Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 12:27 pm Post subject: gathering food for kaks.
i was wondering what food i could gather for my kaks but i don't know whats safe and whats not. i have elderberry out the back and dandilion, blackberries and numurous trees which all seed.
could it be possible for everyone to add to this firstly by letting me know if the ones i mentioned are safe and then adding others which they use or know to be safe, why pay for what wild birds get for free. by this tho i dont mean allotments just the wild stuff! _________________ thanks brucie.....
You can also use the quicksearch block on the left sidebar of the forum, any word like dandelion, garlic etc... will turn back posts in which the word is used.
I think most wild and aromatic herbs are not toxic to kakariki in reasonable dosages.
I have given them parsley, dandelion, oregano, mint, nettle, etc... with no signs of intoxication. In fact many labs and industries are offering herb extracts as miracle products for men & beast.
Cheers / Pablo _________________ AD ASTRA PER ASPERA
We found our kaks love fresh grass seeds of all sorts, we collect the green stalks while out walking. We have also given them beach masts, haven't tried acorns yet, but will do when can collect some. They still love dandelions but they really like fresh seeds still in the pod where they can dig it out with with beak (dandelion seed pods etc). Any wild seeds that wild birds eat I'm sure will be ok. Not sure about herbs and stuff, I've tried mint several times and they look at me like I'm trying to kill them whenever they took it off me. Willow buds in spring were a big hit.
Let us know what you find yours eat, I'm all for getting free food!!
I don't really recommend this practice but I have tried a bit of everything and so far never found a sick kike, cockatiel or budgie with signs of intoxication.
Usually the first time I try something new I throw 1 bit in just 1 of the aviaries or cages and see the results.
Usually poisonous plants are really really bitter so I guess the birds are not very likely to eat them. Steps has even mentioned certain experiments with rat poison and other stuff.
Also, as Peter Wouters usually have said here in the forum, what is toxic is the dosage, not the substance itself.
Cheers / Pablo _________________ AD ASTRA PER ASPERA
I have been using 'wild' foods too.
My kakariki love elderberries, herbs including the ones grown more for garden pleasure than usage- like verbena and pineapple sage, rose petals, mountain ash berries, pyracantha and hawthorn berries, the orange flowers on the 'lucifer' plant, wild blackberries, strawberries, cherries and raspberries, wild garlic, quite a lot of summer flowering plants, hebe leaves and flowers, the list is LONG!
None have harmed my birds, and they relish the different foods.
Have an undertanding of a natural environment, and only try things you dont feel will harm.
My birds have turned their 'noses' up at some things- they seem to have a good instinct of
good and bad.
I havent tried seed related plants yet, as my birds dont really eat a lot (about a teacup a week at most) of seed anyway. Most of their food is fresh- which is how I started trying them on wild foods.
Dont feed them ANYTHING from a road side though- traffic pollution is NOT a good idea.
:) _________________ ~~~Sanjra~~~
Check out acorns...I have a hazey recolection something is suspect about them??? We have an oak three , every yr I see them on the ground and never get aropund to re check up on them
Wild stuff....yep we sort a feed mostly 'wild' ...
Our gardens and lawns have no weeds, but we do have a Puha (think u guys call it milkweed or milk thistle??)
a dandilion and a nastershin 'garden'
But caution re wild stuff....as Pab refers to....
We do not wash anything....BUT always remember unless one reproduces everthing they get in the wild...and that includes herbs, necteur, nectur gone off (vinegar) etc , you can introduce worms mites etc unless they have these other things to maintain very good resistance.
Personally I believe if they do get wild and the other stuff one has far bigger , better , healther , more resistant birds, than sometning raised and kept in a semi sterile enviroment.
Poisoness plants ...We because of Dept Conservation rules in NZ, a lot of our kakariki get their heads chopped off....so we experiment
In an old thread I mention that we have put privet, tobacco weed, and even caster oil plant in the flight...for a week...even avaray breed kakariki dont touych it, dont play in the branches or even go to that end of the flight.
Caution to collecting wild stuff, always know if it has or has not been sprayed with something....espec things like roses /hips etc
Stay way from grasses around lamp posts etc...that where cats and dogs frequent.
But as far as Im concerned go for it...like I always say...a varied and consistant diet. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
many things do have an arsanic content in the wild it is quite common and im sure at one point i heard acorns do.
Elderberries get hammered every year by the birds round here. a wild bird doesn't eat the same all year round, they have to eat what is available to them in each season and by collecting whats available as just an extra to there usual diet i can let them choose, maybe the birds know better than us. _________________ thanks brucie.....
no was wrong no arsenic in acorns but they do contain tannins which give them their bitter taste, we can't process it properly neither can horses, but most rodents can and jays, pigeons crows whether kaks can i couldn't find out. _________________ thanks brucie.....
what I usually do is recolect the wild stuff mornings that dew has been intense or there has been light rain or drizzle for enough hours that it makes me feel safe the plants are reasonably clean.
Poisonous plants I think, are usually poisonous in high doses, if you just take a bite they usually simply have a really disgusting flavor as to disencourage animals from eating it.
Cheers / Pablo _________________ AD ASTRA PER ASPERA
Still not sure, but never killed any birds, I was crushing the acorns and giving them a little...about 1 acorn per 4 birds and not everyday; they were eating them but not with the same keeness that they would a berry etc.
I don't bother anymore, but must give it another try with maybe immature acorns.
Try some, but just maybe not on your more valuable birds.
As Steps says, here we have surplus birds of no worth that can be experimented on.
Certainly pigs go crazy for acorns, ducks pheasants etc all love them.
Kakariki are a very tough and smart bird, they'll have a nibble on just about anything, if they aren't keen they'll leave it. Trust their instincts on natural substances. Man made stuff is by far the worst.
Nicola,
I think many of us feed them dandelions and similar plants/flowers. I feed mine the flowers and also the green leaves with no problems.
Cheers/ Pablo _________________ AD ASTRA PER ASPERA
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