Canned Navy Beans?

[jenb416]

Is it ok for my congo African grey to eat canned navy beans as long as I rinse them off really well?

[Timbersmom]

I wonder about the sodium content? Salt isn't good for them.

[lovethatgrey]

Never used canned food please.

They are loaded with sodium and all kinds of additives. Best to purchase your own variety of dried beans at the local food store, soak and cover for minimum 8 hours or more and then cook until soft and well done.

 

Here are a few recipes on here...

 

http://parrotnation.com/tag/bean-mix-for-birds/

 

http://www.birdsnways.com/birds/rsoftfds.htm

[Wingy]

There organic salt free or almost salt free beans. Of course my guy doesn't like them one bit. There are also bags of salt free or almost salt free beans and vegetables in the frozen food section. Those he really likes, they are super easy and mix into other foods well. If you go the frozen route be sure to check the ingredient list for onions and pick them out.

[birdhouse]

http://www.health-alternatives.com/legumes-nutrition-chart.html

 

Fresh veggies are usually the first choice. I'd rather use frozen whenever fresh isn't available. But fresh veggies have a season & not all veggies are available frozen. Also, I'll do up large quantities of mash to freeze & it's not good to thaw & refreeze food w/o cooking it in between. So very rarely I'll use a canned veggie.

 

Occasionally I include a kidney, navy etc type bean in a mash just because they are healthy & have a "different" shape & consistency. But it is kind of a production to soak them & cook them well enough to make the skins safe for the fids. So it's my guilty little secret that very rarely, I have taken the lazy way out & thrown a in a can of beans.

 

Draining & rinsing actually removes a surprising percentage of the salt. I also bring them to a quick boil to further reduce the salt & ensure that the skins really are free of the hemaglutin (?) which is found in raw & undercooked beans. I think that's the toxin that puts those types of beans on some of the toxic food lists & the reason most of these legumes can't be use for sprouts. Always a good idea to cross reference at least one toxic food list before feeding legumes or broad beans to the birds, btw.

 

http://www.parrot-and-conure-world.com/non-toxic-for-birds.html