Nutrition Contents

Protein 

• Protein and Parrots by Mike Owen 
• Protein by Malcolm Green 
• Protein Basics by gloria scholbe 
• Sulphur containing Amino Acids
• Fats: Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) 
• • The importance of dietary fat
  • Red Palm Oil 
  • Health and EFAs 
• Carbohydrates 
• Water

• Vitamin A 
• Vitamin D 
• Vitamin E 
• Susan's Vitamin Chart 

Minerals

• Aluminum
•  Zinc 
• Iodine - budgies

• Nutritional Content of Seed  
• Quinoa 

Water

• Water

 My understanding of proteins and amino acids comes from a variety of sources, but I will use the Nutritional Almanac here since I have already mentioned it. What it says is very clear and concise, and I can do no better than to quote two paragraphs from it direct:- 

"The body requires approximately 22 amino acids in a specific pattern to make human protein.  All but 8 of these amino acids can be produced in the adult body.  The 8 that cannot be produced are called "essential amino acids" because they must be supplied in the diet.  In order for the body to properly synthesize protein, all the essential amino acids must be present simultaneously and in the proper proportions.  If just one essential amino acid is low or missing, even temporarily, protein synthesis will fall to a very low level or stop  altogether.  The result is that all amino acids are reduced in the same proportions as the amino acid that is low or missing.

Foods containing protein may or may not contain all the essential amino acids. When the food contains all the essential amino acids it is termed" complete-protein".  Foods that lack or are extremely low in any one of the essential amino acids are called "incomplete-protein".  Most meats and dairy products are complete-protein foods while most vegetables and fruits are incomplete-protein foods.   To obtain a complete-protein meal from incomplete proteins one must combine foods carefully so that those weak in an essential amino acid will be balanced by those adequate in the same amino acid."

Although the quoted text above refers to human protein needs, but it seems that birds closely mirror human protein requirements, the proportions of essential amino acids needed may vary but the same amino acids are essential.

What this all means is that, for example, if a bird is receiving what should be an an adequate total protein intake of around 12%, but that the Lysine (an essential amino acid) content is only half of what is needed (0.3% instead of0.6%), then the total effective protein intake is half, i.e. only 6% and a protein deficiency may result.  Now, as the Nutritional Almanac mentions, meat and dairy products are rich in the essential amino acids when compared to fruit and vegetables, however some vegetable can contain reasonable levels of essential amino acids - principally of value to birds are oil seeds such as sunflower, beans and nuts.  However for many birds - especially when breeding -the essential amino acid levels of fruit and vegetables may not be high enough to allow successful breeding.

Amongst the Australian parrots, Rosellas in the wild have been shown to intake up to a third of their food as insects and grubs when feeding babies.  It is almost impossible to breed Gang Gang Cockatoos without providing animal protein - dead mice is the usual way this is done.  Yellow-tail Black Cockatoos will seek out grubs from the inside of branches of wattle trees, often destroying the branch in the process.  Even Galahs will be far more successful breeding when given animal protein - cooked chop bones or T-bones are a favorite in the aviary.  Wild Lorikeets are also thought to intake significant insects when breeding.

The necessary protein intake (assuming the various amino acids are balanced) is known for very few parrots.  Cockatiels are probably the best studied with the Roudybush work at Davis - from memory an adult non-breeding cockatiel needed about 12% while a baby needed about 20% protein. The issue of wild birds taking animal protein is discussed above.

The above sentence as well as what follows, seems to be in error.  Using the USDA web site given above the level for

raw soy beans is 36.4% while soybean sprouts are listed at 13.09%. Broad beans are at 26.12%

Other values for raw vegetables and fruit.

Broccoli & Kale 3.3% at USDA site

Spinach2.86% at USDA site

Watercress2.3% at USDA site

 Cauliflower 1.98% at USDA site

Parsley 2.94% at USDA site

Potatoe 2.07% at USDA site - (raw with skins - it has lots of alternative types)

Sweet potatoes 1.65% and yam 1.53% at the USDA site

Brown rice is about 2.5%, most non-oil seeds for birds are around 10 to 14%, 

while oil seeds can be up to around 25% - but there is a lot of variation depending on the growing conditions and varieties.

Apple is at .15%

1.2% for a whole lemon and 0.38% for lemon juice.

Protein does also provide calories, about 4 calories per gram of protein, but only if excess to the body's protein requirements.  If the diet contains a variety of foods which consists only of fruit and vegetables then it could easily be protein deficient.  A vegetarian diet still needs to have an adequate intake of essential amino acids (extremely low in most fruit and vegetables) or else it will be protein deficient - which means if you don't like beans or nuts then you are in trouble!

Any discussion about nutrition needs to be based on facts, and one of the most basic fact is the composition of each foodstuff given to our birds.  It is therefore important that values such as those that were posted for protein levels of fruit and vegetables are accurate.  In the interest of accuracy it is well worth visiting the USDA site referenced at the start of this email and to check the composition of as many of the foodstuffs that you give to your birds.

Mike Owen
Queensland 

Protein by Malcolm Green 

Just looking at protein percentages is very misleading. The protein energy
ratio is the key issue. And captive birds require a much lower energy diet
than wild birds simply because they get less excercise. Lower energy equals
higher protein.

So the issue then becomes one of protein quality. If you feed only plant
protein (seeds, nuts, fruit and vegetables) you will never balance the amino
acid profile. So your bird will always have to break down and excrete about
40% of the protein they ingest. It is this material that the kidneys have
to cope with. Feeding low protein diets just forces the bird to eat more to
get enough protein and hence they eat too much energy and get overweight.
Not healthy either!

Supplying some of the protein as animal protein (make sure it isn't high in
fat like whole egg, cheese, fatty chicken or you are still not helping much)
will help. But adding the amino acids lysine and methionine to the diet
will achieve close to perfectly balanced protein. The bird eats less,
doesn't get fat and doesn't stress the kidneys excreting all those toxic
nitrogen compounds. As an added bonus they breed better, molt faster and
produce excellent quality feathers! It doesn't need to cost much as amino
acids can be added to any on food vitamin supplement. Unfortunately few
manufacturers add the right quantities.

I think we can get far too bogged down with the detail on amino acids etc. To me there are a number of key points:

1. It is great to look at wild bird diets but we should only use them as a guide to feeding our captive birds.  Firstly because many wild bird diets are inadequate.  Millions of birds must die of malnutrition every year -its called natural population control.  Secondly the energy requirements of captive birds are far lower than for wild birds while their protein requirements remain similar.  This is because wild birds have to travel far greater distances to find and collect food than their aviary cousins.  This leads on to the next point:

2. So captive birds need more protein per unit energy (or less energy per unit protein) than wild birds.

As Mike explained, the amount of useable protein supplied by plants is far less than the total protein content of that food.  In fact the bird can utilize just over half the protein it gets from plant sources. Mixing foods with better or worse amino acid profiles together only nudges the food value a little.  Adding the limiting amino acids as a supplement can make the protein 100 percent useable.  To do this fully you would have
to add eight (or eleven) depending who you believe different limiting amino acids.  However if you just add Lysine and Methionine you get nearly the full benefit at significantly lower cost.

By turning the "incomplete" protein into a "complete" protein requirements we have changed the protein: energy ratio dramatically.  And remember it is this ration that is important not the percentage protein content.

By this method we roughly halve the amount of food the bird has to eat each day in order to satisfy its protein needs.  And our customers report seed consumption reductions of these levels in many of their birds.  There are lots of benefits:

a) Birds eat less so save you money

b) Birds eat less so are less likely to get overweight.  This really is the safest way to control obesity.  Again we have demonstrated this time and again especially with overweight show budgies.

c) Because these limiting amino acids are found in huge quantities in plumage, feather quality will improve and molting will be quicker. We routinely shorten the molt of birds of prey by six weeks using this approach.  And they are already eating "complete" protein!  This emphasizes the special need for Lysine and Methionine for feather formation.  Research carried out at the Institute of Animal Nutrition in Hanover suggests that" molting supplements" without amino acids simply don't work.

Finally don't bother with water soluble supplements which claim to contain methionine.  This amino acid smells horrible in most people's tap water so only tiny amounts can be supplied this way.  Methionine must go on food to be available in adequate quantities.

There are plenty of articles about this subject on our web site for those of you who want to know more.

http://www.BirdcareCo.com

Malcolm Green