Flying food

[MissMac]

Is your bird a flicker of food?
Gracie, my 16 week old Silver/Lavender IRN is a food flicker. I am sure you all know what I mean by food flicker - she uses her beak to flick food OUT of the bowl and all over the place. It's very wasteful and VERY messy. Missy, my 18 week old Lutino IRN doesn't flick - except when it's stuck on her beak.
How do I minimise, if not stop, Gracie from doing this?
She's a tad fussier than Missy (Missy could do with being a bit fussier....) re food, and unlike Missy, I didn't hand rear her, the breeder did and she was on soaked seeds, only diet. I now have her eating peas and corn with chop, to introduce her to chop, fresh fruit and, something supposedly pellets which they only pick out the stuff they like and it's not the pellets. Oh, and I also give them, separately, so Gracie gets used to the taste, cooked rice, lentils, cous cous, quinoa and pasta.

 

[Zoruace]

tiki loves to flick seeds..
i think it's natural behavior
in the wild..
birds usually throw all the seeds around so more yummy stuff apper later
altho this isnt seed but she might have the same idea in her head?

 

[MissMac]

tiki loves to flick seeds..
i think it's natural behavior
in the wild..
birds usually throw all the seeds around so more yummy stuff apper later
altho this isnt seed but she might have the same idea in her head?

Just odd that Missy doesn't but I get that doesn't surprise me... Missy is like that.

 

[StormyPica]

tiki loves to flick seeds..
i think it's natural behavior
in the wild..
birds usually throw all the seeds around so more yummy stuff apper later
altho this isnt seed but she might have the same idea in her head?

I think it's also so they can get the food off their beaks.

 

[Laurasea]

Hi,
I see all this fabric and threads . This isn't good for them to chew on. All the little threads build up in their crop and can lead to crop impaction and even death. I have some links in my ornithology thread that are pretty graphic. I can link if you want.

Its really best to provide Natural material to chew on, coconut husk, yucca chips, sea grass, willow, bamboo

 

[zERo]

My GCC is a food flicker too lol, but he just does it when chop gets on the outside of his beak then he shakes his head and it goes everywhere

 

[StormyPica]

Hi,
I see all this fabric and threads . This isn't good for them to chew on. All the little threads build up in their crop and can lead to crop impaction and even death. I have some links in my ornithology thread that are pretty graphic. I can link if you want.

Its really best to provide Natural material to chew on, coconut husk, yucca chips, sea grass, willow, bamboo

Agreed. Some of my birds also love to chew on sisal rope, it's safe and won't cause impaction.

 

[Koko_the_fluf]

Weirdly a few years back when I discovered pellets Koko stopped flinging food after I changed his diet. I think it's because that there were seeds that were mixed with the seeds, he likes the most and I think he was just trying to find them.

 

[wrench13]

I only feed dry food ( pellets and a Walnut, Nutraberry or almond) inside the cage and its left there all day. Wet food, served for a lunch and a dinner is served at a different feeding station, out of the cage, with a huge stainless bowl ( like 30" dia) under it and also a office matt under the station. Salty is not much of a flinger, but I would either use a shower curtain tacked up around the feeding station or in severe cases panels of Plexiglas (perspex in some countries) and set up for easy removal and washing. Thats a bit pricey to set up, but man the hours saved in clean up!!

 

[ctwo]

There is at least a 1-foot perimeter around the cage that collects food debris. Mango has been known to toss coffee cups and bowls off the top of his cage when he doesn't agree with the menu.