Current Diet and Suggestions

[hiriki]

I have my cockatiel and conure currently on a 50% Zupreem (fruit blend) and 50% seeds daily diet. I tried to move them to Harrisons, but they wouldn't eat that, unfortunately. But what I do to go along with it is a daily smoothie, which has been working really well imo.

Every 2 weeks or so I make a huge batch of smoothie, usually 50% spinach with some fruit and usually broccoli and carrots. But then I add Harrisons pellets both before blending, and then into the blend afterward for texture along with some safflower seeds, which they love. I freeze it in ice cube trays and then every night pop the next day's portion into the fridge to thaw. They treat it like an absolute yummy treat, absolutely love it, and it gives me a little bit of reassurance that they're getting variety in their diet, especially since they're not always interested in sharing my meals, and sometimes what I'm eating isn't appropriate to give them anyway.

I'm posting this both to give some parronts a suggestion (it's super easy and makes a big difference, imo!) and also for suggestions, both in my smoothie mix (how to make it better & more balanced), and in how to switch them over to Harrisons. I don't want them starving themselves but my cockatiel in particular will just not eat at all if she isn't interested in what's in her bowl.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Soyajam]

Hey Hiriki!

The smoothie is a great idea. My only concern long term would be a lack of fibre - I'm sure there's probably some the zupreem pellets though so not a biggie I don't think.

Your idea of mixing pellets into the smoothie + seeds is a good idea too, that's what I'd do. You could always try mixing the harrisons with the zupreem, first a very small amount (so they eat it without noticing) and then slowly increase the ratio of harrisons over zupreem.

 

[hiriki]

Yeah, the zupreem should have a fairly balanced nutritional profile, although I've read in many places that Harrison's is overall preferable. I'm not even sure tbh how much of the zupreem they're even eating, I do think they eat around it. I try to get seed mixes with less sunflower seeds and more of everything else but I wish I could get them off seeds entirely and still feel like they're getting enough food!!

This weekend I think I'll try mixing a container of 70% zupreem 30% Harrison's and then use that instead...

How do you usually confirm your parrots are eating enough? If I felt like I could easily track it, I'd up the amount of pellets and reduce the amount of seeds, but I'm not confident I'd know if they're super hungry x___x.

 

[Scott]

Smoothies are terrific vehicles for introducing veggies and fruits. Most anything will blend, and you can vary the recipe.

Another avenue is "birdie bread." Most birds love baked goods, and you can tailor many recipes to stimulate appetite. Here's one popular version: http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/65841-poppy-s-jolly-jungle-bread.html You can scroll through the Parrot food, Recipes, and Diet forum for more ideas.

The very best way to determine proper food consumption is to weigh with a sensitive gram scale. Available in cooking stores and online sources. A range of weights for common species is readily available with a Google search.

 

[Teddscau]

I personally started feeding my kids chop last week. Here's the guideline I used: 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% vegetables
Carrot (5g)
Squash (5g)
Celery (5g)
Chickweed (less than 1 gram)
Broccoli (5g)
Radish (5g)
Dandelion (less than 1 gram)
Brussel sprout (5g)
Snap peas (5g)
Bell pepper (5g)
Hot pepper (5g)
Apple (5g)

40% (6–7 grams for each of the following ingredients)
Wheat
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
Mungbeans

10% dry ingredients (1 gram for each ingredient)
Mustard seed
Sesame seed
Pinenuts
Pecans
Macadamia
Sunflower
Flax
Pumpkin seeds
Millet

This recipe contains very popular foods that most birds really enjoy, so hopefully he'll eat it. It doesn't have quite enough calcium or B-complex vitamins, but since your kids' are on pellets, hopefully everything will balance out over time. Oh, and after putting their daily ration of chop on a plate (start with maybe 1/2 tablespoon first), you can serve a few kernels of corn, a couple of frozen peas, or whatever, along with the chop to add even more variety. Obviously, you'll want to have a few different chop recipes to help make sure the nutrition balances out over time.

Also, here's my birdie bread recipe: http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/63942-most-nutritious-birdie-bread.html

Can't feed it to the kids anymore because the sweet potato and the density of the bread make the budgies projectile vomit x_x

As for pellets, I wonder how feasible it would be to "alternate" pellets every few weeks to make sure your birds are getting adequate nutrition. Many pellets claim to have exactly the required amount of each nutrient, but we all know that isn't true. Some brands have too high of quantities of certain nutrients, while not having enough of others. If I were to have my guys on a mostly pelleted diet, I'd try to have my guys on Pellet A for a few weeks, Pellet B for another few weeks, then Pellet C for a while, before rotating back through.

If you're going to be feeding Harrison's and Zupreem, why not throw some Totally Organic Pellets into the mix?

 

[hiriki]

@Scott: I've actually tried a bird bread mix with lukewarm results. My cockatiel needs several days of watching my conure enjoy any new food before she'll actually try it, but my conure just wanted to tear the bread to shreds without seemingly eating any of it. But I only tried one mix, so there's always room to explore!

I wonder how you keep your birds on the scale? My conure is disabled, so doesn't put up with much handling, and I try to avoid toweling her except on vet dates, although I can change that if I need to. Then again with a big enough scale I may just be able to get her to stand on it. Hmm...

@Teddscau: Thanks for the input!!! Chop seems like a really good idea! With that and the smoothie, I might be able to just remove seeds entirely, and then if they want food from a dry food bowl it would be pellets. I'll keep that in mind and when I go grocery shopping next I'll give it a try!

 

[Carl_Power]

Just a daft suggestion here but leave a scale in the cage, see if your birdie stands on it thinking its a platform or something. Everythings worth a try even if its unorthadox and Zupreem are great pellets for smaller Parrots, especially Zupreem natural. One of the best for Tiels and is what i feed my Quaker and he is really healthy and active and happy x

 

[DAislandR]

Has anyone had any experience with Tropimix or Tropican by HARI? I like the food's profile but I've not come across anyone who has actually used it?

 

[MonicaMc]

If you need some other ideas!

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html


I have no problems getting my conure to eat pellets, in fact, due to a beak injury, I hardly ever feed him seeds. (it's easier for him to eat pellets) I'd be happier though if he consumed more fresh foods! LOL He gets the same amount of fresh food as my other birds who weigh less than half of what he does... and they eat the majority of their fresh foods! Where-as there's still quite a bit left over in his dish... (even though sprouts are included in his fresh food!)

 

[hiriki]

Thanks for the extra input! I'll probably avoid putting a scale directly in the cage, unless I can find a wireless one. I know she'd have a field day chewing wires. Even if there aren't wires I feel like she'd find a way to expose the electrical parts lol...

@DAislandR: I haven't tried those myself I don't think! My experience so far is Harrison's and Zupreem!

@MonicaMc: lol! My conure is very good with her fresh foods, my cockatiel tho came from a seed-only family and didn't even realize fresh & table foods were edible until I'd been trying to feed them to her for like a year. I've found that she's more likely to eat something if my conure is actively eating it, OR if it has rice in it. She loves rice so if she sees rice it flips a switch lol.