Quaker Oats have been joyed for 140 years. These oats have a long history of being loved by the American people, and the love for the brand is still going strong.

Whether it’s the old-fashioned oats, steel-cut oats, organic oatmeal, or instant oatmeal, one can easily find a Quaker Oats product that fits you.

If you love these oats, you may be considering serving this food to your bird, and the question on your mind may be ‘can bird eat Quaker Oats’, this article explores this topic

Birds can definitely eat Quaker Oats. These oats offer birds a number of nutrients including beta-glucan, complex carbohydrates, and fiber. You can feed your bird uncooked or cooked Quaker Oats, they will love each all the same 

Can birds eat Quaker Oats?

If you have some Quaker Oats lying around feeding this food to birds is one way to get rid of it. In fact, not only are these oats delicious to birds but they are good for birds as well.

Nutrients in Quaker oats that will benefit birds:

Quaker Oats benefit birds in a number of ways. These oats contain beta-glucan, complex carbohydrates, and fiber 

Beta-glucan:

This is a soluble fiber that is largely unique to oats.

The benefits that beta-glucan offers birds are two-fold: it reduces high cholesterol thus preventing issues related to heart disease, and it supports the immune system, this helps to fight off bacterial infections in birds 

Complex carbohydrates:

These types of carbohydrates contain three or more sugars that are chemically linked. This intricate structure is what causes them to take longer to be digested, this longer digestion time results in a longer sugar release time. This allows energy to be managed in a more regulated way

 

Fiber:

This is an indigestible carbohydrate, the fact that fiber is indigestible makes it important to maintain good digestion. Fiber does not deliver nutrients but it does stimulate the movement of the gastrointestinal tract. 

How to prepare and serve Quaker Oats for birds 

Throw them on the ground:

One of the easiest ways to serve Quaker Oats to birds is to simply toss it around on the ground.

Birds enjoy foraging and finding food for themselves, this brings out their foraging instinct. This also mentally challenges and stimulates the bird, without mental challenges and stimulation, your bird can start to develop bad habits in an effort to counteract its boredom. 

Use them in suet balls:

Birds can also eat oats as an ingredient in suet balls. To create a suet ball, combine some of the uncooked oatmeal, some dried fruit or chopped nuts, and some suet or lard to create a mixture.

Allow the ingredients to cool then form them into a rough ball shape. Allow the suet balls to further cool to maintain their shape. Once fully hardened, leave these out for birds in your garden and let them eat the suet balls. 

In bird feeders:

You can also mix the oats with the seeds already in their bird feeders. Birds will appreciate the added oats in their diet and will enjoy the taste as well. Even adding some peanut butter for a richer taste can be a good idea

Tip: When feeding birds dry uncooked oats remember to have water out available for them, the water will help the oats go down easier 

Note: Birdseed usually contains oats, but if your birds have never had oats then they may be reluctant to try the food.

When introducing Quaker Oats to your bird you may have to serve it to them repeatedly and prepare it in different ways to get them to become accustomed to it 

What to avoid when serving birds Quaker Oats

The wrong oils:

Oats soaked in grease should be avoided. This includes fats and juices from cooking chicken, beef, and turkey. The reason behind this is that this grease can get into the bird’s feathers and soil them.

In addition, these oils generally contain seasonings and salt, seasonings and salt can be a breeding ground for bacteria. The fats that you can mix in with oats include suet and lard 

Milk:

Birds cannot digest large amounts of milk, they cannot digest the lactose in milk. This dairy product is not toxic to birds, and birds can have small amounts of milk, but large amounts of milk can cause the bird to develop digestive problems such as diarrhea. 

Sugar:

Birds should not be eating refined sugars. Too much sugar can cause health issues such as depression, cancer, anxiety, nervousness, stress, gout, diabetes, heart issues, irritability, and feather picking 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, yes birds can eat Quaker Oats, these oats offer birds nutrients such as beta-glucan, complex carbohydrates, and fiber. When feeding these oats to birds, avoid adding sugars, milk, or the wrong fats to the oats. Rather add fruits and nuts for some variety 

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: Why does my bird lick me?, Why does my bird tap its beak on me?, Why does my bird hate me?, Can baby birds eat bread?, Why does my bird nibble on me?