Healthy Birdie Chips (Home made)

[Blueridge]

... GENIUS!

 

[DallyTsuka]

I really want to give this a try but am not finding coconut water anywhere. Can you suggest other 'bird safe' juices/waters? I almost used flavored water but decided against it at the last moment.

100% pure carrot juice, sugar free cranberry juice (avoid cocktails), sugar free apple juice, sugar free pineapple juice.

those are all safe and i have used them with my birds and they especially love cranberry.


our dally is our picky eater, but she loooooves juice, so i often share with her since she likes them so much, and it gives me a way to get some veggies in her lol pellets sure she loves, but veggies? it depends on what kind lol

 

[JenJen]

Apparently, finding sugar free anything (short of soda!) is next to impossible! I did locate 100% juice - Cranberry - by Northland. It indicates no sugar (but for what naturally occurs from fruit juice) has been added. The nutrition label says there are 29g of sugar in every 8fl oz. Will this be ok?

 

[DallyTsuka]

the sugar content is from the fruit itself, so it's okay. you just dont want ADDED sugar.

 

[JenJen]

Great! Thank you!!

 

[jenphilly]

Coconut water is usually in one of two sections... with the Asian specialty groceries or Hispanic section groceries. It should be soda can type, there are also coconut water based sodas in glass bottles that are really quite tasty, but obviously not for the feathered kids in the family!!

Try the coconut water yourself too, it usually has chunk of coconut pulp in it... I LOVE the stuff

We still have to try making these for Ivory, maybe this weekend, I know I have two cans of coconut water in the closet for my nutribullet shakes and I have harrisons she won't touch.

Has anyone tried these with other pellets? We feed TOPs, always have some in fridge for birdie breads and I put Ivorys thru a mill blade and sprinkle it over her food mix cause she won't pick up and eat a pellet, but when everything is dusted in, she's got no choice! I had such an easy time as a mom to the human kid, she ate anything and loved all fresh foods and veggies... figures its the bird kid I adopt that gives me a hard time eating!!

 

[JenJen]

I have a batch of this in the oven now (250 degrees). The pellets (Zupreem natural) didn't quite get mushy despite sitting in the cranberry juice for over an hour. They got really, really puffy. I took a potato masher to them and it made a really thick paste like substance that I thinned out a little by adding more juice to.

I'm not sure how this will turn out, but Zulu will at least get a piece for his patience.

In the meantime, tomorrow I will try looking in those places suggested for Coconut water.

ETA: I checked the juice once more (You can't tell I'm a wee bit paranoid, can you?!) and the ingredients say that it's a mix of four juices from concentrate: Apple, Pear, Jujubee and Cranberry. Would this constitute a 'cocktail'? I'm assuming since it's 'no sugar added' it's still OK?

 

[DallyTsuka]

jujubee? what is that?


and most juices have other juice mixed in, but as long as the fruits are bird-safe theyre good.


cant wait to hear about how they turn out!

 

[JenJen]

I have no earthly clue what Jujubee juice is! The chips are still baking, too. They're looking a bit pie like right now...

 

[Mike17]

A jujube is a "red date" from Asia with many other names, although it's not related to dates (which come from a palm). "Jujubee" is an American drag queen

 

[BirdyMomma]

Awesome idea! I cant wait to try!!

 

[aether-drifter]

I'm making a batch soon! Just made fresh juice with kale, spinach, carrots, banana, blueberries, mango, apple and ginger and have some Harrison's pellets soaking in it.

 

[kq_fan]

That is perfect! I need to do that! Thanks for posting!

 

[JenJen]

My first batch went bottom up... never quite turned hard and brittle. I had some success in locating coconut water (yay, at last!) and have made another batch today. However, I'm thinking my pellets (Zupreem) aren't the best for making this since after two hours in the fridge soaking in the water, they were puffy but not entirely mushy. I mushed them as best I could, but the mixture was lumpy. They're in the oven though I can't say I'm terribly optimistic they'll come out like they're supposed to.

 

[DallyTsuka]

it may take several hours for them to turn out brittle and hard depends. a little lumpy isnt too bad. you can always grind them up with a mortor and pestle before you soak them if you need to

 

[JenJen]

Thanks! I'll try it again... tomorrow. Apparently coconut water is only good for two days and then you have to toss it. Maybe I'll develop a taste for it?

 

[DallyTsuka]

lol i dont like plain coconut water myself, but i like the sunripe ones with mango or pineapple in it