Ask the Expert: Broccoli for Your Parrot

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Ask the Expert: Broccoli for Your Parrot

A healthy diet is essential to having a healthy parrot. Besides a good pelleted diet, vegetables should always be offered. Many people say it is a hassle to take time to prepare vegetables for their parrots and in return, the birds are missing out on important vitamins and minerals they need for their body to create, grow, and maintain optimum health.

Ask the Expert: Broccoli for Your Parrot

Since 2005, Harmony House Foods has provided easy, quick, and healthy food for all humans to enjoy! One of our happy customers Lisa A. Bono doesn't stop there. She uses our non-GMO vegetables for her flock of grey parrots. As a Certified Parrot Behavior Consultant, she agreed to give advice for other bird owners on how to use our high-quality products for a healthy parrot diet. Read below for her insights on how to incorporate broccoli.

Lisa A. Bono - Certified Parrot Behavior Consultant

A heathy diet is essential to having a healthy parrot. Besides a good pelleted diet, vegetables should aways be offered. Many people say it is a hassle to take time to prepare vegetables for their parrots and in return, the birds are missing out on important vitamins and minerals they need for their body to create, grow, and maintain optimum health. While pelleted diets contain vitamins and minerals, a seed diet does not.

Harmony House is a human food company offering freeze-dried, dehydrated, and organic fruits and vegetables that I have used over the past decade with my own flock. I’ve partnered with them to offer some suggestions for parrot owners, far and wide, to try. The products can be fed reconstituted or as is, mixed in with other food. I cook mine up with different ingredients such as couscous, veggie pasta, quinoa, nuts, or prepackaged cookable bird foods to add optimum vegetable content.

In the next few installments of the Harmony House Parrot Blog, I will discuss some of the products they produce and why it can be beneficial to offer them to our companion parrots.

Highlighting Broccoli

Broccoli is packed with vitamins and minerals that can be valuable for us and our parrots.

They include but are not limited to the following:

Calcium is important to almost every bodily function. It is mainly stored in the bones. All creatures need it for their muscles to move and for nerves to carry messages between the brain and every part of the body.

Iron aids in proper oxygen circulation in the blood. The body needs iron for growth and development.

Magnesium helps support healthy calcium absorption. It also helps to regulate muscle and nerve function, blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and making protein, bone, and DNA.

Phosphorus is needed for strong bones.

Selenium supports good eyesight and helps to prevent cataracts.

Vitamin A helps with energy, plumage, and eye health. Vitamin A is essential for many physiological processes and for maintaining a healthy immune system.

Vitamin C is needed for connective tissue health and healing. It is needed for your body to form blood vessels, cartilage, muscle, and collagen in bones.

Vitamin K is important for bone health and metabolism. The body also needs Vitamin K for blood clotting and to help wounds heal.

Broccoli is low in saturated fats and cholesterol and is a great source of protein while having a low sugar and calorie content. The anti-inflammatory power of broccoli is also tied to reducing the risk of chronic diseases.