Vetafarm Probiotic

This probiotic contains seven strains of beneficial bacteria. Everyday use can help to maintain a balanced digestive system and can help improve intestinal balance.

It's always best to consult with an avian veterinarian before starting any supplements for your parrot.

Each bottle (both 25g and 90g sizes) comes with a 1mL measuring scoop that holds approximately 1g of the probiotic - this one scoop should be mixed into one litre of water and offered as normal drinking for your birds. The water should be discarded after 24 hours, so if you have three or fewer birds you may want to mix up half a scoop with half a litre of water so as not to waste the powder. However, anything less than half a scoop would be impossible to measure.

What are probiotics?

Probiotics are good bacteria that, when consumed, repopulate the gastrointestinal flora to outcompete bad bacteria. In humans, this is often included in yoghurts and can help with upset stomach, especially after taking a course of antibiotics. Probiotics have been used in poultry for decades, but are now also being sold for pet birds. 

Why probiotics? What does research say?

Jeanne Marie Smith wrote in 2014 a paper titled 'A review of avian probiotics' (citation below). Here are some points made in that paper, edited for plain English.

A quality bird probiotic should:

• Be non-pathogenic (bacteria in it won't make a bird sick)
• Stick to your bird's intestinal walls where they do their work
• Be made specifically for birds (not human probiotics)
• Survive the journey through your bird's stomach acid
• Help fight off bad bacteria
• Support your bird's immune system
• Stay effective even after being stored on your shelf

Research shows that giving your parrot probiotics (beneficial bacteria) can help prevent stomach and digestive problems, and may also help if your bird is already sick. However, prevention works much better than trying to fix problems after they happen.

In the wild, parent birds pass on good bacteria to their babies when they feed them. If a parrot is hand-fed (like those you can buy from breeders), they miss out on these helpful bacteria from their parents. Giving probiotics to hand-fed babies helps them develop healthy digestion and a strong immune system, just like they would get naturally from their parents. 

As parrots get older, the amount of good bacteria in their system naturally decreases while potentially harmful bacteria amounts increase. Pet parrots that don't come into direct contact with other parrots don't get exposed to the normal bacteria they would encounter with other parrots if they lived in the wild. Giving your parrot probiotics occasionally can help maintain healthy gut bacteria.

Research says that birds given probiotics with multiple types of good bacteria showed significant increases in goblet cells. These cells produce protective mucus in bird intestines. This mucus layer acts as a barrier against harmful bacteria, helps repair damage to the intestinal lining, and repair damaged epithelial cells.

Some probiotics contain several different species of bacteria and some contain just one, usually a lactobacillus species. Some researchers believe that the best overall benefit can be obtained when different types of bacteria each play their own role in protecting the bird.  Currently multiple species probiotics most frequently have some combination of lactobacilli (often a few different species or strains), Streptococcus species, Bifidobacterium species, Enterococcus species, and Bacillus species.

Citation

Smith JM. A review of avian probiotics. J Avian Med Surg. 2014 Jun;28(2):87-94. doi: 10.1647/2012-031. PMID: 25115036.