As a responsible parrot owner, you have to check the safety of all foods you give to your pet. As an effective omnivore, you can eat loads of different foods without much harm to your organism. However, parrots are less versatile even despite being omnivores as well. They cannot simply eat all the food that we do. Therefore, you need to be careful.
While I’ve already mentioned that parrots can eat chicken and turkey (you can read about these meats in detail in the respective articles), there is another meat delicacy that many of us have at home and can be tempted to offer to parrots. Of course, I’m talking about sausages.
Theoretically, parrots can eat sausages if they are natural and contain all the ingredients that are safe. And even then, you should be careful not to give too much too often. A little bit of sausage is not harmful per se, but it’s not a natural food in a parrot’s diet, meaning that your bird will happily live without it.
If you want to enrich the bird’s diet, you can try it once or twice, of course. And it’s better to be home-made without rich seasoning. I’ll offer an easy-to-follow recipe later in the article.
How Many Sausages Can a Parrot Eat?
Ideally, none. However, the general rule with meat is to keep it at a minimum. If you’ve given your parrot a small bite, it should be safe enough, even with the additives. If you have high-quality sausages that are made purely with meat, you are allowed to bite-sized bits, but no more than once a week. Your bird can easily get protein from meats, but it’s too easy to give too much. However, considering that the sausages you give mainly contain lots of fats in addition to protein, this product may bring more harm than good. Generally, parrots can get the required amount of protein from plant-based foods.
If your parrot’s diet lacks protein significantly, it’s okay to replenish it with a bit of meat, even sausage, if it doesn’t contain harmful ingredients.
Can Parrots Eat Chilies Safely?
What Are the Dangers of Feeding Parrots Sausages?
While a small piece of sausages will not harm your bird, feeding too much or too regularly can bring unfortunate results. And even if your bird seems to enjoy it, that’s not a green light to include it in the basic diet.
The dangers of consuming too many sausages are as follows.
- Obesity. Sausages usually are rich in calories. Even the ones cooked from lean meats are “too heavy” for birds in large amounts. Increasing the number of daily calories consumed non-proportionally to energy expenditure will lead to obesity, which can cause multiple health problems.
- Heart diseases. Too much cholesterol and fats often contained in sausages can, unfortunately, lead to a number of cardiovascular issues.
- Fatty liver. Sausage fats can pose a danger not only to your bird’s heart but liver as well. Too much can increase the probability of hepatic lipidosis, which is also known as fatty liver disease.
- Protein buildup. Too little protein leads to muscle tissues. That is why you have to be sure to include enough protein from different foods. However, too much protein is harmful as well. It’s a sure road to kidney failure!
These are the damages that come just from the meat in sausages. However, there are numerous other additives that can be just as or even more harmful than meat! Added salt is the least of concerns.
How to Serve Sausages to Parrots?
Considering the hidden dangers of store-bought sausages for birds, it’s better to prepare them yourself and use high-quality ingredients.
In general, I can recommend this Turkey Sausage recipe but with a few tweaks.
- no sugar
- just a teeny tiny speckle of salt (you can avoid it at all, just to be sure)
- avoid black ground pepper and pepper flakes if your bird hasn’t tried them before
The general advice is to cut the sausages into tiny pieces!
Considering that sausages are high in calories, I suggest serving them with veggies and greens to balance the meal with fibers, vitamins, and water-rich products. Fruits can also become a great “garnish” for sausages considering that the meat you can offer has to be plain, not savory. If you want to diversify the parrot’s diet, you can add oregano, basil, and other fresh herbs. I’ve already included a small list of allowed herbs for parrots in the previous article.
Can Parrots Eat Turkey Meat? Surprisingly YES!
What Meat to Use for Sausages?
I’ve already given you a turkey recipe meaning that it’s completely safe for parrots. Basically, all poultry is safe as it contains the least number of calories and fats. This type of lean meat is an acceptable choice on its own. If you make home sausages from it without adding cooking oil, you can give a bit to the parrot. You can also add well-ground bones to the mic to enrich them in calcium and zinc.
Though I haven’t written about fish for parrots, yes, it can be a viable option as well. You won’t see a wild parrot diving into the sea to catch a fish like many other birds, but if you give the fish to it at home, your bird will accept it. Fish contains healthy fats. However, you should check fish for mercury numbers and get the one that contains the least.
Avoid: fatty red meat, fried and cured meat, and cold cuts. The latter contain too many preservatives and are usually made of fatty meats anyway. Cured and fried meats are loaded with fats, sodiums, seasoning, and other harmful ingredients.
Can Parrots Eat Chicken And What’s the Best Way to Serve It?
TL;DR
Overall, sausages are not a part of the parrot diet naturally. Thus, there really is no need to include them.
If you want to try them anyway, be sure to cook ones yourself at home from lean meats, without oil, and as plain as possible. Even then, provide a few bites at a time and no more than once a week. You should avoid store sausages that you would buy for yourself at all costs as they are packed with sodium, preservatives, and a variety of harmful additives. That is why it can only become a treat and not regular food.
