Are your bird’s eating the “essential eight?”
by Leslie Moran
When you think about essential nutrients, six commonly come to mind, water, protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals. However, when using food as a medicine we’ve got to add two more to the list, enzymes and antioxidants.
As you read through this column, take a minute to compare the foods you feed now to those suggested here. By making a few small changes you can exponentially increase the quality of nutrition your birds receive.
Water: This nutrient is so underrated and is far more than just something for our birds to bathe in. Water is the most abundant element in the body, making up 50-60 per cent of its mass. Water is intricately involved in biochemical bodily processes including the transport of oxygen, nutrients and waste in and out of the cells. Water is vital for all digestion and absorption functions, and lubricates mucous membranes in the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts.