutralize toxins according to what I have read too.....

[Buzz7]

I don't know how this affects birds, but I know in people excess soy consumption produces estrogen and can cause estrogen dominance (estrogen dominance is a major cause of breast cancer and a cause of other cancers). I don't expect birds will run around with breast cancer but I don't know how soy would affect birds.

I think as in EVERYTHING, balance is the key; I'm not sure about all the ins and outs of soybeans but I am sure you'll want to feed them only in moderation; the same with the peanut butter issue; too much would be too much fat in a birds diet while some I think would be good protein. But then what do I know except that you can NEVER eat enough chocolate!

[bgmacaw]

we feed edamame to ours probably once a week, they love it. I buy it in the pod and out. Cook well and they have a blast.