Harrison's?

[Wulfgeist]

So I'm hearing alot of people here say good thing about Harrison's, especially for Greys. I'm looking at the price and it's about what I'm paying for the Roudybush, maybe a tad more. I'm thinking of maybe switching him when this bag is starting to get low. Which kind should the youngsters have? High Potency? Would he do better with course or maybe something smaller to start with?

Anyone know if they do free samples?

Not sure why but after that first week home he's suddenly slowed way down on the amount of pellets and what not he's eating. He still takes to breakfast (veggies and bean cuisine) fine and whatever other treats I sometimes give like nutriberry or a baby carrot.

 

[Rio Mom]

If you email Harrisons they will send you a sample. I use the High Potency Coarse for Pepper and the High Potency Fine for River.

 

[roxynoodle]

You will want him on the High Potency all his life actually, not just as a youngster. He will probably like the course size. Outside of Greys and breeding birds or birds with health issues, the Adult Lifetime is probably fine, and Pete will eventually be switched to that.

Your vet may also have samples to give you if he/she sells Harrison's.

I wouldn't let the bag you have get too low though as it may take some time of the 2 being mixed before he eats the new food. However Pete took to it pretty quickly after 28 years of seed (surprised me though).

 

[Spiritbird]

My avian vet told me to keep Rosie on Harrisons HP course for life. The best price I have seen is on MSBS. Rosie has eaten them now for almost 3 years and she is very healthy. They must be kept in your refrigerator because there are no preservatives in the pellets. You can order a small bag if you want. The sample bags are so small.

 

[Wulfgeist]

What about freezing them?

 

[roxynoodle]

Some people say they have put it in freezer bags, but it does say on the bag to freeze only unopened bags and and to keep it in the original bag. So I have been saving empty bags just in case I decide to freeze some (although it wouldn't be a new, unopened bag). I do have a bag of the regular lifetime course in my freezer and I had to thaw out some of it as I was running low on the HP and it looked like I waited one day too long to place my next order. It was fine once it thawed out. I know when it is getting old because the birds will toss a large number of the pellets, and when it's fresh they will only toss 1 or 2 a day. I thought I'd be able to tell by smell, but I really couldn't.

 

[Mayden]

For African Grey's you'll wanna keep him on High Potency Coarse (I have Merlin on adult lifetime fine, and they're really quiet small for a Grey).

I'd definitely recommend Harrissons. Merlin had no trouble whatsoever converting and I didn't bother putting him on HP first (as it says to do for the first 6 months) and just put him straight on lifetime, I'm sure Mr Sassypants will enjoy harrissons

 

[Rio Mom]

I keep most of mine in the freezer. I have the bag it comes in sealed shut and put inside a plastic pet food storage container. Then I keep a weeks worth at a time in the fridge.

 

[Spiritbird]

I always keep a spare bag in the freezer.

 

[Wulfgeist]

Im looking because MSBS does have it on sale and if I get the 25# bag (and maybe a little something else to make up for the 10% discount) there's that free shipping again.

So it's probably ok to get it and keep it sealed up real well in the freezer and take out only like a week's worth at a time?

 

[roxynoodle]

I hope you have a big freezer, lol! Merlin's previous owners sent me a bag like that, and I just couldn't fit it in mine unless I didn't put any food for me in there. So I had it in the fridge and it did go bad before I could use it all :-(

With a Grey and an amazon eating it I'm going through 5lbs in just shy of 5 weeks I've learned. So I think next time I order I'm going to get 2 5lb bags and freeze one and a half.

 

[Wulfgeist]

Yeah I was looking at that..the Roudybush is a 10# bag..the 25# would take up my whole freezer. Maybe I will just go with a smaller one to start with and see what happens.

Thanks for all the responses and suggestions.

 

[roxynoodle]

Yes, I was thinking you might take as much as 10 weeks to go through a 5lb bag. And in that case, 25lbs would last a year. You wouldn't have any choice but to freeze it. If you check Harrison's website you can find out who, if anyone, sells it locally as well. Then if you'd like you can just buy it that way, one bag at a time.

 

[Wulfgeist]

Yeah did that last night. There's a vet in one of the next towns over that supposedly sells it. I'll have to give them a call tomorrow. MSBS of course doesn't have smaller bags. It's definately cheaper to get her 25# bag but yeah that's way too much food.

 

[roxynoodle]

Hmm, not sure if the course comes in anything less than 5lbs. I know MSBS has 5lb bags because that is what I bought the last 2 times. When I bought the first one I wanted to see how long it would last with 2 birds eating it. I think we went 1 or 2 days less than 5 weeks. I said, well that's good since it says to try to use it all in 4-6 weeks. So I just bought another 5lb bag, although it would be cheaper for me shipping wise to buy 2 bags next time and freeze one. Of course buying in bulk is cheaper, but not if you don't have the freezer room. If you just end up throwing it away, you threw away money, too. I was pretty upset that big bag had to go into the garbage. It was maybe half used at that time. I wanted to put it into freezer bags that would be easier to squeeze in here and there, but worried since the directions said not to.

 

[Wulfgeist]

I'll have to look again. When I looked under food and Harrison's all I saw were 25# bags on everything. I can at least price it with the vet, if I have to pay a ton for shipping it might be just as well to get it here.

I found them, this time I used the search for "Harrison's" and came up with all the other stuff. Thanks! I'll hold off til I can call the vet tomorrow and see what the price comparison is.

 

[Wulfgeist]

Called the vet, their bag of 5# Harrison's HP coarse is $24.37. MSBS is (with 10% off and shipping) $37.36. Soo I guess I'll be going over to this vet, it's good that it's fairly close and that it's cheaper. He's not much eating these pellets now so today or tomorrow I'm going to go get the Harrison's and try that.

 

[roxynoodle]

Called the vet, their bag of 5# Harrison's HP coarse is $24.37. MSBS is (with 10% off and shipping) $37.36. Soo I guess I'll be going over to this vet, it's good that it's fairly close and that it's cheaper. He's not much eating these pellets now so today or tomorrow I'm going to go get the Harrison's and try that.

You can't beat that price. The closest vet who sells it to me comes out to about the same as MSBS when I factor in gas and sales tax to go there to buy it. So in my case, I'm like, let it come to me, lol!

 

[ParrotAddict]

Hello:

I wish Ozzi my TAG would eat Harrison's, but he is very picky. Not only Harrison's, but he wont eat Hagen as well. He will eat Pretty Bird Natural Gold as long as he has some of the Volkman's Nut & Friut mixed in. My TAG also wont eat veggies, any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[roxynoodle]

I'm having trouble with the veggies as well with my Grey. She is a grainaholic. She wants corn, rice and spaghetti. I just keep working on it trying different methods of presentation and different kinds of veggies.

Oh, and I shaved carrots very finely and put them into her spaghetti sauce, lol!