The Grey Roost

Lactose intolerance, dairy and your grey.

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Have you been told that birds can not digest milk? Have you been told that they are Lactose intolerant? While this is true, the term “Lactose intolerant” is not correct.

Milk sugar is called lactose. Humans and other mammals have a digestive enzyme called “lactase” to be able to digest milk sugar. Our birds lack the digestive enzyme, and therefore can not digest milk product containing Lactose.

While you might hear about pigeons feeding their babies “crop milk” it is not milk in any way shape or form. It is actually sloughed cells from the crop and some secretions.

Some dairy products contain little or no lactose and they are safe to feed to our greys. Cheese and Yogurt are actually a good source calcium in small amounts.

If your grey got into some dairy product, you might notice some diarrhea. It is not safe to offer your grey over the counter human medicines in order to aid in digestion. The medicines itself contain by products that are toxic to birds.