harrisons pellet questions

[hacatta]

So i decided a while ago to use harrisons now instead of the zupreem fruitblend.
The first 1 pound bag came in today and they love it.
How long can the pellet be in the bowl before it spoils?
Also i want to buy in bulk next.
How long does is stay good in the freezer?
Also after taken out how long does is stay good?
I have always learn that an item when taken out of the freezer spoils after 48 hours,yet i read people take out for an week.

Thank you.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

The thing about Harrisons, is I find the company to be overly conservative with their foods. They 'say' that the food should be discarded after 4-6 weeks.

My birds easily go through a bag of regular pellets in under a month, so thats not an issue.

But the power treats dont get used up in a month. I've had power treats open for over 2 months and they were fine.

Storage is one key thing. Keeping them in the fridge will prolong their life. What I use to determine if the food is no longer good is the smell. If it smells rancid, it's no good. Chances are the bird won't eat it either.

Harrisons has said they should be fed a fresh batch every 24 hours. But the food is expensive and they don't always eat it all up in one day.

I have to fill Skittles food dish twice a day cause he is a little piggy! LOL. But he's also VERY active. Peaches, my cockatiel, doesn't go through pellets in a day - so after 3 days I discard what she hasn't eaten.

You could also just put in a little at a time, but that can also be a pain having to constantly check to see they have food.

 

[Frumpydumple]

I normally leave pellets in the cage for about 1-2 days, but I have left them for a few days longer than that and they were still fine.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

What I think is more important is not leaving 'food' out for long periods of time - such as fruit, veggies, eggs etc - no more than a few hours for those - but pellets, I think are fine every 2-3 days. The thing about the pellets is they are likely to go stale before they spoil once exposed to the air.

 

[hacatta]

Thank you ,but does anyone know how lone you can freeze them.
Id i buy a 5 pound it should last me about 2 months.
Would that be okay.
Else it will cost me 40 dollars a month if i have to buy a 1 pound bags plus shipping.

 

[Freespin]

If you are worried about leaving it out for a few days just give them less in each feed. Instead of filling the bowl give a couple of table spoons. If all of that isnt eaten by the following feeding then reduce the amount slowly until you know roughly how much your bird will eat a day. If the first controlled portion is completely gone then slowly increase the amount given. This will help reduce waste and also comes in handy when you want to start training because you can reduce the amount further so your bird is ready to eat when training time comes around daily.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Thank you ,but does anyone know how lone you can freeze them.
Id i buy a 5 pound it should last me about 2 months.
Would that be okay.
Else it will cost me 40 dollars a month if i have to buy a 1 pound bags plus shipping.

If you go through a 5 lb bag in two months, then you really don't HAVE to freeze it since it's guaranteed for 4-6 weeks. What I would suggest is refrigerating it if you feel the need. But personally, I wouldn't be worried about 2 months. That's just a few weeks after the 'guaranteed' time period and I've fed my birds power treats for two months on the same bag.

 

[hacatta]

Thanks,i will just put the bag in the refrigerator.
I already have cut their portions down.
But i just wanted to know how fast the spoiling would be.
But one of my gcc has the habit of lying on his back in the bowl and play.
So i leave just a bit bigger portion in that cage.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

My cockatiel has more a habit of pooping in her food than anything, so I have a cover over the top of her food dish with an opening in the front for her to get access to food.

There have been a few times I caught Skittles throwing his food around and rubbing his head in the food dish. I try to discourage that cause the food ain't cheap!

He tends to like to dip his head in things. Under the faucet, in a glass of O.J. etc. It's weird.

 

[hacatta]

How much tablespoons pellets do your birds get?
Cause they left again much left over,i do believe that in the past that i have given sooooo much pellets that i probably trown away more than they have eaten.

 

[Freespin]

My barraband gets two teaspoons of a pellet seed mix (dont think he touches the pellets) a day and that is agenerous amount for him, he eats a lot but not all of. He also gets chop and whatever other fresh stuff I have around daily. I dont measure my eckies amount because his first is mainly fresh but it's probably around a tablespoon of seed a day.

 

[hacatta]

Wow mine really got too much.
Tomorrow i'm free so i will give them 2 tablespoons and 1 table spoon seed in their foraging cups.
And see if that is enough.
I do always put some dried fruit and nuts in their foraging toys.
They also get fresh when i get home and chop mix before they go to bed.

 

[Freespin]

You have Conures right? Sorry I thought you had a grey for some reason. I would think teaspoons rather than tablespoons for them =)

 

[hacatta]

I have 2 cages with 2 gcc in each so 2 teaspoons x 2 would be 2 tablespoons.
If i'm right

 

[MikeyTN]

A table spoon per cage should suffice along with the fresh food. You can generally find the answers you need from their website or by calling them at their office in Brentwood office which is right down the road from me. Plus if you type search in here there's a huge list of Harrison food questions here in the forums.

 

[hacatta]

Thanks,i will try that tomorrow.
But i think that i will be able to stretch a 5 pound bag to 3 month's then.
Calling would be really expensive since i'm in the Netherlands.
I will look up their site,didn't knew they had one,didn't even think of it:54:

 

[hacatta]

2 tablespoons is too less apparently.
They love it so much they tried to attack me when i took their bowl out to clean the dust away from the pellets and refill it.
Does anyone know a easy recipe for the pellet dust?

 

[MonicaMc]

My bourke parakeet that weighs around 38 grams gets about 6-7 grams of pellets per day.

My four cockatiels (total weight probably around 400 grams or less) typically eat less than 35 grams of pellets every two days. (on the days they don't get pellets, they do get seeds)

Jayde, my red throated conure that weighs around 116 grams gets about 13 grams of pellets every two days. (same deal as the tiels)

Charlie, mitred conure that weighs over 200 grams (his weight fluctuates and currently closer to 300 grams than 200) usually eats about 15-18 grams of pellets a day.


They generally eat more seeds in grams than they do pellets, since seeds have a lot of waste, and the actual amount that they eat varies day to day with how much fresh foods that they consume.