Month: October 2019

Essential oils: Do they work?

Essential oils: Do they work?

There are a lot of alternative remedies out there and a lot of claims are made about whether they work or not. Usually, they claim that everything works. What’s missing from nearly all these articles is:

PROOF

The main thrust of this blog is to present ideas and back them up with science. Reading an article that says “diatomaceous earth kills parasites” without proof is not useful at all.

However, I’ve shown research to back up claims that diatomaceous earth helps with parasites and mites, among other things.

Today I move on to another alternative therapy that is touted, but rarely backed up with research: essential oils.

Now I’ve already presented evidence that thyme oil is a very effective disinfectant and a great alternative to bleach. In researching this, I came across some incredible research about the many ways essential oils can be used. The research comes primarily from poultry but pathogens are pathogens so the research should be taken seriously.… READ THE REST

Scientific study of parrot diets falls flat

Scientific study of parrot diets falls flat

While wild bird (including chickens) have a lot of published studies on their diets, there are virtually no studies of parrot diets in captivity. This is unfortunate because we know that birds don’t live as long in captivity. Could it be diet? Wouldn’t it be great to know?

In 2012, a study was published called “Nutritional Levels of Diets Fed to Captive Amazon Parrots: Does Mixing Seed, Produce, and Pellets Provide a Healthy Diet?“—you can download the PDF here.

I was pretty excited to finally see a research paper studying captive bird diets. This study is the one study that vets point to when they tell you what to feed your bird. If they reference it, they usually call it the “Amazon study” as a shortcut.

This site strives to rely on scientific research for its conclusions, but it’s important not to just accept something because it’s published in a scientific journal.… READ THE REST

What if you can’t find a credible source?

What if you can’t find a credible source?

In a previous article, I talked about how to find credible sources of information. Sometimes you may have questions and simply cannot find any source you can trust.

Caveats for forums

I can provide some caveats for when you resort to visiting forums or blogs that have uncited information.

  • People are far more likely to visit forums to report problems than successes with their birds. If one person reports a problem, it’s possible that many others did the same thing and didn’t have a problem.
  • When someone asks “should I let my bird do xyz” on a forum, the answer you will likely get is no. People default to no because it’s a safer answer. But in the desire to provide rich lives for our birds, we owe it to them to not be reactionary.

Finding the good in forums

So, I’ve basically trashed forums, but they are sometimes the only place where certain topics are mentioned.… READ THE REST