Is parsley poisonous to quail?

[Dan Ullerup]

Hi All

Is parsley poisonous to coturnix and/or button quail?

- According to this page it is: http://www.wikihow.com/Feed-Quail
- And according to this list (eventhough for parrots) it also appears poisionous: http://www.plannedparrothood.com/plants.html
So maybe there is something to it when it's poisonous to another bird too?

This is ofcourse not a matter of your quail will drop dead or even just looks sick if it eats parsley. It will even in those cases try to hide it as they tend to do with sickness.
This is ofcourse a matter where we need to see inside them... are their organs negative effected by parsley?

 

[Dani xxx]

I have fed mine small amount of parsley with no ill effects so far

 

[Dan Ullerup]

Yeah, so have I - but the issue, weren't about what we can see visuable on the birds.

It's about if their organs are negatively effected by eating parsley.

 

[Binki]

Whenever I look up things like "quail and parsley", it brings up recipes xD

So I have been going with following what chickens can eat, here's some information on that,

http://www.hobbyfarms.com/5-herbs-your-chickens-will-love-4/

Haven't tried parsley myself. They do love sprouts and alfalfa sprouts are cheap and easy and high in protein, small for the little beaks to chomp down ^^

There's something said about how "you can't eat quail for 30 days straight" and I read something about that's because wild quail eat hemlock and eventually someone eating quail will eat one that consumed hemlock and be poisoned! :O

Apparently there's been dares of people trying to eat quail for 30 days, anybody here?? xD

 

[GrandmaBird]

A BIG YES to the parsley being bad for quail.

 

[Dan Ullerup]

Binki: Yeah, I have the same problem... you wanna look into 'quails and parsley' but end up getting hungry instead ;-)
Not sure about the link is a good source. First of all it's about chickens, second it doesn't look like its 'hard'-science.

Don't know if it is the hemlock, but yeah that kind of poisoning is known as 'coturnism'.

GrandmaBird: Do you know more about the topic? - or do you have a source or something like that?

 

[Binki]

Hehe oh yes it's about chickens and an unofficial source, the closest thing I could find that explained what was toxic in parsley was on a pet bird forum,


http://forums.avianavenue.com/index.php?threads/parsley-toxicity.79543/

User quoted this text from a vet,

"Parsley has often been reported as toxic in birds, but it has only been shown in ducks and ostriches to cause a sensitivity to the sun. No evidence exists to show this effect in pet birds, and many diets contain small amounts with no harmful effects."

And another poster explained it their way,

"If you only feed parsley daily, then yes, it's toxic. However, if you feed parsley as a small portion of all the other foods that you feed, then no, it's not toxic.

The biggest concern I think is the oxalates found in the plant, which are sometimes highest in rhubarb and spinach. There's also large quantities in parsley, kale, amaranth, chard, and even in things such as nuts and berries.

Here-in lies the rule that too much of a good thing can be bad. One parrotlet(?) owner supposedly fed her parrotlet kale every day of his life, and kale was his only vegetable. Unfortunately, kale killed him. Does that mean you shouldn't feed kale? Not at all! It simply means that you should feed foods in moderation. Ever heard the term, variety is the spice to life? Well, it certainly applies here! (with food, ofc!)"

It didn't note quail specifically and I haven't confirmed the toxic ingredient but if true, my quail have had food (eg. Spinach) with it and have been okay. That's the only "science" I have, hehe ^^

I will grow parsley for the chickens, but I am hesitant still on introducing some to my quail, especially since I have so many other goodies for them that I know for sure are safe

 

[Emmaxx]

Did some looking around myself as I found this an interesting subject. Two things I found stated the following, although nothing really to back it up but could be worth investigating....
1-parsely in its own right isn't toxic but is very good at absorbing pesticides etc so would be fine if you know it's been grown without
2-parsley inhibits calcium absorption, so although not 'toxic' could be a problem in egg layers, but that just really supports binki's point of too much of anything is bad, but adds to the why!

 

[Dan Ullerup]

@Binki: Thanks for your reply again. And also for your speculations - it make me speculate too.

Why I perhaps is a bit more concerned about parsley, is because many people in my country (Denmark) keep quail in their greenhouse - it's actually one of the most common ways to have quail (compared to for instance cages).

I have had them (buttons) this way too in a greenhouse with pavement (years ago - my current greenhouse has dirt floor). They mostly ate the fresh leaves of my wine and peach, but when I once put a parsley in it, eventhough it was protected with bricks, they simpley jumped over the brick and right down into the parsley... and ate it all.
I think in this case it was bad for them. It was too much.

Where as today, I have a nice parsley in my greenhouse and they almost don't eat it eventhough they have free acces to it. They probably don't eat much of it because there are other green plants and so many other green things comming from the dirt floor (sprouts, weed etc.). I hope in this case a small bit of parsley is a good varierty.

Besides this, eventhough parsley might be toxic, there is also the level of toxiness. I give advice to alot of people, so if I start saying - protect your parsley, many of them will probably do so. But is it worth the trouble, the effort? - compared to how important it is to have focus on good food, fresh water, shrubberies to hide in, rat-protecting, not too many males together and so on, and so on...
Though I have a 'safe than sorry principle' about quails, I think I will draw the line here, and say: Ok, it might be very, very little harmfull, but it's not worth the fuzz.

 

[Dan Ullerup]

@Emmaxx: Interesting. Because the number 1 thing, shouldn't be that big of a problem here in Denmark. Because most people here don't like using toxics stuff in their greenhouses or gardens. And the plants in the supermarkets here, have less toxic compared to the plants in most of the world... and I don't think Denmark imports much parsley.
About number 2 - yeah, I think it's a good rule for many foods (not just for quails sadly... I think it also goes for me and pie;-).