Kefir for parrots?

[zandische]

I have been making and drinking Kefir for awhile now and have been wondering if it is ok to give to my birds. Kefir is a natural probiotic drink made by culturing milk; the bacteria strains feed off the lactose and fat in the milk which cultures the milk and makes it extremely easy on human digestion. As someone with lactose intolerance and a whole host of other issues, Kefir has been instrumental in improving my health. It's very similar to plain yogurt but with a ton more probiotics in it. So far, I have refrained from giving it to my birds because the purist in me says that probiotics are not a natural part of their diet and since bird digestion is somewhat different from human digestion, these kinds of things may not be good for them, but I have heard of some people giving their birds yogurt on occasion with no issues.

 

What do you food experts think? Do any of you culture kefir and give it to your birds?

[Timbersmom]

Good question, I'm curious to hear the answer!

[Jayd]

Sorry to be disappointing you but it's not lactose free, it's low lactose. It's both high in sugar and sodium it isn't really good for our parrots. A human who is Lactose-intolerant can handle some lactose, a Grey cannot. Thanks Jay

[Timbersmom]

I wondered how close kefir was to yogurt, but don't really know the processes so didn't know. Thanks for the info Jay!

[Jayd]

I wondered how close kefir was to yogurt, but don't really know the processes so didn't know. Thanks for the info Jay!

The bacteria in yogurt -- including Lactobacillus acidophilus -- feed on lactose, digesting it and breaking it into its component compounds. This produces lactic acid, which reacts with the protein in yogurt to give it a characteristic creamy texture. The lactic acid also gives yogurt its sour flavor.So even if you're lactose-intolerant, you can still absorb the constituents of lactose once it's "pre-digested" by bacteria. Greek yogurt is also high in probiotics...Thanks Jay

 

[zandische]

Jay, your information is somewhat confusing. Why (as I have seen elsewhere on this board) would we suggest giving yogurt to birds when kefir contains the same (and more) strains of probiotic bacteria? The nutritional profiles of real kefir vs. greek yogurt are virtually identical, minus the additional strains of bacteria. Should we not be giving yogurt to birds? If it is safe to give plain/greek yogurt to our birds then I would think fundamentally, it would be safe to give homegrown kefir too, except that there are more strains of bacteria in the kefir and that is really where my question lies. Kefir colonizes the human gut whereas yogurt (and store bought kefir versions) do not, generally. I was hoping someone might have some sort of understanding of whether or not the bacteria in a probiotic like this would be potentially harmful to the digestive tracts of our birds.

http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html

 

*It should be noted what I am talking about is not store-bought kefir, which has things added to it to make people like the taste. This is made with whole milk and nothing else. There is no added sugar or sodium and any sugar naturally present in milk is in the form of lactose, which as you noted is mostly (if not completely) digested by the same bacteria that digest lactose in yogurt.

[Jayd]

Jay, your information is somewhat confusing. Why (as I have seen elsewhere on this board) would we suggest giving yogurt to birds when kefir contains the same (and more) strains of probiotic bacteria? The nutritional profiles of real kefir vs. greek yogurt are virtually identical, minus the additional strains of bacteria. Should we not be giving yogurt to birds? If it is safe to give plain/greek yogurt to our birds then I would think fundamentally, it would be safe to give homegrown kefir too, except that there are more strains of bacteria in the kefir and that is really where my question lies. Kefir colonizes the human gut whereas yogurt (and store bought kefir versions) do not, generally. I was hoping someone might have some sort of understanding of whether or not the bacteria in a probiotic like this would be potentially harmful to the digestive tracts of our birds.

http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html

 

*It should be noted what I am talking about is not store-bought kefir, which has things added to it to make people like the taste. This is made with whole milk and nothing else. There is no added sugar or sodium and any sugar naturally present in milk is in the form of lactose, which as you noted is mostly (if not completely) digested by the same bacteria that digest lactose in yogurt.

A key word, "Store Bought".............................Nothing confusing. There are a lot of things we can give our parrots if their homemade with out added ingredients. I'm probably the largest promoter of feeding or fids yogurt on this forum.

[zandische]

There's not much I eat (or my birds) that isn't home made or made out of a plant of some sort. :-) Thanks for clarifying! By the way, have you found that yogurt helps their health in any significant way, or do your fids just like it?

[Jayd]

There's not much I eat (or my birds) that isn't home made or made out of a plant of some sort. :-) Thanks for clarifying! By the way, have you found that yogurt helps their health in any significant way, or do your fids just like it?

Thank you, we do as you do, mostly fresh. We give yogurt as a prophylactic on a daily basis, and more it the get any medication. From yeast problems to gut problems as you've stated calls for yogurt.[probiotics]

[Jayd]

I don't see any reason why you couldn't give Homemade Kefir. I've never tried it...this is something that I have to look into. Our guys are so used to eating their yogurt out of a teaspoon...whenever we had to give antibiotics to any of our parrots, we made sure that they got their yogurt. We never did see any tummy problems...I take yogurt whenever I get antibiotics, before, during, and after...what's nice is one of our fids need no more than one half a teaspoon a day.