Is Millet Actually Good?

[BoomBoom]

Is millet actually healthy for parakeets? I was under the impression for the longest time that these are treats. When I went to a reputable, mom & pop local bird store, everyone advised me to always have a sprig of millet in the cage. Aren't these loaded with carbs or does the extra nutritional benefits (protein, fiber, B vitamins, minerals like manganese) make it worth it? Is there something beyond the poor reputation of this treat that is actually beneficial?

I never fed these to my parakees and was vigilant about their diet. They ate seed + pellet mix, veggie mash, loved broccoli and were open to many other raw veggies, etc. Despite this, my 2 1/2 year old parakeet Kiki (RIP my sweet boy), had what I believe was a heart attack a few nights ago. He was exceedingly active, lively and showed no symptoms of sickness right down to the last second. Maybe it was poor genetics with all the bird mill stories I've been reading about, or maybe I could vastly improve their diet.

On the other hand, there are parakeets given much millet who live for much longer. I question now whether my decision to completely eliminate this from their diet was a good one. If anything, the happiness they would have gotten from it would have been nice. May I have your thoughts? Should I bring millet back into the life of my remaining parakeet, Pewpew?

 

[Cardinal]

I think a diversity of millets combined with vegetables should be a good diet for Budgies.
In the wild Budgies eat the seeds of native grasses, but unlike in captivity they eat a healthy mixture of unripe and ripened seeds. In captivity we give them only fully mature seeds.

So I suspect a diverse diet of millets including home garden grown ones should be good. Some info that is related

Budgies, Bliss and Seeding Grass

 

[ParrotLover2001]

I have always allowed my birds to have some millet. Each bird gets half a millet once a month, plus some during training.

Sent from my Galaxy s8

 

[BoomBoom]

Thank you both.

May I ask what seed mix / pellets you use for your budgies? I use Zupreme pellet + seed mix then I mix that with Harrison's adult formula, fine. I don't know if there is a better seed mix out there. The house blend I got from the store I mentioned seemed really nice with bits of grass in it.

 

[ParrotLover2001]

I feed kaytee brand seed and zupreem brand pellets. I use the seed on the bottom of the millet bag for sprouted seed.

Sent from my Galaxy s8

 

[itzjbean]

Have you considered Sprouting? I hear budgies love them!

I give my cockatiel spray millet as treats, along with his seed mix,pellets, chop and birdie bread he gets now, he'll go for the millet first.

 

[EllenD]

The only problem with millet seeds, in-general (there are many different types of millet seeds, which are usually present in all mixed-seed blends for Budgies) is that millet is full of fat. There are millet seeds with different amounts of fat, but in-general they are all higher in fat content than other types of seed.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving your birds, any birds, a millet spray as a treat, my Budgies along with all of my other parrots get one millet spray a week as a treat, and they also make great training treats.

You can't really compare the diets of wild parrots to that of a captive parrot, as wild parrots get a ton more daily exercise than a captive, pet parrot does, I mean it's not even close when you compare the amount of calories each burn per day. Wild parrots NEED drastically higher amounts of calories, fats, carbs, protein, etc. than captive parrots do just in-order to be able to fly as much as they do and build the muscle necessary to do-so. So yes, wild parrots eat a ton of fatty seeds and grains every day, but they need it to survive. Captive parrots do not, especially those being fed a healthy, varied diet that includes fortified pellets.

It sounds like the diet that you feed your birds is excellent, a mix of Zupreem Natural or even their Fruit Pellets, along with a healthy, fortified seed mix as a supplement to the pellets, along with fresh veggies, and fruits (sparingly daily, due to their natural sugar content) is exactly what they need.

I don't recommend Kaytee as being a "healthy" parrot seed mix, depending on which one you're feeding them. Kaytee does make a few seed mixes that contain more pellets and dried veggies than they do seeds, but in-general, Kaytee mixes contain too many fatty seeds, as do many bagged seed mixes.

Fortified seed-mixes that contain a variety of different ingredients is what you want, not just a mix of a bunch of different seeds and a few little pellet-like things. SunSeed Vita Seed is a good example of what you want, there are many brands that have similar ingredients, but that's the example that I feed so that's the one I used. It's full of different pellets, dried veggies, fruits, grains, nuts, etc. with a bit of healthy seed variety added in. It also contains Prebiotics, Probiotics, DHA, Omega Fatty-Acids, etc. That's what you want to look for, a "seed mix" to supplement the pellets that contains a large variety of ingredients...Another one that is good off the top of my head are the Tropimix seed mixes.

I don't believe that your Budgie suddenly passed away from anything that had to do with his diet. If he was eating the same diet of Zupreem Natural pellets, a healthy seed mix supplementing the pellets, and fresh veggies and fruits, then his diet had nothing to do with his early, sudden death. He could have died from a number of different things, and as you know, birds are masters of hiding illness/pain until it's very often too late to do anything about it. So my guess would be that since he died so suddenly and without any warning that it was some type of congenital disease/defect, or possibly some type of infection. Either way, it wasn't from the diet you had him on, not at all...and I'm very sorry for your loss...

 

[Kiwibird]

All good things in moderation! I actually like cooked millet myself (NOT the kind with the stick in the middle like birds get) and sometimes share with Kiwi. Just keep in mind that millet has a higher fat content than other foods you could feed your bird. Buying the human grade variety and cooking it rather than serving it dry will allow your bird to enjoy a bit larger portion, as it expands when it absorbs the cooking water

 

[BoomBoom]

Thank you everyone! Great suggestions.

After reading the earlier posts, I went to get Kaytee seed mix. I've never tried it before. If it is fatty (will study the ingredients later), then I will just return it.

@Ellen, Thank you, I appreciate it. I've been hard on myself the past few days. The seed mix I currently use is Zupreem fruit pellets + seeds. It's already pre-mixed. What are your thoughts on it? I mix that with Harrisons and randomly, a small amount of natural old fashioned quaker oats, organic flax seeds or chia seeds.

I'll see who carries SunSeed Vita Seed. I think I saw it at a Petsmart before but I could be wrong. What are everyone's thoughts on Ecotrition Parakeet Seed mix?

PS. I'll look into sprouting as well.

 

[bug_n_flock]

Wow. I am honestly very surprised by this. I feed way more millet to my birds than anyone in this thread, and with a proper mix, I have seen a seed only budgie hit 21 years, and had many other quite long lived budgies. It comes down to genetics more than anything else, I think.

And the fortification in the seeds comes off with the shell I've always been taught...

I was taught for budgies(and other grass parakeets) 45% various millets, 45% various grasses(canary grass is a good staple), ~ 10% oats. Plus whatever odds and ends for the seed mix taken from the oat portion of the ratio. Additionally fresh cut grasses, veggies, herbs, etc.

Not saying you guys are wrong, just what I have been taught by people who had been keeping and breeding birds for decades and decades.


I buy spray millet in bulk. 5 lbs at a time. Going to start growing it again soon for "milk ripe" seed since I think last frost is finally passed.

 

[BoomBoom]

@Bug_n_Flock, Thanks for your input. I like to keep an open mind. Where do buy canary grass?

 

[Cardinal]

You can't really compare the diets of wild parrots to that of a captive parrot, as wild parrots get a ton more daily exercise than a captive, pet parrot does, I mean it's not even close when you compare the amount of calories each burn per day. Wild parrots NEED drastically higher amounts of calories, fats, carbs, protein, etc. than captive parrots do just in-order to be able to fly as much as they do and build the muscle necessary to do-so. So yes, wild parrots eat a ton of fatty seeds and grains every day, but they need it to survive. Captive parrots do not, especially those being fed a healthy, varied diet that includes fortified pellets.
.

While you can't do an apple to apple comparison, it would be good to be informed by what their wild counterparts eat in the wild. Yes in terms of calories wild parrots would probably need thrice or many times more than captive birds, especially those in indoor cages.
But in terms of their vitamin, mineral (e.g. calcium) and other micro nutrient requirement , it would be similar though not identical.

Also if a wild parrot derives , say 90% of its nutrition from 30 or 40 odd different species of plants, it would be helpful to also provide at least half the diversity to captive parrots , from their domesticated crop counterparts.

Millets are the domestic equivalent of wild seeding grasses and many grow well in home gardens and unripe fresh millet is low in fat and rich in micronutrients.

 

[bug_n_flock]

@Bug_n_Flock, Thanks for your input. I like to keep an open mind. Where do buy canary grass?

Drs foster and smith is one place I've found.


https://m.drsfostersmith.com/bird-supplies/nuts-seeds-fruits-vegetables-foods/ps/c/5059/14668


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