I caved...just how bad are sunflower seeds?

[Dopey]

Patches kept screaming in his cage and I knew it wasn't because he was lonely or bored (he just refuses to play with toys) or hungry. So I tried an experiment and I found out what he wanted. He wanted his Walmart bird seed. I know he eats pellets - I've seen him eat the pellets that are offered to him. (I leave pellets in his bowl all day long.) He also eats peas and carrots. I know he wasn't hungry he just wants sun flower seeds and he was probably getting 5-10 a day anyway. I don't mind him have some sun flower seeds but I don't want 80% of his diet to be sun flower seeds.

I will cut them back starting tomorrow but I really was trying to find out if a bird would really cry as long as he was for a stupid sun flower seed. Now I know my answer.

 

[Kiwibird]

Glad you identified the source of his screaming. That was probably highly irritating. Obviously, you don't want him on the seeds forever, but gradually weaning him off them over the next few months will do no harm and may even preserve your hearing Even if he eats the pellets and fresh stuff, the change may have been too quickly for him. I might cut down the seeds/add in the pellets at a rate of 10% a week over the next 10 weeks until he's up to 100% of the pellets. Or even 5% a week over the next 20 weeks (thats only 5 months). That would be a very gradual, gentle change for Mr. Patches Provide the fresh fruit and veg every day. He's been eating the junk food for years, so an extra couple months to gradually get him on a healthier diet isn't going to hurt him.

 

[Birdman666]

Seed should be about 10% of the diet with a zon. Macs can handle a little more fat.

Some seed is okay. TOO MUCH seed is harmful. Mine get half a tiny scooper of a safflower/sunflower seed mix every day. (Roughly a spoonful each.)

Problem is (1) seed junkies who won't eat anything else, and (2) people who feed nothing but seed.

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

Zilla eats a pretty healthy diet, but won't give up her seed mix completely, and since she's had it her whole life I won't be that mean to her! I buy a seed mix with NO sunflower seeds in it and then I can put how many I want her to have in it daily. I usually drop 5 or 6 on top of her seed mix in the morning and that's all she gets for the whole day. Sometimes she eats them and sometimes she doesn't, very weird birdie she is! :54:

I bought a very large bag just after I got her thinking I would use them for training treats, but she doesn't love them that much, and refused to do anything I wanted if she was only gonna get one of "those"! Her training treats became pieces of almonds or cashews, which she will do most anything for!

 

[Dopey]

Thanks everyone. It was a relief to finally figure out why he was screaming so much. He still screams but it is at normal screaming times.

I'm going to scoop his seed food for tomorrow and then count how many sunflower seeds are in the scoop.

I'm going to have to buy a bigger calendar for all of the animals that I have that have special needs right now. 3 cats on Prozac; 1 dog on steroids, drops for eyes and ears; 3 birds with different fruit/veg preferences and each bird on different seed mixes right now (going to one once the containers are all finished). Whew!

 

[Kiwibird]

Seed should be about 10% of the diet with a zon. Macs can handle a little more fat.

Some seed is okay. TOO MUCH seed is harmful. Mine get half a tiny scooper of a safflower/sunflower seed mix every day. (Roughly a spoonful each.)

Problem is (1) seed junkies who won't eat anything else, and (2) people who feed nothing but seed.

Kiwi gets a 1/8cup scoop of seed during the day too and I pull it about 2 hours before his dinner. That way, he's full from breakfast and doesn't have time to fill up before dinner, and the quantity is ALWAYS limited. We're not sure what Kiwi ate before we got him (he seemed to not like anything), but I don't know if he was ever on a all seed diet as he seems not to be overly fond of them. We use the Vitakraft Menu mix for large hook bills as his seed mix. It is not *as* bad as other brands. I still firmly believe in a grains and produce based diet.

 

[Dopey]

Oh dear - did Kiwibird just admit that her bird gets seeds? Oh dear!

Right now the birds are on a mix of Higgins (Mayan Harvest) and something else. Their pellets are a mix of Zupreem and I have Roudybush on the side ready to start mixing. It's in a room and I forget about it other wise they would already be mixed.

Where do you put the 1/8 cup of seeds? In a separate bowl or in with Kiwi's fresh food?

 

[Christinenc2000]

I have 3 bowls One for fresh fruit and veggies One for water and one for Safflower and zupreem fruitblend .

 

[Kiwibird]

Oh dear - did Kiwibird just admit that her bird gets seeds? Oh dear!

Right now the birds are on a mix of Higgins (Mayan Harvest) and something else. Their pellets are a mix of Zupreem and I have Roudybush on the side ready to start mixing. It's in a room and I forget about it other wise they would already be mixed.

Where do you put the 1/8 cup of seeds? In a separate bowl or in with Kiwi's fresh food?

LOL. I've never 'denied' it I think seeds are part of a healthy and varied diet. Parrots eat seeds in nature, so Kiwi gets seed in his diet. I just don't think seed should make up a significant portion of a bird diet. He also gets goldn'obles pellets as foraging treats, but again, not a significant portion of his diet.

I take his fresh away after an hour or so before it goes bad. He's learned his feeding schedule over time and eats it while it's fresh & available. Seed and foraging treats is what he gets the rest of the day (and perhaps some of my lunch) until dinner. I find making sure he's hungry before he gets his fresh produce is the only way to ensure he consistently eats a healthy portion of it. If given the option of filling up on other foods, he totally would:20: Since his cage came with 3 dishes, I just swap the fresh food one out for the seed one

 

[Dopey]

I have four bowls - one for water, one for fresh food, one for pellets, and one for seeds. It's a system I can work with today.

 

[weco]

I will cut them back starting tomorrow but I really was trying to find out if a bird would really cry as long as he was for a stupid sun flower seed. Now I know my answer.

Says the lady, as she clears away the dessert table with all those delectable chocolate truffles staring her in the face.....

 

[veimar]

Parry, my gcc, eats pellets, but hates them, LOL. And the same with all my other birds. Every evening he would scream until I give him his seed (I use high quality Volkman seed mixes without sunflower seeds - did you ever try these?). But I give him a few sunflower seeds as a treat every day. he is extremely active cage free bird, so it's okay with him.
I read someones suggestion on this forum to make the pellets into dust and mix them with seeds, so the birds would get used to that taste. So I put that "dust" in the seeds all the time.

 

[Dopey]

I will cut them back starting tomorrow but I really was trying to find out if a bird would really cry as long as he was for a stupid sun flower seed. Now I know my answer.

Says the lady, as she clears away the dessert table with all those delectable chocolate truffles staring her in the face.....

Uh oh - you sound like my brother or a relative. But since they don't have birds (only my son) I don't think you are a relative. You definitely know me though.

 

[Dopey]

Parry, my gcc, eats pellets, but hates them, LOL. And the same with all my other birds. Every evening he would scream until I give him his seed (I use high quality Volkman seed mixes without sunflower seeds - did you ever try these?). But I give him a few sunflower seeds as a treat every day. he is extremely active cage free bird, so it's okay with him.
I read someones suggestion on this forum to make the pellets into dust and mix them with seeds, so the birds would get used to that taste. So I put that "dust" in the seeds all the time.

My birds all eat the pellets. They eat them in front of me. Sometimes they just throw the pellets but they all eat them too. But Patches wanted more sun flower seeds and I needed to know what was causing the screaming.

I haven't tried the Volkman seed mixes because I was hoping to get them off of seed. So trying a new one wasn't in the plan.

 

[Dopey]

So, last night I checked the sun flower seeds in the bowl. He had eaten almost all of them and left the other stuff. Argh!!

 

[Kiwibird]

So, last night I checked the sun flower seeds in the bowl. He had eaten almost all of them and left the other stuff. Argh!!

That's ok, the other stuff is in there and as you gradually decrease the seed and up "the other stuff" he will eventually find himself not at all full off the seed and will have to decide what else he'd like to try. Amazons are really winged pigs, so the odds are stacked against him, not you when it comes to who will win the battle of the healthy diet.

 

[Dopey]

Yeah - I didn't give him any sunflower seed this morning. Since he has lots of other seeds and pellets he can eat those today. But he was back to his mean self too.

 

[Kiwibird]

Yeah - I didn't give him any sunflower seed this morning. Since he has lots of other seeds and pellets he can eat those today. But he was back to his mean self too.

Wow, sounds like he's having withdrawals from seed:11: Have you asked the vet about this?

 

[Dopey]

No - I didn't ask the vet. I didn't even think to ask the vet. Duh!

 

[flyingron]

We've weened our bird off the seed diet (which apparently was all the previous owners fed her). She seems OK with the parrotchow. The vet says as long as she's eating mostly that we can give her snacks at other times. Bacca loves apples and macadamia nuts.

His suggestion was to give her a bit of seed on top of the kibble at breakfast, lunch, dinner and then take the seed away and leave the pellets. Then take away lunch, then breakfast, ....

Bacca has adjusted. She'll still dig for any residual seeds under the parrot chow, but she'll eat the kibble.