Chop disaster *sigh*

[LoveMyConlan]

So I chopped up some fresh veg the other. Zucchini, squash, snap peas, peppers, and broccoli... Pretty much what I had on hand.

My Macaw wouldn't touch anything but the broccoli. My Conures? They chewed on it, sucked the juice out, and threw the pieces on the floor of they even are any at all.

They LOVE fruits. They will actually eat them, but I want to give them a better diet, but just as a daily ration.

Any ideas on what to try? Should I bake the veg? Steam? Maybe try something different?

Up till now I've pretty much just given then organic baby food (so I can get fruit flavors that have veg in them) and they're whole fruits. But veg is hard to get them to actually EAT not just suck on and then toss lol.

Any tips? They love rice, quoenoa, WG pasta and will eat the veggies if it has flavor to it (if i get Chinese they will happily much the carrots/peas/broccoli) but it's usually with a sauce on it.

They is picky lol. They like flavor. Give them something bland, like cucumber, and they toss it ROFL.

 

[Terry57]

I often mix grains in my chop, that may work. Also try chopping into different sizes...my CAG will eat anything of any size, but my 'too prefers tiny chop. My Sun & Jenday like larger pieces, my other conures like tiny chop.
Steaming may help, sometimes it's a matter of trying everything until you find what they like.

 

[itzjbean]

Ugh, I totally feel you on the chop lulls. One of my birds LOVES chop, the other is very picky and addicted to seed mix. You could supplement them with pellets just to be sure they are getting the nutrients you need. Also consider baking birdie bread with the squash and less-flavorful veggies inside chopped or possibly even pureed so they don't even get a choice as to pick it or not. It's kind of the same concept as kids who won't eat veggies but parents making a casserole or stew to get in all the healthy stuff! Lol..

I'm hoping some more members with picky eaters could chime in with some advice here! Good luck to you, I know it is a daily struggle!

 

[MooshieBird]

Mushka is a very picky eater, she only wants pellets and junk food with a few select fruits and veggies. What I started doing was making a "base" chop and freezing most of it. The base chop is just kale, chia and flax seed, jalapeno peppers, blueberries, and oatmeal. Those serve as a base she is willing to eat because she likes jalapenos and the oatmeal absorbs the moisture so it doesn't get freezer burn. I take out 3 days worth at a time and thaw it in the fridge. When I am ready to give her some I add other fruits and veggies that I think she will eat or she needs. That way she doesn't get tired of the same old chop every day and that seems to get her to at least try it. I also often eat the chop in front of her and give it to her when we eat so she sees me eating it and eats at the same time with us.

We are still experimenting but this works pretty well. On a side note her new favorite treat is sweet potato fries. Just chop up a sweet potato like fries, add some chia seed and red pepper flakes and bake at 350 until the desired firmness. Mushka likes em mushy.

 

[Soyajam]

Lol that's still better than my experience of chop!

Remi has been on mash for a few months now and I provide her a tablespoon of chop a day - I'm lucky if I get a beakful, the rest is untouched!
The pieces are small enough so she can't pick out favourites, so she just stiffs the whole lot...

No luck with nuts, seeds, or cooked vegie chunks, either. At best a piece or two is eaten, at worst it's pristine after 4 hours with it.

What she does like? Roast white potatoes (unhealthy)... and.... pastry. (I KNOW I KNOW) She'll also go for frozen peas but I have to save that for our (rather sketchy) training sessions.

Sigh....

Have you tried steaming/cooking some of the cookable vegies so they're a bit softer? Birds are quite sensitive to texture.

Mash might work for you too - Zucchini, Pumpkin (squash), Summer squash, Sweet potato, Broccoli, Cauliflower will all steam and mash up pretty nicely. Add the grains/ pasta like Terry suggests (lazy option is one of those 'soup' mixes of grains) and mix.

You can cook in batches or if you have the time just do a bit at a time. You can leave it chunky or make it more like puree until you get a texture they want. Once they're used to it, see if you can sneakily increase the 'chunkiness' until they're on just the chunks (and not mashed).

Me? I've been able to increase the chunks a little but not too much. So I'm still on the mash train.

*Disclaimer: My bird's only 5 months old so part of my struggle is that I think she's still weaning. You'll probably have better luck than me on the get go.

 

[GaleriaGila]

I'll start with my usual little diet suggestion...

Harrison's Bird Foods
I feed Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first, and later, my current avian vet recommended it. My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry enough to try new stuff. I presume the same technique could be used to get him to eat other healthy stuff. My guy was eating pellets in a couple of days, and now I can feed a good variety of other stuff, knowing he has the pellets as a basic. Pellets are out all day... fresh treats a few times a day. I also like Harrison's via mail because I never have to worry about out-of-date products.

Another couple of ideas...
My ol' man is an athlete and health nut. He actually EATS all the good stuff, so it's always around. I find that tossing various stuff into the food bowls at random is good... the variationd and differences sedem to stimulate curiosity and attention.
The other idea... if you can stand it (lol) EAT the stuff in front of the birds, yes. That encourages them. I have also found that if my ol' man eats stuff in front of the bird, the bird WANTS it for himself. Kinda a rivalry thing!

Good luck!

 

[KozmoKramer]

You mentioned that your bird likes pasta. Barilla brand makes a pasta that is 25% veggies (carrot, spinach, etc.). Might be worth a try.

 

[bug_n_flock]

You could also try making your own pasta from healthier options like whole grain flours, veggie purees, and whole eggs. It's surprisingly easy and omgosh so tasty! Also, rolling out the pasta dough is a really, really good arm workout.

 

[Teddscau]

My birds can be a pain to feed, but here's the successful guideline I use: Making and Feeding ?Chop? mix to your bird

I'd recommend using a kitchen scale to have the measurement of each ingredient accurate to within a gram. Be very careful when including high oxalate foods such as dandelion, chickweed, chard, spinach, etc., as these ingredients, while healthy, significantly inhibit the absorption of calcium. Ran into trouble with too many oxalates this past summer (oops!).

I personally cut the ingredients by hand, as I find the food processor can end up cutting the pieces too small and can make the chop too wet. Also, I don't recommend freezing it, since most birds don't like frozen food (they're fine with frozen mash and birdie bread, though). Believe it or not, my birds actually ate up their daily portion of chop each day, which is surprising. When it comes to feeding birds, we tend to overestimate how much food they can eat in a day, so there's a lot of wastage and they end up eating mainly their favourite foods.

According to the guidelines from the website I posted, I came up with this basic recipe for my birds:

50% vegetables, 40% cooked grains/legumes, and 10% dry ingredients

50% RAW vegetables
Carrot
Squash
Celery
Chickweed (less than 1 gram)
Broccoli
Radish
Dandelion (less than 1 gram)
Brussel sprout
Snap peas
Apple
Parsnip
Pomegranate
Pea shoots

40% cooked grains and pulses
Wheat (cooked)
Oats (you can throw these in without cooking them to soak up excess moisture)
Barley (refer to comment on oats)
Buckwheat (refer to comment on oats)
Lentils (cooked)
Mungbeans (cooked)

10% dry ingredients
Mustard seed
Sesame seed
Pinenuts
Pecans
Macadamia
Hazelnut
Almonds
Sunflower seeds
Flax
Pumpkin seeds
Millet