Ham is a well-loved and widely eaten food, this meat can be eaten as part of your holiday dinners, lunch sandwiches, as appetizers or eaten alone as deli meat. This delicious pork product is usually preserved with either smoke or salt depending on the type. It comes from pig legs and because it’s meat you may be asking yourself not only if it’s good for you as a human but if it’s good for your birds as well? This article gives the answer to the question of ‘can birds eat ham’

Birds can eat ham, but you need to be specific about what types of ham you feed your bird. When feeding ham to birds ensure that the ham has not been cured with salt as this can harm the bird and even kill it. Also, ensure that your ham does not contain onion or garlic as these are toxic to birds

Can birds eat ham?

Ham contains a number of beneficial nutrients. This food has high amounts of protein but has lower levels of fibre, fat and carbs. This food also contains phosphorus, zinc, magnesium, copper, selenium, sugar and iron. When compared to other meats, such as fish or poultry, ham has more B vitamins, thiamine and iron. It also boasts all 9 amino acids and this makes it a complete protein. 

Surprisingly birds can eat all types of kitchen scraps and this includes the leftover ham that you may have after the festive season. Yes, you can feed your birds ham but you need to be wary of how much you feed them.

Since ham is generally salted during the curing process, feeding it to birds can cause health issues. Rather give birds this food if you know that it hasn’t been salted or remove the salt yourself. If you give your bird ham that has been cured with salts then the high amount of salt in the meat can kill your bird.

You can desalt the ham by soaking it in water for 72 hours. After desalting, wash it with some warm water and brush it with a stiff brush, this will help to remove any pepper and mould that may be on it. 

If your ham has onions or garlic on it then do not give it birds. The onion and garlic family of plants is toxic to birds and many other animals 

How to prepare ham for birds 

When preparing ham for birds make sure to anchor it well onto whatever surface it is on. This will prevent larger birds from grabbing the whole thing and flying off with it. If your ham has pieces of fat in it then don’t trim off the fat, birds love to eat fat and it helps them become plumper for the winter. The fat also gives them added energy to use for their daily activities. 

You can serve ham fat to birds as an ingredient in their suet balls. This will give the bird high-calorie energy. Mix the ham fat from making ham dishes with some seeds, fruits and grains. Form them into mounds to create your suet balls. Hang these around your garden for birds to eat 

Can birds eat other types of meat?

Yes, birds can eat other types of meat. Feeding birds meat is a great way for them to get their protein intake when there are no insects available to them. Other meats that birds can eat include beef fat trimmings, beef grease drippings, bacon rinds, and marrow bones. All these will offer the bird some essential proteins. When feeding them meats make sure that the meat is not rotten or rancid. Also, make sure that these meats do not contain salt 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, yes, birds can eat ham, when feeding birds ham make sure that it has not been salted and does not contain onion or garlic. You can also use the leftover grease from your ham dishes and incorporate them into your suet cake recipes. Hang suet cakes out so birds can eat freely. Other types of meats that you can offer your bird include beef fat trimmings, bacon rinds, beef grease, or marrow bones. These will offer your bird protein when there are no insects available.

If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Can birds eat garlic?, Can birds eat gelatin?, Can birds eat honey?, Can birds eat hard-boiled eggs?