I’ve been thinking about a certain topic for a very, very long time – hydration of our birds’ systems. We all need to think about how we can get more moisture into our birds’ systems. This is crucial for their health folks!

In the wild exotic birds consume mostly foods that are fresh, raw and full of naturally occurring moisture. Now, understandably most of us don’t have time to feed freshly prepared foods, and those of us who do I applaud, as long as those homemade mixes are laboratory tested for the balance of nutrients. Note: I did not say “nutritionally complete”, because no one knows what “nutritionally complete” is for any species of an exotic bird. Science does know what “nutritional balance” is though and we all should be absolutely sure that the daily diets we are feeding our birds are balanced. The only way to know that with any amount of certainty is to have our formulated mixes tested at a certified food testing laboratory. Individual nutrients can enhance or take away from each other causing under or over supplementation. For this reason it is vital to have our mixes tested. This is why I have started a “Food Combining” workshop entitled “Thrivation Station”, to help all of us understand how to combine nutrients without causing toxicity or under-supplementation of any nutrient in our birds’ diets. This workshop is an ongoing, work-at-your-own-pace learning space with no book work or classroom participation unless you want it. I will be adding articles on an ongoing basis you can read at your leisure. The cost of the workshop is only $5.00.

There is one “nutrient” however that doesn’t supply any real nutrition except for the minerals it may potentially impart, which lingers behind even when this “nutrient” is dehydrated or cooked out, and that nutrient is “moisture.”

While “moisture” in and of itself may not be a true nutrient, it is a carrier of nutrients and helps all other water-soluble nutrients penetrate deep into the cellular metabolic system. For this reason feeding at least ¼ fresh food along with your bird’s BirD-elicious! Origins Wild Diet is always recommended.

In addition to feeding ¼ fresh food and raw food (which Origins Wild Diet is classified as) chocked full of naturally occurring living enzymes, vitamins and minerals we would like to see our Origins Wild Diet family begin moisturizing their birds’ systems.  Fresh food contains moisture, raw food does not always contain moisture, but we want to introduce a new way of feeding our raw foods we hope you will joyfully accept and begin utilizing with your flock!

While our foods are wonderful and gently dehydrated foods, considered “raw” by industry standards you can leave out all day while you are away at work, we feel that when you are at home it would be a great idea to feed our foods rehydrated! Yes! By feeding Origins Wild Diet foods rehydrated you will be hydrating your bird’s system plus helping your bird’s overall system literally drive the nutrients deep into the cellular metabolic level where those nutrients can be of most benefit to your bird’s health!

In fact we believe the lack of moisture in our birds’ system is one of the biggest problems in our birds’ overall health crisis today! Birds are created by Nature to ingest fresh, raw and moist foods. Why do we see our birds “dunking” their dry foods in their water bowls? They instinctively know they need moisture in the food they consume!

Could it be that dry food actually damages their esophagus, their overall delicate mucosal lining of their digestive tracts and this causes permanent damage to the exposed digestive tract once the mucosal lining has been destroyed? If somehow we can lessen the damage to their digestive tracts by eliminating the cellulose we feed by removing botanical vegetables and feeding food that has been rehydrated, at least some of the time, then maybe we will see less “avian leaky gut syndrome.” Maybe then we will also see less autoimmune disorders which may potentially lead to all kinds of disorders, illness and diseases such as yeast infections, fatty liver, kidney disease, gout, cardiovascular disease, and especially feather destruction!

BirD-elicious! Origins Wild Diet foods have a higher moisture content than some foods on the market, but by feeding our foods rehydrated in the morning before you go to work, and then again rehydrated when you come home in the evening you are providing The BEST Bird Food choice for your beloved companion! Go ahead and leave our foods out in its dry form while you are away during the day to ensure your bird has the healthiest food available all day! When you are home feed it rehydrated to ensure your bird receives the moisture it needs for its overall system.

Science shows that consuming food that has a balance of moisture and salinity drives nutrients deep into the cellular level. Salinity (sodium – dietary sodium) helps draw moisture into the cells to keep them plump and healthy. If cells are properly hydrated they can then draw in the metabolic nutrients via the blood system from the food consumed. Make sense? Sure it does.

Our birds aren’t dumb; they don’t dunk their food for fun, they dunk for instinctive reasons. Everything about animals is all about instinct. If we would watch our birds, and other pets more often and learn from their actions we could learn a lot about how to care for all of them even better!

Okay, down to the nitty-gritty. How do you rehydrate most Bird-elicious! Origins Wild Diet foods? We have found that if you add about 2 scant teaspoons of filtered/purified room temperature water to about ¼ cup of Origins Wild Diet food the morsels become just moist enough to serve immediately.More than that and the morsels become too mushy. Less than that and the morsels do not rehydrate properly.

Remember, the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) strongly suggests that all moist food be left out no longer than 2 hours before removing and tossing. Longer than that and bacteria begins to grow that could potentially introduce pathogens into your bird’s system. Here at the TheBestBirdFood.com we follow those guidelines and strongly suggest you do too. This is why we are suggesting you only feed rehydrated Origins Wild Diet before you go to work and then again when you come home, so you can remove any uneaten food before that suggested 2-hour mark.

Please do not heat Origins Wild Diet foods. Any temperature over 110-115 degrees will destroy the delicate digestive enzymes and the Omega 3s in the food, not to mention some of the water-soluble vitamins and some of the fat-soluble vitamins as well. You want as much of the naturally occurring nutrition to remain alive and active as much as possible! Remember, we don’t use synthetic vitamins in our foods! This is one of the reasons our foods are so wonderful!

Soon we will be introducing an array of Quik-Soak & Serv Sprouts in a variety of flavors you can rehydrate for your feathered friends too! These will no doubt be a delicious addition to your bird’s daily meals!

We are also working on some yummy summer super smoothies for all of our birds! These will surely hydrate all of our birds’ systems, plus add some extra nutrition to boot! We are mixing up some super smoothies that will make your bird’s feathers absolutely glisten and glow!

As always, all of these mixes will be made with the same raw, wholesome and pure ingredients we use in our Origins Wild Diet foods! None of our foods or mixes are ever cooked, and all of our mixes are laboratory tested and come with a guaranteed analysis!

©5.20.16   Machelle Pacion   Passion Tree House LLC    All Rights Reserved