Dehydrating chop?

[Tsali]

When I start making chop for Tsali - my one and only African Grey I wind up with a huge bucket full in need of preserving. A bit of this, a bit of that, and then things go wonky - cause I keep thinking of healthy additions and things that he really enjoys, veges that he hasn't tried yet that I want to incorporate in his daily diet. So I wind up with bunches that go in individual servings vacuum sealed in the freezer. Good and bad. He always has a supply of chop BUT I always wind up tossing much of the chop because I simply won't feed him food that has been in the freezer for more than a few months.

So I put on my thinking cap and started wondering about the benefits of gentle low temperature dehydrating over freezing. My research leads me to believe that dehydrating his chop and then rehydrating it will preserve more of the nutrients and keep it fresh longer.

I would love to hear opinions from others before I start in on the my batch of "winter chop".

 

[Kiwibird]

I've been dehydrating Kiwi's chop for some time now. It works great at preserving it, just be sure to keep it in an airtight container. I like to re-hydrate it before I feed it to him, and just soak in a little water for a few minutes. Mix in a few fresh items every day, and your good to go! Kiwi has learned not to be too picky of an eater and to eat what he's given, but he seems to like it enough

I also like to fully cook up his beans and grains in huge batches and dehydrate those too. Then they are fully cooked so I can easily make up small batches for him and it takes no time at all to heat up/rehydrate VS cooking small batches from scratch every couple days.

Edit- My prior threads with dehydrator chop:

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/62854-kiwi-s-summer-menu.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...day-surprise-mix-quick-cook-beans-grains.html

 

[Tsali]

Thank you so much for your reply. I am sorting out this fall/winter vege chop and will be making my first batch of dehydrated chop in the next few days.

I am thinking acorn squash, butternut squash, and pumpkin and sweet potato. I bought some good looking zucchini so I think I'll add that in as well. I know I need to cook the pumpkin and sweet potato, but I'm unsure about the acorn and butternut squash.

 

[Kiwibird]

Thank you so much for your reply. I am sorting out this fall/winter vege chop and will be making my first batch of dehydrated chop in the next few days.

I am thinking acorn squash, butternut squash, and pumpkin and sweet potato. I bought some good looking zucchini so I think I'll add that in as well. I know I need to cook the pumpkin and sweet potato, but I'm unsure about the acorn and butternut squash.

Yes, both squashes should be peeled, cubed and steamed. If you have never prepped winter squashes before, be prepared to spend some time and effort doing so. They are very hard. You can also take the seeds from the squashes and pumpkin and lightly roast them (wash the yucky guts off first). Most birds LOVE squash seeds!