Anyone ever heard this before....

10-02-2007, 04:15 PM

In the Sept. 2007 issue of Birdtalk magazine (page #24) there is an article that states fumes from cooking certain "foods" (yes, I said foods) have been implicated in pet bird deaths. They mention: frying potatoes, sauteed butter and pan fried meats. Not sure what they meant exactly, as they did not say smoke from these foods specifically/etc. but sounded like to me that they just meant fumes exuded from the simple act of cooking THOSE particular food items? Anyone ever hear of anything like this before?

10-02-2007, 04:38 PM

I hadn't, but I notice the ASPCA makes mention of it on their site:

Quote:

Many bird enthusiasts are familiar with the hazards that overheated non-stick cookware can pose, but may not know that other cookware preheated with oil, fats, margarine or butter could also emit dangerous fumes if allowed to overheat. “It’s crucial that bird owners always keep their birds out of the kitchen while cooking,” advises Ms. Farbman, “cookware should never be left unattended or preheated on high heat, and steps should be taken to make sure that the kitchen is properly ventilated.” Cooking fumes, smokes and odors that have little or no effect on people, can seriously sicken birds, often quite quickly.

This sounds more like the danger is from the burning (hydrolizing? Carbonizing?) of the fats we use in frying, or already present in the meat itself. Interesting, and a bit worrisome.

10-02-2007, 04:41 PM

didn't hear of it in particular, but wouldn't surprise me at all... especially if the food overheats and decomposes. but also parts of just fats and oils can become airborne - generally fats and oils always contain a variety of molecular weight compounds, and the lighter ones have a lower boiling point that the high molecular weight ones.... so, as i said - wouldn't surprise me a bit....

10-02-2007, 04:56 PM

I've never heard this before, but it wouldn't surprise me. Thanks for another reminder to remain aware of things that could hurt our fids. The one I'm hypervigilant about is aerosols.

10-02-2007, 05:17 PM

It's amazing to me how much we still don't know about our feathered friends.

The other day I went to bake a cake and accidentally set the oven to broil instead of bake. I returned to the kitchen to find it full of smoke and panicked immediately at the effect on the birds. I yanked the cake out, turned the oven off and opened doors/windows and turned on the overhead fan above the stove. Thankfully, the birds are fine but I kept a watchful eye on them until I was satisfied the air was sufficiently cleared to not worry any longer. I ended up having to scrape off the top layer of burnt cake though, before frosting it! LOL

10-02-2007, 06:16 PM

I did read that. I don't fry anything. Most of the meat, I cook on the grill outside.

10-02-2007, 06:44 PM

It reminded me of the factory people with cancer from the popcorn fume stuff. I'm not aware of certain FOODS except one Easter my son's brand new hamsters died from chocolate fumes. The vet confirmed it was strong enough.

They were accidently placed on the fireplace hearth in between some giant chocolate rabbits for a photo and left there. Poor guys I found them spinning and acting like drunk type behaviors and konked right out within an hour or so from what I remember.

Yes I'm paranoid when the oven is on or anything if they're not in their sleeping room. Apparently it's only safe to eat at night lol.

10-02-2007, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stizby

It's amazing to me how much we still don't know about our feathered friends.

Whew close call, wow. And it's not like you can just scoop up larger size birds so fast.

Stizby, I totally agree with you there. Even if you benchmark all your decisions against the basics like "no man made ingredients" that still leaves us wondering like for diet, how to ever replicate what they would be eating outside.

Behavior...I just think if we watch them and not try and force them to do "our stuff" we can learn a bit about what behaviors they need.....

Food is tough though, and considering how so many people just cant spend all this time and money on shopping and prep. When I got Piper I noticed her woofing down fruit and preferring it over everything but never read anything about that in books or online. Then I find out later they are big nectar eaters.

I bought her Lory nectar and so far she's giving me an evil eye over it. Can't blame her....powder and water yuk.

10-04-2007, 02:03 PM

Wow Thanks for the info...I love learning new things...And boy am I glad I cut meat out of my diet...the smell of it just makes me sick

10-04-2007, 02:42 PM

Well this has been a good rethink.

Overheating oils is way bad for our health as well so it's a good idea to stop that practice anyway.

The heated chocolate - well that was a terrible story Cindy - poor little fellows - but thanks so much for telling us all & now their deaths are helping other pets.

I first thought they might be talking about spices getting into the air when you add them to a stir-fry. I stupidly did that the other day - you really have to add the spicy stuff at the end, not the beginning of the stir-fry.

Well i wasn't paying attention & added the spice with the onions & peppers. Next thing i know i can hardly see & my nose is burning.

Lucky for my guys they are banned from the front of the apartment where the kitchen is located.