A bag of grit (photo by Des Colhoun)
Many people take nutritional supplements every morning to support their health. So what about giving dietary supplements to our pets? Should we add joint supplements in the dog’s chow, vitamins to the cat’s water, or a dish of grit in the bird’s cage?
There are over 10 000 species of birds in the world. With so many different species, it is not surprising that there is a wide variation in diet. Their diet ranges from insects, seeds, fruits, nectar, and even to other birds.Birds in the wild eat a significant amount of food to fuel their caloric needs. Some of these diets are harder to digest than others, so you can imagine that these birds would need some mechanism to help grind up their food for faster digestion and absorption.
Green parrot (photo by Yihzy)
Some birds have strong beaks to crack the hard shells of insects, others use their sharp talons tear apart flesh. However, some species of birds ingest ground up minerals and sand to aid digestion. Birds in the wild consume items that are hard to digest, like seeds with hard shells. Birds grind up the seeds in their gizzards, which is a specialized organ built to grind up food. The ingested minerals and sand will help remove husks and shells from the seeds and make digestion easier.
Bird in cage (photo by Planet V)
However, should we give grit to our pet birds? Birds in captivity do not have a choice of what they eat because the owners control the diet of the pet birds. Most commercial bird foods are made for birds to easily digest and absorb, with all the essential nutrition that the bird needs. Furthermore, pet birds often do not have the freedom to fly and expend energy. They do not need grit to help speed up the absorption of nutrients. Another issue is too much grit will cause obstruction of the digestive tract. It is also important to know the content of the grit. Some grit contains charcoal, which will inhibit the absorption of certain nutrients. Below is a video of a breeder mixing his own grit for his birds.
(Although in the video the person adds charcoal, other articles say to avoid charcoal )
So is it necessary to spend the extra money to buy grit for pet birds? An alternative to buying grit would be to add crushed egg or oyster shells to the bird feed. Not only do the shells help with digestion, they also provide extra calcium to the bird’s diet.
References
Do Pet Birds Need Grit in Their Diets?
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