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Is Cc A Danger From "bird Seed"?

toomuchagony

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toomuchagony Apprentice
toomuchagony
Posted

Hi Gang!

Okay so now I am wondering about "bird seed" and it's danger of CC. I have 2 Zebra Finch caged birds, AND as an obvious part of our Canadian Wildlife Certified Backyard Habitat Gardens we feed da birds! Is there a danger of CC from handling the "grain laden" mixed bird seeds, suets, etc? :blink:

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Nancym Enthusiast
Nancym
Posted

I ran into someone who had elevated IgA and she couldn't figure out why because she had been gluten free a long time. She now thinks it was due to the bird seed she was using. I suppose that some of the wheat gets turned into dusty stuff and gets in the air, onto food, breathed in, etc.

kbtoyssni Contributor
kbtoyssni
Posted

I would get gluten-free food for the caged birds. The outdoor ones it depends. Maybe you could wear a mask while filling feeders or get another family member to do it?

YoloGx Rookie
YoloGx
Posted
I would get gluten-free food for the caged birds. The outdoor ones it depends. Maybe you could wear a mask while filling feeders or get another family member to do it?

Is there gluten free bird feed?

toomuchagony Apprentice
toomuchagony
Posted
  • Author
I ran into someone who had elevated IgA and she couldn't figure out why because she had been gluten free a long time. She now thinks it was due to the bird seed she was using. I suppose that some of the wheat gets turned into dusty stuff and gets in the air, onto food, breathed in, etc.

I would get gluten-free food for the caged birds. The outdoor ones it depends. Maybe you could wear a mask while filling feeders or get another family member to do it?

Is there gluten free bird feed?

Nancym... oh my oh my oh my... the bird seed, feathers, etc goes everywhere in the "little" suite I live in I'm afraid eh! I do "wash after handling seeds/suets", and I store them "in sealed containers apart as much as possible from my kitchen area" BUT my suite is sortta "1 big (wee) room" :( Sheeeeesh, I do hope it will NOT now prove necessary for me to not only go gluten-free, but also "Finch-Free"!!! :o

kbtoyssni... I don't think there is such a thing as "gluten-free Bird Food" for the Finches, they eat "grain" :ph34r: Dang eh... may be a dilemna I'll need to confront yet, but fer now I'll see "how/if" I can "minimize" within the environment to enuf degree. Lord willing I won't have to part with "Da-Guys" I truly adore their "chatter & cooing" in my daily HECTIC existing. :blink:

yolo... As I said above... I think that would be NO. Finches eat "a grains mix" that does contain "highly likely contaminated Oats" within it fer sure. The other "seeds" in it are "millet & niger" I think, but it may even contain "wheat" or "rye" as well. Incredibly, I have to admit thus far I actually have NOT read the "label" of the 2 seeds I feed, as when I bought it I had no idea I needed to and disposed of the box when I put the seeds into at first "a big plastic bag" so I could "mix the 2 up". Now I have it in an airtight container and not a bag, but have to recall to "read the boxes at the store" when I'm there, assuming that my combo "Brain Fog & Early Onset Alzheimers" permits me to remember it that is! :unsure:

Glutenfreefamily Enthusiast
Glutenfreefamily
Posted

I think you could get glutened :( I did from our guinea pig and had a horrible rash on my hands especially with cleaning the cages.

YoloGx Rookie
YoloGx
Posted
Nancym... oh my oh my oh my... the bird seed, feathers, etc goes everywhere in the "little" suite I live in I'm afraid eh! I do "wash after handling seeds/suets", and I store them "in sealed containers apart as much as possible from my kitchen area" BUT my suite is sortta "1 big (wee) room" :( Sheeeeesh, I do hope it will NOT now prove necessary for me to not only go gluten-free, but also "Finch-Free"!!! :o

kbtoyssni... I don't think there is such a thing as "gluten-free Bird Food" for the Finches, they eat "grain" :ph34r: Dang eh... may be a dilemna I'll need to confront yet, but fer now I'll see "how/if" I can "minimize" within the environment to enuf degree. Lord willing I won't have to part with "Da-Guys" I truly adore their "chatter & cooing" in my daily HECTIC existing. :blink:

yolo... As I said above... I think that would be NO. Finches eat "a grains mix" that does contain "highly likely contaminated Oats" within it fer sure. The other "seeds" in it are "millet & niger" I think, but it may even contain "wheat" or "rye" as well. Incredibly, I have to admit thus far I actually have NOT read the "label" of the 2 seeds I feed, as when I bought it I had no idea I needed to and disposed of the box when I put the seeds into at first "a big plastic bag" so I could "mix the 2 up". Now I have it in an airtight container and not a bag, but have to recall to "read the boxes at the store" when I'm there, assuming that my combo "Brain Fog & Early Onset Alzheimers" permits me to remember it that is! :unsure:

So I am wondering if somehow one could mix one's own. I mean, do they have to have oats? Or is making one's own gluten free mix just too expensive?

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ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

I do feed the outside birds but am very careful with the seed. Unfortunately I did end up having to find a home for my inside bird. I tried for a couple of years but the constant CC was just too much for me. My guy was really messy though, if your finches don't toss seed much you might be able to get away with keeping the area around the cage really clean and wearing gloves and a mask when you clean the cage.

You might be able to make your own gluten-free birdseed mix but I would contact an avian specialist before doing so to make sure you little friends have the nutrition they need. If you don't have a bird vet handy the DEC could get you in touch with a wildlife rehab person in your area. They would know what would work.

Del Rookie
Del
Posted

Sure am glad someone started this thread.....reminded me to post something I definitely found out by accident.....I have a beautiful teeny, tiny Goldies Lorikeet.....she loves to give kisses!!! Gidget, my GL, gave me kisses one night and I ended up being glutened....sure enough looked on the ingredients and there was WHEAT!!!! GL's only eat a powdered nectar.....which contain wheat....I can no longer feed her, wash her dishes or enjoy her kisses....but she can still "arrange" my hair!!!! Meant to warm everybody about it....thanks for reminding me!

Del :(

toomuchagony Apprentice
toomuchagony
Posted
  • Author

Hi Folks :D

A brief update on the situation here with Da'Guys... Well the BAD news was/is that I did confirm that in one of the "Vitamin Fortified Finch Seeds" (Hartz), there is GROUND WHEAT :ph34r: Fortunately, I was able to find an available "Finch Seed Mix", (Wetern Family) which contains NO WHEAT & NO OATS either, it is just a "millet & niger" mx, so at least that will be safe... never the less, a'course this still means that now I need to REPLACE THE DANG HUGE CAGE & EVERYTHING THAT WAS IN IT, <_< e'cept Da'Guys! AND as it happens, I can't get to do that for another week or so as am swamped, so am dreading lightly around the cage etc in the interim, and otherwise trusting by faith the Lord will grant me needed grace.

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted
so am dreading lightly around the cage etc in the interim,

I love the way you put that!

I am glad you were able to find a suitable seed. You might want to just take the cage out in the yard and give it a good go with a scrub brush instead of buying a new one. As long as you get it really clean you should be able to keep it.

DMS Newbie
DMS
Posted

Help! I am newly diagosed... we have two parakeets and a guniea pig (the piggie lives in my kitchen) I am reading a lot about finches.... is it just the food that I need to worry about?? what about parakeets???

DMS

5 years of lupus diagnosis (hopefully now it is celiac)

toomuchagony Apprentice
toomuchagony
Posted
  • Author
I love the way you put that!

I am glad you were able to find a suitable seed. You might want to just take the cage out in the yard and give it a good go with a scrub brush instead of buying a new one. As long as you get it really clean you should be able to keep it.

Help! I am newly diagosed... we have two parakeets and a guniea pig (the piggie lives in my kitchen) I am reading a lot about finches.... is it just the food that I need to worry about?? what about parakeets???

DMS

5 years of lupus diagnosis (hopefully now it is celiac)

Hi ravenwoodglass & DMS :D

Firstly, regards my Finches current cage... it is a BIG (3 ft high x 1 1/2 ft square) and VERY old cage, which has NO floor actually... it is simply "set into" a just slightly larger "corrigated cardboard box with about 5 in. high walls", wherein I place an "aluminum foil oven guard tray" as a "floor" lined with those "pregraveled cage liner papers", there is also a "homemade seed shield" of sorts, I have surrounded the lower 10 inches of the cage itself with more "corrigated cardboard box" by simply "twist-tying the corners together". Thus really, the truth is it is in fact long overdue for replacement, and so in this instance "making a lifestyle change for Celiac" has actually turned out to be a blessing which I feel certain shall prove to be beneficial "health wise" for both myself and also for my 2 sweet little feathered friends, as I am SURE that "cardboard" is always a convenient desirable place for all sorts of "undesirable organisims" to reside, from germs, to parasites, to wheat /grain dusts and/or molds, fungus, or.... ya git da idea eh, da cage is jis a scary place! :ph34r:

To DMS... well gee, I have to admit I am ignorant as to what exactly yer Guinea Pig "eats" :blink: Thus whether or not its presenting any dangers to yer "kitchen area" by "sharing the environmet" would seem to me dependant upon "whether or not wheat/rye/barley/oats are within any of its life requirements". As regards yer "budgies"... certainly step one for me here was "finding out what the ingredients of the seed I was feeding were, and whether wheat was present in it". In my case one turned out to be AFFIRMATIVE unfortunately, which meant a "change of seed product" was definetly necessary, but I was very pleasantly surprised that I was actually able to find a "Finch Seed Mix" which is completely safe having no wheat and no oats included in it, and amazingly "right in the same store I bought the other one at". In fact another added blessing I rather appreciate is this new "safe seed" is considerably "cheaper" too, as it happens to be the store's "house brand" (a'course not sure where ya live DMS, but I shopped at a store called "Price Smart" and the store brand is "Western Family", and I live in British Columbia Canada) Never the less though, where ever ya live. I think that if ya discover the seed/treats yer feeding to the budgies now DOES have wheat :ph34r: then ya will at the very least I'd say have to take a lesson from ravenwoodglass in the suggestion that you "scrub clean the cage/toys/etc", and then start a new utilizing ONLY foods and treats which contain NO "Celiac Grains" (or derivatives) wheat,rye,barley, and in the case of "lower pet grade products" I'd suggest staying clear of "oats" as well which can be also "contaminated by other lethal grains" :ph34r: However, the good news is, I do think it is possible that ya could just as I did, find a "suitable safe seed mix" for yer parakeets to live with ya long & happy! I do hope this is helpful to ya... sorry I can't assist ya much wit yer wee "piggie" but perhaps someone else will be able to provide ya wit information regards them yet. Meanwhile, shall pray it ALL works out :)

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