# Can I give milk to my pigeons?



## pigeonman7

Im planning to give milk to my pigeons, because its high in calcium.


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## Msfreebird

No. Dairy products are not good for birds.
It would be easier just to pick up some oyster shell.


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## snowyloft

Msfreebird said:


> No. Dairy products are not good for birds.


Don't tell my chickens that. I raise dairy goats and give the chickens a bowl of fresh, warm milk almost everyday. They love it. I've never seen that it causes them any problems. I've never offered to the pigeons, though.


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## horseart4u

well when i was younger in middle school i hand raised a few farels and used milk with bread, seeds and baby bird mix. then i had one youngster out of that group that would only drink milk till it was old enough to go into the loft. even then i gave her a small cup of mike once a week, she turned out fine..but i don't recommend doing it.


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## spirit wings

"Because birds are not mammals , mammals have enzymes to digest lactose or milk sugars...birds are different, even the pigeon with the crop milk, the name is a misnomer as crop milk has none of the components of mammal milk, it has no milk sugars in it whatsoever. What happens if a bird ingests milk or products containing lactose, the milk sugar? Since it doesn't have the enzymes necessary to digest lactose, it will often pass through the bird's digestive tract unchanged. Because it is a foreign sugar, it may draw fluids into the intestinal tract, resulting in diarrhea, if ingested in large amounts. small amounts may do no harm. Some milk products do not contain lactose, such as cottage cheese and other types of cheese. The goat milk as mentioned probably has less sugars and is easier to digest so that is why it was fine for the chickens I would guess..milk and products containing milk would be totally foreign food items to a bird that is a grain/seed eater... so it is best to avoid it."


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## Jay3

Good explanation spiritwings. I found this online:

11. Birds Cannot Digest Milk

If you think about it, this makes sense. Mammals are nourished during infancy with their mother's milk. Birds would never be in a situation in the wild where they would drink milk. For this reason, birds do not possess the digestive enzymes necessary to process milk. Parent birds regurgitate food to their babies in the nest. Although you might have heard about pigeons feeding their babies crop milk, this is actually sloughed cells from the crop and secretions, and not a milk product at all.

Milk sugar is called lactose. Mammals have a digestive enzyme, lactase, to digest milk sugar. Birds simply lack lactase and cannot digest milk products containing lactose. Birds will develop diarrhea when lactose in the diet reaches between 10 and 30 percent. Products that contain a significant amount of lactose are dried skim milk and dried whey. Humans may also suffer from an inability to digest lactose, and this is called lactose intolerance.

Some milk products contain little or no lactose, and these may be safely fed to birds. And actually, these products (cheese and yogurt) are a good source of calcium for birds. Some owners have asked me if they can feed birds items containing lactose if they also give them one of those products for humans (such as Lactaid) to aid in the digestion of milk sugar. Unfortunately, that is also dangerous, as one of the by-products of lactose digestion is galactose, which is also toxic to birds. So these products must never be used in birds.

http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/20facts.html


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## snowyloft

There is another source online which disagrees with the pet vet. 

http://caiquesite.com/Foods/dangerous_human_foods.htm

While birds do not digest the lactose they can digest the protein and make use of the calcium.

"Some recent studies suggest that lactose can serve as a “prebiotic” that helps fend off some bacterial infections in chickens (29, 30, 119)."

I've fed milk to the chickens for years, sometimes a whole gallon for the flock of 30 birds with no obvious side effects.

Just about everyone that I communicate with who raises goats also gives extra milk to the chickens.

Additionally, goat milk has the same amount of lactose as cow milk. The reason the goat milk is easier for humans to digest is that the casein protein is a type that is more similar to the protein in human milk. Shouldn't matter in birds. Raw milk contains a half dozen enzymes that are used to digest the milk. These enzymes are destroyed or weakened by pasteurization. So perhaps since the chickens get raw milk it is easier on them.


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## spirit wings

snowyloft said:


> There is another source online which disagrees with the pet vet.
> 
> http://caiquesite.com/Foods/dangerous_human_foods.htm
> 
> While birds do not digest the lactose they can digest the protein and make use of the calcium.
> 
> "Some recent studies suggest that lactose can serve as a “prebiotic” that helps fend off some bacterial infections in chickens (29, 30, 119)."
> 
> I've fed milk to the chickens for years, sometimes a whole gallon for the flock of 30 birds with no obvious side effects.
> 
> Just about everyone that I communicate with who raises goats also gives extra milk to the chickens.


the goat milk as said may have less sugars..just like some infants who are lactose intolerant can be given goat milk.. I would think that is why your chickens do not have problems with it..and chickens in general are a higher protein eaters...as they eat bugs and things and digestion in them is hardier... pigeons do not if they do it is very little..their main diet is grains/seeds..unlike the chickens..so pigeons do not do well on cow dairy milk..

If someone is so bent on giving their pigeons a dairy product then give them cottage cheese or yogurt in small amounts... or perhaps try goat's milk!


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## snowyloft

spirit wings said:


> just like some infants who are lactose intolerant can be given goat milk..


Goat milk contains just the same amount of lactose (4.7%) as cow milk. 

Although there is an extremely rare genetic disorder that causes lactose intolerance in infants usually infants that can tolerate goat milk and not cow milk are allergic to the alpha-casein protein in cow milk. Goat milk contains mostly beta-casein protein which does not produce an allergic reaction.

Chickens may have hardier guts than pigeons, but in my flock the chicken's diet consists mostly of grains and just about any and all kitchen scraps. I wouldn't feed pasteurized milk to the chickens but I won't drink pasteurized milk myself. My dogs have more problems with milk than the chickens. They do get diarrhea and gas if given goat milk since they can't digest lactose. I sometime wonder if cats are lactose tolerant since they do not have problems with milk.


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## altgirl35

birds don't have nipples!! no milk, not good for the chickens either, very upsetting to the digestive system
cows milk isn't really good for anybody except for baby cows, humans can tolerate it but you could kill an infant if you gave it to them


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## altgirl35

cats have a hard time too, a little is okay but they would gets diareha too if fed too much too aften


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## AZCorbin

Humans are the only ones that drink milk after being weaned...


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## MaryOfExeter

The only "milk" I would give the birds is colostrum (true colostrum), which has so little lactose in it that lactose intolerant people can take it with no problems. Frank Tasker uses it for his racers and it seems like it would be good for them.


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## Libis

Not to mention chickens are very different from pigeons. You would never see a pigeon eat a frog. 
Chickens are scavengers and this gives them a much hardier gut. 

Either way, my birds do not get dairy. There are much better ways to give them calcium.


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## MaryOfExeter

Libis said:


> Not to mention chickens are very different from pigeons. You would never see a pigeon eat a frog.
> Chickens are scavengers and this gives them a much hardier gut.
> 
> Either way, my birds do not get dairy. There are much better ways to give them calcium.


My chickens also eat mice  Gross! Haha


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## abluechipstock

i don't know about my pigeons, but i love goat milk, wish you were close to me, i'd buy it from you!


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## rpalmer

A pigeon's gut needs to be a little acid. Milk will neutralize this acid. This is why milk as an anecdote for some poisons. They have an acid base and the milk is the cure. This is to me the best reason not to give milk to a pigeon.


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## MaryOfExeter

Milk is slightly acidic though. But definitely less than the digestive track should be so that makes sense.


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## Jay3

It does makes sense rpalmer. You want a pigeons gut to be a bit acid, as bad bacterias don't like an acid environment. Why give them an unnatural thing like milk, when you can give them calcium in things that are good for them?


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## spirit wings

snowyloft said:


> Goat milk contains just the same amount of lactose (4.7%) as cow milk.
> 
> Although there is an extremely rare genetic disorder that causes lactose intolerance in infants usually infants that can tolerate goat milk and not cow milk are allergic to the alpha-casein protein in cow milk. Goat milk contains mostly beta-casein protein which does not produce an allergic reaction.
> 
> Chickens may have hardier guts than pigeons, but in my flock the chicken's diet consists mostly of grains and just about any and all kitchen scraps. I wouldn't feed pasteurized milk to the chickens but I won't drink pasteurized milk myself. My dogs have more problems with milk than the chickens. They do get diarrhea and gas if given goat milk since they can't digest lactose. I sometime wonder if cats are lactose tolerant since they do not have problems with milk.


goat milk is easier to digest and your feeding chickens with it.. so it goes well for you. we are talking about pigeons here..different species.

I do not advise feeding cow's milk to pigeons...which are not chickens and the thread maker I assume was talking about milk as in cows and pigeons.. so no pigeons should not have milk.... it is best to be avoided... unless you have a preoccupation with giving pets milk products and can't help it for some reason I suppose.... better safe than sorry. The avian vet I work for has seen too many cases of digestive upset because the birds owner shared their breakfast with them.... milk.


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## altgirl35

i know a rehabber that uses milk to send avitrol on the fast track out of a pigeons system, she fills the crop with milk, has helped her save thier lives


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## Cleacarchia.com

*My pigeon drinks milk*

I've had Nicky, my pet pigeon, for almost 10 years. He loves cow milk - drinks it right out of my glass. I often wonder if I should be giving it to him, but he likes it a lot and it doesn't seem to bother him.


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## Jay3

Well it probably just passes through him untouched, as he doesn't have the enzymes he would need to digest it.


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## raftree3

Last night a guy I fly with said he has been putting bovine colostrum on his feed to help the minerals he adds adhere. He puts it on then lets it dry before feeding? This is for his breeders. There was another thread about some guys in the Uk using a human infant milk replacer. Not sure if any of it makes sense....but whatever works!


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## rpalmer

raftree3 said:


> Last night a guy I fly with said he has been putting bovine colostrum on his feed to help the minerals he adds adhere. He puts it on then lets it dry before feeding? This is for his breeders. There was another thread about some guys in the Uk using a human infant milk replacer. Not sure if any of it makes sense....but whatever works!


I have to say that all I can think of with letting the colostrum "dry" is that in the process there would be some bacteria growth. And not the good needed kind.


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## Dianne

I raise dairy goats too, my GP puppy and border collie have no problem getting milk digested, nice firm stools. It is a common practice to give milk to chickens, they love it and do well with it. My cats usually don't drink milk, well one does but since he's an outside cat I can't tell you what his stool looks like.
Dianne


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## Cleacarchia.com

*Thanks!*

Thanks Diane! and everyone else who replied. Nicky (my pigeon) really does love milk. He walks right up to my glass and drinks right out of it. Nicky is an indoor pet pigeon who I've had for 10 years. I don't think he's exposed to a lot of diseases, so I think that's OK. I kiss him right on the beak too, lol!

Here is a link to my facebook page with photos of Nicky. Not sure if the link will work. Photos are real cute. I still haven't figured out how to post the album I made on Pigeon-Talk to a post though. Anyone know?

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150403279352520.383324.724317519&type=3


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## Dianne

I see on this quick replay just above where you write there is a square that you can click on to insert image,,, I haven't do it, just think it will work. Your link to your bird is working and what great photos!! I especially love the ones when he/she is in flight!
Thanks
Dianne


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