"Circus Diet" Any opinions?

One of the tings it says in this diet is not to leave pellets out and available all day. Anyone heard of this approach and have any thoughts about it?

The 'Circus Diet' for Pet Birds | The Parrot University, llc

I do not leave food out all day, eating twice a day is perfectly sufficient as long as the bird has enough time to eat. It also helps reduce spoiling and insects or rodents trying to get in (I don't want that in my house!), increases food motivation and foraging behaviors, and helps with training. The only real reason to leave food in the cage all day is because most people don't want the extra hassle of feeding meals.

I also try to feed the largest variety of fresh veggies I possibly can and limited amounts of fruits with as much variety as possible. My birds are ona sprouts and veggies based diet with fruits, dry seeds, and whole grains added in.

I do leave a pellet and seed mixture in all day, and it is not because I don't want the hassle of doing feeds. I also do fresh feeds twice a day in addition to the pellets and seeds. I just want them to have food on their timetable and not mine.

I suppose I should specify that I really do mean MOST people and not ALL people there are other very good reasons to leave the food in all day, such as an underweight bird, a new bird who is timid about eating, scheduling concerns, etc. I choose not to leave my birds with food in their dish all day for many reasons, but they do have foraging toys most of the time as well

I give Zilla her fresh food/chop for breakfast (she demands to be fed before I even get my coffee) and she dives right in sometimes so fast she face plants into her dish! I leave that in for about 2 hours and then remove it and give her the seed/pellets mix and a few nutri berries. She has that mix all day long to play/toss/snack on, then I remove it about an hour or so before dinnertime. She gets fresh food/chop and a portion of something I am eating for her dinner, then I put the seed mix back in and let her have it all night and remove it in the morning before she gets her breakfast. Mid afternoon I give her a piece of melon or fruit to snack on, and she gets treats every so often throughout the day.

Terry57 said:

I do leave a pellet and seed mixture in all day, and it is not because I don't want the hassle of doing feeds. I also do fresh feeds twice a day in addition to the pellets and seeds. I just want them to have food on their timetable and not mine.

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I'm the same way. They get dry food mix and fresh water in the morning, and something fresh in the treat cups, and at night, they get their fresh foods and I change the water.

Hello! Real world here professional students who came up with this diet plan: I leave for work early AM. How else would I feed them?!

My flock "forages" goodies from the other bird's bowl. (Cuz even though it's basically the same stuff, it obviously tastes better if you have made the effort to "sneak" away someone else's treats... (never mind that you can do this because that bird is foraging around your cage, sneaking the exact same thing from you.)

The fresh foods they get in the morning are not stuff that spoils easily. That's the stuff they get at night. And Those get gobbled up while we are eating, and their treat cups get washed when we do the evening dishes.

Terry57 said:

I do leave a pellet and seed mixture in all day, and it is not because I don't want the hassle of doing feeds. I also do fresh feeds twice a day in addition to the pellets and seeds. I just want them to have food on their timetable and not mine.

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Same here.
Fresh fruit in morning clean water bowl. Fresh Veggies when I get home again clean water.
If for any reason I run late I feel better knowing there is something for him to nibble on until I do get there.

Also we have to remember that MANY people have no choice but to work outside of the home, or for whatever legit reason do not find it practical or even possible to give/remove foods during the day.

In this situation, I do believe a bowl is best left in the cage. They have access to pellets 24/7. For years I've left vegetables all day, and it's fine. I know many other experienced bird people do this also. I think it would have to be a complete 'sauna' in the house to risk spoilage. I find vegetables tend to dry up rather than spoil.

Everyone has their ways of doing things which they feel is best (and best for their lifestyle), but I can also think of one risk about the 'no food during certain times'. In the last few months, my family has been struck several times with some out of the ordinary emergencies that warranted immediate attention (emergency room, etc).... With an elderly family member, life is not always predictable, just as with kids. I'm just thinking, what if the birds NEEDED to be fed, and we were stuck in an emergency away from home for many hours? Dogs would be okay to wait skip a meal upon literal emergency, but not birds. Just thinking out loud if you will...

I do pellets and some seeds all day. Not because I'm lazy or because I work but because I have fibromyalgia and I want to know that they at least have food. I'm also prone to migraines so I don't want to have to worry about it in the evening. In addition to the pellets and seeds/nuts they also get treats of nuts and fresh fruits or veggies. I'm all about making it simple so that I can have the birds even with my disabilities.

I really like a lot of the ideas with the circus diet, and I like the idea of 20% pellets, 20% sprouts, 20% cooked beans, 20% fruits & veggies, and 20% snacks... but their birds have a much more active and interesting life style than Kraken will probably have. So, I will have to modify it a bit.

I thought that instead of mixing the pellets in with the other ingredients, I would keep some of the 20% in a bowl out all day, and then put some extra pellets in foraging toys. I also think she will end up getting more than 20% in vegetables and fruits.

I really like the idea of mixing up a month of beans and sprouts and freezing it, then breaking off her daily portion and warming it up; keeping pellets available, and feeding her other 40% throughout the day.

God forbid anything happened to stop me returning home at dinner time, didnt matter what injuries I had, I would be SICK with worry if Tach didnt have "back up" food in his cage. His bowl gets changed and washed every morning and hes got 2Tbspns pellets and 2Tbspn seeds and 2 nuts along with fresh water and a basic foraging toy (two paper cups stuffed together etc) with 1c fresh fruit and veg in it, I know that if he had too, he could live off that one mornings feed for up to 3 days, he wouldnt be happy about it but there would technically be food there if he was hungry enough. He also has a 2L bath in there (changed morn and night) so he wouldnt be short of water once he spoiled his small drinking bowl after about half an hour .. like they do.

Reading through that link, I just realized that Pumpkin does not have any seeds in his diet. He eats zupreem natural pellets, Hot and Hearty cooked bird food, and mixed veggies as the main diet then one or two Nutri-berries per day and maybe a treat. Is this okay, or do I need to add seeds too? (sorry not trying to hijack the thread)

Ann, no, seeds are not absolutely necessary for your conure . My birds get some as treats, but I don't use it all the time. I hate seed hulls all over the place to add to the debris and it's more of a treat anyway, rather than nutritional value of any significance.

RavensGryf said:

Ann, no, seeds are not absolutely necessary for your conure . My birds get some as treats, but I don't use it all the time. I hate seed hulls all over the place to add to the debris and it's more of a treat anyway, rather than nutritional value of any significance.

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Awesome, thank you!

When I first rescued every individual parrot I have, I always get them on a strict schedule that meal time is when I have dinner myself. That way when i started taking them out for the first time they would be eager to go back in when I need them to, and I could use their meals as incentive. My guys are much better about this now naturally, but I stick with it because 1. I like schedules and 2. then they will use their foraging toys during the day more (especially my grey. "You want me to stick my beak in THAT? For a treat? What's in it for me? A nutriberry? Nah, not hungry THANKS")

Ann333 said:

Reading through that link, I just realized that Pumpkin does not have any seeds in his diet. Is this okay, or do I need to add seeds too? (sorry not trying to hijack the thread)

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Would it be classed as cannibalism for Pumpkin to eat Pumpkin seeds?

Tempest said:

Ann333 said:

Reading through that link, I just realized that Pumpkin does not have any seeds in his diet. Is this okay, or do I need to add seeds too? (sorry not trying to hijack the thread)

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Would it be classed as cannibalism for Pumpkin to eat Pumpkin seeds?

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[URL=http://www.sherv.net/][/URL]

Terry57 said:

Tempest said:

Ann333 said:

Reading through that link, I just realized that Pumpkin does not have any seeds in his diet. Is this okay, or do I need to add seeds too? (sorry not trying to hijack the thread)

Click to expand...

Would it be classed as cannibalism for Pumpkin to eat Pumpkin seeds?

Click to expand...

[URL=http://www.sherv.net/][/URL]

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Well he was hatched on Halloween, so he could be evil like that. haha