When bird owners learn that birds can benefit from adding different vegetables into their diet they are often curious about which vegetables they should introduce into their feathered friend’s diet.
In their quest to find the right vegetable to feed their birds I’m often asked can birds eat Kale?
The answer to this question is simple, yes, birds can eat kale. This vegetable is a great addition to any bird’s diet.
When you introduce new foods to a bird’s diet you give them the chance to experience new tastes and textures. Adding a variety of fruits and vegetables to your bird’s dinner bowl leads to a having a more healthy diet.
How Do I Prepare Kale for Birds to Eat?
The size of your bird may determine whether or not they are able to eat kale in leaf form. Smaller birds will need to have their kale finely chopped to reduce their chance of choking.
Chopped kale can be mixed with other foods in a bird’s food bowl. Birds need a varied diet that includes fruits, vegetables and seeds. They should eat food including vegetables in moderation.
It is important to remember that the more colourful your bird’s diet the healthier it is.
Kale can be served to birds either cooked or raw. Most people prefer to give their bird friends raw kale. This is because research has shown that cooked vegetables can lessen a vegetable’s nutrient content.
Hence, a bird will enjoy more health benefits of kale by eating it raw.
If you decide to feed cooked kale to your birds you need to make sure you streamline your cooking process. When you cook kale you may try to enhance the vegetable’s flavour by adding other ingredients but doing this could harm your bird.
Ingredients like garlic and onions are toxic to birds. Onions cause a bird’s mouth and oesophagus to become inflamed and can cause ulcers. Garlic on the other hand contains a chemical called allicin.
This chemical has the potential to cause anaemia in birds. When serving different cooked foods to your bird it is important not to use spices.
Other people like to cook their kale using oil. Birds can eat small amounts of oil without having any unfortunate side effects; however, if a bird consumes too much oil they can become obese or develop other health problems.
This occurs because oil is very high in fat.
Is Kale Good For Birds?
Kale is a dark leafy green vegetable that is thought to be a superfood. Superfoods have an abundance of nutrients, mineral and vitamins.
Kale is good for birds as along they eat this vegetable in moderation. One food should not make up the bulk of a bird’s diet. This is particularly true for kale because it can block calcium absorption.
If your bird eats only kale they will not be able to absorb the calcium they need. Calcium is necessary for your bird’s bone development. Calcium helps maintain your bird’s bone strength as the animal ages.
If a bird lacks calcium in their diet they will face a multitude of health problems. A bird’s body needs calcium to function properly. Calcium is important it transmitting nerve impulses and stabilizing metabolism.
It helps increase a bird’s fertility. Despite the fact that kale can block the absorption of calcium kale contains a small amount of calcium.
Vitamin A is found in kale. This vitamin is necessary for every function that takes place in a bird’s body. Vitamin A supports cell and tissue growth. It is essential for brain development, vision and the building of a bird’s skeletal system.
Present in kale is vitamin K. Vitamin K helps a bird’s blood to clot. The smallest injury a bird received would cause him/ her to bleed out if their blood was unable to clot..
Another important vitamin in kale is Vitamin C. Not only is this vitamin important in the promotion of healthy bones it helps with iron absorption. It also aids in the production of red blood cells.
One prominent mineral found in kale is copper. Copper helps with the development of blood vessels, bones, and connective tissue.