Buckwheat for birds (with Info Table)
Buckwheat for birds (with Info Table) – content creator: Petrus Albertus van Tonder
| Name: |
| Buckwheat |
| Scientific name: |
| Fagopyrum esculentum |
| Also known as: |
| Common buckwheat, Japanese buckwheat, and silver hull buckwheat |
| Indigenous Countries: |
| First cultivated in inland Southeast Asia, possibly around 6000 BCE. |
| Can be given to: |
| Parrots, budgies, parakeets, finches, cockatiels, lovebirds, canaries, and conures. |
| Description: |
| A plant cultivated for its grain-like seeds. |
| Nutritional Value: |
| Rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals. |
| Feeding: |
| Cooked and can also be sprouted. Buckwheat can be soaked for an hour and then boiled until it becomes slightly soft. |
| Discussion: |
| Please see below from Tony Silva. |
| Featured photo courtesy: |
| Wikipedia |
About buckwheat for birds by: Tony Silva:
For those hobbyists that feed seed diets, my recommendation is to offer as much variety as possible and to limit the seeds to no more than 60% of the overall diet. These seeds should be offered in like-sized groups to reduce waste and selected to meet the nutritional requirements for the species being maintained, ie. lowest in fat for species prone to obesity like Amazons and cockatoos (especially the Galah (Eolophus roseicapillus) or fatty liver disease (like the Quaker Parakeet Myiopsitta monachus) and higher in fat for species like African Greys Psittacus erithacus and macaws that need more fat in their daily diet. For parrots needing fat, small sunflower, safflower, hemp, and shelled peanuts can be offered one day, and assorted millets, oats, buckwheat, perilla, etc. on another day. If the birds will eat them, items like pumpkin seeds can be included.
For species prone to obesity, a few small sunflower and safflower seeds can be mixed with wheat, milo, paddy rice, popcorn, oats, buckwheat, and other similar-sized seeds as a treat. For both groups, I always recommend adding some pellets to the diet for variety. (For birds fed a pelleted diet, a few sunflower or safflower seeds are a great treat and should be included in the diet.) The pellets can be sized to the seed type being fed. For Budgerigars, a selection of millets (Japanese, red, white, and yellow), husked oats, linseed, and canary seed can be provided, the selection is varied from day to day. The intention is to offer as much variety as possible and to encourage the bird to eat everything.
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