Question about parrots living in the kitchen area

[NotEnoughTime]

New stoves and appliances often have a factory-coating on them that will burn off after the first few uses. There have been a few cases where parrots have died after a new appliance is turned on. see: Tragic story and WARNING!! PLEASE READ

In all cases cooking fumes are not particularly good for birds because of their high particulate content. A bird may not show immediate respiratory distress but there could be issues in the long run. I tend to want to "err on the side of caution" when it comes to cooking fumes.

[Newticus]

There is also the fact that cockatoos are very dusty which means that their dander and powder dust will be in your food and on all cooking surfaces in the kitchen - not completely sanitary.
There is also the idea that certain foods do not have great fumes for birds, onions being one, as they are toxic to birds and they are used in a lot of cooking. Same with garlic which is also toxic to birds and in a lot of foods.
I agree with NotEnoughTime that I would err on the side of caution especially for long term health.
Yes there are kitchens which are open concept or connect to living and dining rooms, but often the open area space is much larger meaning those fumes can disperse to lower concentrations.
Obviously it's personal preference, but if it were me, I wouldn't keep a bird in the kitchen.

Melanie

[Tyne]

I have two GCCs in my kitchen area. They are mostly cageless. I don't leave anything out on the counters that the birds could possibly harm themselves on. I'm also very careful when I use the oven or stove (and afterward too . . . making sure everything's cooled off and the dishes are all put away before I leave). I've had this particular living situation for a couple months now without any trouble.

On the other end of things, I clean regularly with bird-safe products in order to keep everything sanitary.

[failurebydesign]

Well eclectus aren't particularly dusty, and I have had so many dogs in and out of here for grooming that I am sure dog hair is in all of our food by now lol.

I wish I didn't have to keep him in the kitchen but I do, next year we will be moving and hopefully he will be in the living room :)

[Jan in MD]

Originally Posted by LovelySydney

Im luck to have an upstairs landing where my parrotlet Oliver is housed. He gets plenty of light and air and generally enjoys it. Its also far away from my bf's "man cave" so he cant complain about the noise = )

Noise? From a parrotlet??? Send that man over here for a few days, and he'll never complain about anything.

[Digital_Fid]

Yes, we have a Corella and an Eclectus that live in the dining room, joining the kitchen.

It's good to be aware that fumes can make your birds sick or worse, but having said that it just hasn't been as issue for us - with adequate ventiolation and common sense, no problem.

It's easy to get a bit paranoid with all the talk of teflon, bleach etc - where you may think that leaving the teflon pan in the sun may heat it up enough to instantly fill the entire suburb with a gas more leathal than mustard gas! We started off with the most rediculous methods and rules about how to keep the birds "safe" but over the years we've realised that it was way overboard at the start.

Common sense will always get you through - never forget about fact that if you let your standards slip, you may harm your birds.

I'd be more worried about the big statistics - a *lot* of birdie mishaps happen with kitchen cooking activities - boiling water, frypan etc. Make sure they are in thier cage when you've got the hot stuff going - especially if they are flighted.

DF