Soybeans, edamame may kill your parrot...

[Rob E]

I'm sorry if this is old news but I feel it's worthy of a re-post.

credit to bobojenday, who posted this some time ago...

"SOY BEANS
There is more and more disturbing data found about soy beans and products. Soy beans in their natural state contain large quantities of natural toxins and there is data that soy is cumulatively toxic when fed to animals. For example, The PARROT SOCIETY NEW ZEALAND claims that soy products in bird food have caused such problems as immune system breakdown, failure of organs and multiplication of the birds' own benign bacteria."
----------------------------------------------------

I'm sorry to have to verify that in my experience, this is true. I fed my BFA a very varied and, so I thought, healthy diet. Steamed soybeans (edamame) were a regular part of the rotation. Years ago, she rejected my attempts to switch her to a pelleted diet, but she received a variety of fruits, seeds, greens and meat, eggs, pasta, etc., and always seemed to have a good appetite and enjoy her meals.

She was the light of my life for almost twenty-four years. While she ate in the cage (a spacious Jock), I never locked her up. I never had her clipped after the first two years, and permitted her freedom to fly 99.5% of the time. There was a different perch in every room of the house for her. I understand that flying around indoors, in no way compares to flight in the wild, but she did get about as much exercise as a pet parrot could have. She had toys, mental stimulation, and a lot of hands-on time. With me, though not everyone else she was gentle and permitted much intimate handling.

I loved this parrot dearly and mention the above synopsis, just so you have a general idea of the type of life we had with each other. Much time and effort from day one went into building up, what became a very special bond between us. I wish that every parrot owner could have as wonderful an experience of their bird(s) as I had with mine.

One evening, I noticed she couldn't keep down her food. She threw-up a few times that evening, and her droppings were very loose, not solid. There were virtually no symptoms prior to this. I'm located in Westchester (NY), and I took her to Bond Animal Hospital the next day. I was fortunate to have the services of Dr. Laurie Hess, an excellent avian vet, but despite numerous tests, medicinal administrations and a few thousand dollars spent, the parrots condition only worsened. I was at the animal hospital every other day for about a week but in the end I was left no choice but to euthanize.

I knew my parrot. She was always a bright eyed, energetic little bluefront, who always seemed to be smiling. At the end she was so weak and tired... she looked at me as if to say, "I can't go on", and it was the most terrible decision I ever had to make. I put her down out of love, as her suffering seemed almost unbearable to her, and me as well.

I didn't have a necropsy done, but based on test results and symptoms, I did ask the vet to open her up and tell me what she saw, and she did. I need not go into the details... Her symptoms and condition were the same as described in the above (re-posted) paragragh.

The bottom line here is my non-professional opinion only... I later, did as much research online as I possibly could have and I'm convinced what precipated her failing condition and early demise was my feeding her soybeans once or twice a week over a number of years. I though they were healthy for her. She seemed to enjoy them. If I only had it all to do over again.

I decided to post this for other parrot owners/lovers to consider. Your opinions and experience might not mirror mine, but is it worth the risk?

Regards,
Robert

[TikusMom]

I am so very sorry to hear of your beloved bird's untimely passing. I know how heart breaking it is to lose a pet that is so close to your heart, especially when you tried to do everything right.
In retrospect, she may have saved countless others of her feathered kindred from a similar fate. So, in that, I say thank you for sharing your story and all that you have learned from your terrible ordeal.
My prayers go out to you and to your dear little BFA.

[Rob E]

Thank you... sincerely, for your sentiment. I hope the post will make a difference in the lives of other parrots (and humans).

[loyallyroyal]

oh, dear. Dewey (ekkie) loves soybeans, its a good thing you posted this, his soybeans/tofu days are over.

[milkevi]

So sorry about your BFA. Remember that any BEAN is toxic to parrots unless it is cooked (boiled) until soft. Steamming them won't work, they must be boiled for about an hour or so, this effectively removes the toxins. Just an FYI.

[Rob E]

Originally Posted by milkevi

So sorry about your BFA. Remember that any BEAN is toxic to parrots unless it is cooked (boiled) until soft. Steamming them won't work, they must be boiled for about an hour or so, this effectively removes the toxins. Just an FYI.

Thank you for the info and the sentiment. The soybeans were always soft to eat. Sometimes I steamed them myself, but usually I took them home cooked, from the sushi bar.

[milkevi]

Oh wow...maybe this wasn't the cause of your BFA's illness. Notice in your original post the quote "Soy beans in their natural state contain large quantities" it even says in their NATURAL state. Again, I'm just guessing here..it would be nice to hear from some nutritional 'experts' to see what their opinions are. I know that Hagan makes food containing soybeans < TROPIMIX - 100% EDIBLE FRUIT, NUT & BEAN MIX > so I'm wondering about the vality of this theory? Of course this is all JMO! Kevin

[Rob E]

No I'm pretty convinced. That quote wasn't my only source of info. Here's some that I pulled off of another website. A lot of info here. Scroll down half the page for soy (reposted below).

Avian Natural Veterinary Care and Bird's Optimum Nutrition

The health claims of the soy industry have one purpose and one purpose alone - to sell more soy! That's why you'll only hear about the benefits of soy from the industry, but Soy Online Services thinks all consumers deserve the right to make an informed choice about what they are eating and feeding to their children, their household pets and their livestock.

Soy Online Services found a wealth of evidence that the soy toxins cause both acute and chronic effects in both animals and humans. The industry refers to the soy toxins as 'anti-nutrients' but, in fact, they are classed with environmental toxins and they are present in every food product that contains soy. As often occurs in cases of environmental poisoning, Soy Online Services first became aware of the toxicity of soy because of its effects on animals. The harm that soy causes animals has been known for decades, but this fact currently appears to be ignored by manufacturers of animal feeds who are ever eager to utilise cheap sources of protein in their products. The use of new generation bird feeds that contained soy coincided with thousands of bird deaths and disorders. These effects were widespread and were reported by many of New Zealand's leading parrot breeders:

* beak and bone deformities
* goitre.
* immune system disorders.
* infertility.
* premature maturation.

Bird breeders noted that a common factor in the diets of affected parrots was soy protein. But could the effects seen in parrots be explained by the presence of the soy toxins? Soy is high in phytate, which reduces mineral bioavailability. Upset the delicate mineral balance in a parrot's diets and bone and beak disorders are the result. Soybeans contain high levels of phytoestrogens. Although investigators didn't know it at the time, the compounds are powerful immune-suppressants, potent goitrogens (the goitrogenic effects of soy products are even discussed at length in the text 'Diseases of Caged Birds' - TFH Publications, 1988) and as the name suggests, able to elicit estrogenic effects. Strong candidates then as the cause of the infertility and premature maturation. (see pictures of premature maturation of Juvenile (green) and adult (red) Crimson Rosellas)...

[milkevi]

Very interesting Rob. I would love to see what the researchers from these companies using soybeans in their bird foods would have to say. Do you think if we email hagan they would give us some insight on their thought about soy? This is all so very important for the sake of our birds health - I think we need definite answers here - and if it is bad for them then we need to pressure manufacturers to quit using it or stop buying their products.

[milkevi]

Well, while searching the Hagan website I found this in the Q&A section:

Soy in Parrot Food

Question
I have been reading a lot about soy in food for birds as well as cats, dogs and humans.

Is the soy in your food dangerous for birds?


Answer
We are quite aware of the small danger of using uncooked and unfermented soy in pet foods. We do not use this form of soy for our various pet food products. Instead, when we do use soy, we use completely cooked and well processed Soy Bean Meal. Our full cooking process destroys the Trypsin inhibitors, secondary plant compounds and removes the oil as well.

All we want to incorporate into our foods is the excellent protein that is left.

Then we mix the soy bean meal with 85 percent by weight from EIGHT other grains and nuts. Once thoroughtly mixed we then extrude it for another 30 minutes at high temperature.

Our Fat content listed on the packages comes from mutltiple sources as does our Protein including Sunflower and roasted peanuts.

Parrots that eat our Tropican look amazing and we are breeding second generation birds at our HARI breeding center:

Home Birds - then the HARI selection on the left menu

So yes, we agree that raw soybean is not very good for avian, or many other nutritonaly requirements. Our resaearch long ago precluded its use and that certainly is not what we put in our Parrot Foods.


Not sure this answers the question though.....