by Jill Perry

Juicing fruits and vegetables removes all the fibrous material, and enables the body to absorb the important nutrients and phytochemicals found in plants, almost instantly and with little effort on the part of the digestive system, potentially speeding up the health-effects of these foods.
 
Fruit and vegetable juices provide a convenient source of enzymes, which are extremely important to good health because they spark the essential chemical reactions that are necessary for digesting food, stimulating the brain, cellular energy, and repair and heal all body tissue.
 
But, the fibrous by-product of juicing plays an important part in a parrot’s general health too, and can either be offered chopped-up in a separate dish, or used as an ingredient in a birdie bread recipe.
 
Juices can be offered to parrots through a syringe, in a drinking pot, or it can be served by soaking birdie bread, dry monkey biscuits, or dry cereals, such as small shredded wheat squares, up in it.
 
Fresh juice does not keep for long and should be offered immediately after juicing.  But, leftovers can be frozen in an ice cube tray and defrosted as required.

Photo courtesy of Michael Bailey.