Turmeric!

[Pajarita]

Learn about its health benefits:

https://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating ... 8-40378997

[cstone01]

Is this for birds or people? The store near me sells raw turmeric like ginger, how do you give it to a bird? I give Hephaestion small pieces of raw ginger to make his cage smell good. Does it need to be cooked to give it in pieces they way I feed Jerusalem artichokes?

[Pajarita]

In all honesty, I do not give my birds turmeric. Two reasons: they do NOT like the taste and there are problems with it. Turmeric has been used for centuries as a spice (think curry) and the chemical element, curcumin, in non-traditional medicine BUT it cannot be taken forever (some say no longer than 8 months, some say 12 months). It also has side effects like nausea, stomach upset, blood thinning, etc. So, although it has been found to be good for pain and inflammation (most of the other claims are not supported by science - at least, yet), I only have one single parrot which could benefit from it (she has arthritis in her feet and legs) and, as it cannot be given all the time and can cause more problems than the ones it would solve -for which I have alternate herbal solutions- I choose not to use it. I am VERY careful about what I give to my birds... one of my mottos with them is: When in doubt, don't! Because (another motto) better safe than sorry!

Also, there are two types of turmeric, the real one and the Javanese one (aka Java ginger) - and that one has not only different effects but it can also not be used for more than 18 weeks!

I give my birds ginger every week as seasoning (the powdered one which I generously sprinkle on the gloop) - they LOVE it!