A bird drinking milk???

[Taylor]

Hi guys i've had my lovebird for almost a year now and lately she's taken on this weird habit of drinking milk. I know it's not good for them so i dont let her have it anymore but she still tries to come and drink out of my cup. She doesnt do this with any other liquid just milk and i was wondering if your birds do the same thing or would know why my bird has taken up this strange habit.

[Monica]

She probably drinks it because you are drinking it so often, and she likes it, so naturally wants some, too... birds are indeed lactose intolerant as they don't have the enzymes to digest the milk sugars, so it is best to keep it away from her.

[Taylor]

That's interesting. I know milk is bad for birds so i don't let her have any but it's nice to know why she was drinking it in the first place.

[yehudasf]

BS"D

While birds in their natural state do not produce lactAse, the enzyme necessary to digest lactOse (the milk sugar), if your bird shows a clear desire for dairy delights, simply get some lactAse from your local apothecary druggist health food store, & add it to whatever he/she will be allowed to have. Not only is he/she then happy, it is a great way to (if you give a good live culture milk, or yoghurt) enhance his/her positve gut flora. This in turn makes him/her less likely to contract other bacterial ickies.

[Beaks]

LMAO I have seen wild parrots drink it straight from the bucket at a dairy or two (pretty much every morning and i sometimes let my birds drink a little (it is good for them)

John

[LMPego]

Both my birds love milk, but I only let them have about a spoonful. Zen likes to lick it off the spoon - so cute!

[mamalovesrico]

I drink a lot of milk, tomato juice, coffee and water. Rico loves milk and will pull my glass away from me as I'm drinking it. I let him have some every moring. He doesn't drink much. He also loves my coffee. I know this is a no no, but he gets a little.
He has to have water if he sees me drinking out of a water bottle, so I take off the lid and pour it in the lid for him.
He hates tomato juice. Doesn't want anything to do with it.

[Taylor]

Me too! My bird, if she is sitting on my shoulder at the time, will try and come and yank my glass away from my mouth, its really cute. Thanks yehudasf i will definitely try and find some of that lactase stuff, and yeah when i did let her have milk it was only a couple birdie sized mouthfuls.