Making Chop the First Time Some Questions Advice

I want to make my fist chop for Mr. Sunshine. He is not currently interested in any fresh fruit or veggies I have offered so far except oranges, lol.

Thus far I have tied fresh broccoli, lettuce, banana, papaya, orange, kale, tomato, green beans, sweet potato, carrots and peas. I have wasted every bit I offered with the exception of 2 orange segments.
Since he is not interested in fresh, I believe a chop I prepare and freeze would be more interesting and nutritional for him, and produce less waste.

I have been making homemade dog food and treats for my service dog for five years, so cooking for my parrot will be a breeze.

Currently I have on hand:
Fresh - cucumber, tomatoes, green peppers, bananas, papaya, and sweet potatoes
Frozen - broccoli, corn, lima beans, carrots, peas, green beans, artichoke hearts, red, green and yellow peppers, okra, quinoa, spinach and blueberries
Dry - pinto, navy and red kidney beans, wheat pasta, brown rice, whole flax seeds

Can I make these ingredients into chop to cook and freeze using the recipes found on this diet forum?

Should I dry the tomatoes in my dehydrator first? I thought I read somewhere they should be dried.

I also clean, dry (in my dehydrator) and grind eggshells to a very fine powder to add to my service dog, Taffee’s food to make sure she gets her calcium. This was advised to me from her holistic veterinarian. I was wondering if this powder could also be added to Mr. Sunshine’s chop to supplement his calcium needs.

Lastly, I would like to add powdered milk thistle, too. This has reversed my fatty liver disease in 18 months. I incorporate it into my diet regularly. And I add it to Taffee’s food. Since Mr. Sunshine was fed such an unhealthy diet for so long. I wanted to add a sprinkle to his chop right before serving.

His beak looks dry and cracked. Is that normal? Is there something I can do to help that?

Any other suggestions and guidance are more than welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and give it your attention!

Be Birdie Blessed

Glad you’re trying to help him switch to a healthy diet!

First things first is to take things slowly. Yes, he might not like the foods you presented, but it could be a variety of reasons.

It may not look like food to him. You might need to sprinkle his current diet (seed I believe?) on or in the veggies/fruits you are offering.
He might not like the look of them. You might need to try them in different sizes. Our little guy was intimidated by a whole coconut when he first saw it, but once we offered a tiny piece of coconut by hand, he fell in love. Some parrots like big chucks for select food, some prefer tiny slivers of other food.
He might not like the taste of them. Some birds really are just picky. People often mix something in to make it more enticing and eventually win the birds over. It could be his current favourite foods; some people use coconut oil.

If you follow the various chop recipes in the forum, you should be good to go! Just a note, tomatoes, spinach, cucumber, and oranges in moderation; some of them block certain nutrients from being absorbed well, others don’t sit well with some parrots. Also, I don’t serve beans, but I know they all need to be cooked well and some of them can’t be eaten by parrots - you’ll have to check which ones. Plus, I believe sweet potatoes and yams need to be cooked. The other veggies and fruits you mentioned are ok uncooked.

For your start, I’d say don’t bulk make anything just yet. You still need to test what he likes and doesn’t like and win him over to eating fresh, rather than just seeds. If you bulk make and he hates it, it’ll just go to waste.

Whenever I introduce a new veggie, I only add it to the chop the moment I serve it, so it doesn’t get frozen into the entire batch. That way, if he flat out rejects the chop due to the new ingredient, I can offer him another meal that doesn’t have it to make sure he does eat something.

For powdered milk thistle, you can serve it to Mr. Sunshine too

As for his beak, I’d check with your avian vet. I know some people also include a small amount of red palm oil or coconut oil to help with such things, but our little guy is still dubious about RPO.




For us, Cairo gets his chop for breakfast and dinner. I make it in a food processor, in bulk and then freeze it. I do make sure to strain the wetter veggies (like bell peppers) before mixing with the drier veggies. In addition, I also put a bowl of big/whole veggies for him to snack on throughout the day. That snack bowl typically consists of whole snow peas, green beans, blocks of butternut squash, big carrot pieces, and chili padi. Some mornings, he ignores his breakfast and eats his snacks first

I've read that tomatoes can be too acidic and should only be given occasionally or not at all.

Fresh cucumbers, bell pepper, banana and papaya won't freeze well. I suggest chopping those and adding them to the thawed chop at the time of serving. I suggest Snow Peas, Snap peapods, any leafy greens, fresh carrot as additional/atlernative fresh options to add.

I've read that kidney beans aren't so good for parrots... can't remember where I saw that... Flax, chia, quinoa, millet, brown rise, wheat pasta, barley, oats, wheat germ are all good options.

The frozen ingredients you mentioned all look great to me.

I recommend cooking the dry ingredients, mix with the frozen, seperate into a bunch of containers and storing them in the freezer. Store one container in the fridge to thaw, that you serve from. Heating this mix may make your bird more willing to try it.

Have fun!

@Squeekmouse and @charmedbyekkie

So many great tips, thank you both! I will be experimenting and trying all of these.

Lots more research to do. There is much conflicting info out there. I would rather err on the side of caution. He has been through enough. I want to make his life better not more stressful.

I so appreciate your time and knowledge.

Never give up! Takes time and seeing those veggies over and over before they try em. Try to present them woven through the bars, chopped into foot size pieces, or cooked, or mashed up, every way imaginable! Once you get him used to trying stuff it gets easier! Sweet potato mine only eat cooked, don't give orange that often. Citrus fruit should be given sparingly and rarely as it can be a factor in iron storage disease......
Also never underestimate the power of monkey see monkey do! You eat it or play with it front of them, use reverse psychology try to not let them have it, let them steal it from you plate! Offering new foods in a new or away from the cage area helps too, like at their play area, or a special veggies dish on top of the cage. I've noticed that my birds are willing to explore new foods away from their cage...

Use a food processor to make it really tiny at first, and add it to their pellets or normal diet. If it's super tiny they can't effectively pick it off, and they get used to the flavors. Gradually increase the size of the pieces from there.

Laurasea said:

Never give up! Takes time and seeing those veggies over and over before they try em. Try to present them woven through the bars, chopped into foot size pieces, or cooked, or mashed up, every way imaginable!

Click to expand...

So many good tips, thank you. I won't give up! I love the top of the cage idea. He wants me to open it up, but I haven't yet. I want to be sure everything is safe in case he tries to take flight. I don't know if he can, but I have been parrot proofing daily.

He might enjoy morning and evening dining on his cage top.

BeatriceC said:

If it's super tiny they can't effectively pick it off, and they get used to the flavors. Gradually increase the size of the pieces from there.

Click to expand...

That's a great idea, thank you.

It sounds like you have an open top cage. Do be careful with these. Birds have been killed by them collapsing. My own little guy used to have an open top cage. He managed to squeeze his head from inside through the two doors and started screaming because his neck was caught. Other birds have snapped their necks from doing the same thing. Luckily my partner was home and quickly rescued him before he could flail around and hurt himself.

After that, I locked it shut with a binder ring until I could replace his cage.

charmedbyekkie said:

It sounds like you have an open top cage. Do be careful with these.

Click to expand...

That's enough warning for me. I won't be using the open top. There is no way he can get through it as it is very secure and he is too large. I haven't opened it and won't. THANK YOU!!!