Oh my Maria, I dont' think anybody will take your comments as a personal attack on pellet uers lol. My personal opinion is based on this fact: an all seed diet is unhealthy in the end - leads to liver disease and early death. An all pellet diet, although not exactly exciting, does seem to provide more balanced diet and a longer life. Most pellets do use corn, and that could be called a filler, but the same can be said for any seed mix - what is the mix mostly made up of? Filler type seeds. And there are organic pellets, such as Harrison's and Totally Organic, so there is that route. I prefer the pellet as a 'base' diet rather than seed - although I do give seeds as well, and I give soaked and sprouted seeds nearly every day. A varied diet, as you point out, is the best diet for most, although there are some very specific diets for birds like Lorikeets. I'd used a high quality pellet as the base, throw in a few seeds, and bulk up on the vegies and fruits and I don't think you can go wrong. I actually use Roudybush and Harrisons - I mix them, 2 parts Roudybush and 1 part Harrisions, mostly because Harrisions is so expensive for me. I also daily feed treats, but those treats are good pellet and seed mixes and a good diet just on their own, nutri-berries and avi-cakes, which the birds scoff down, and every other day or so fresh organic millet spray.
I know everyone loves Harrisons, but I don't see their ingredients being vastly different from another company like Zupreem (natural pellets). Both have corn and/or soybean as the main ingredients. Here's the ingredient listing for both. Again, this is also more cause for confusion, because what makes one better than the other? Is it the manufacturing process, the organic ingredients?
ZuPreem Avian Maintenance Natural
Ingredients: Ground corn, Soybean meal, Ground wheat, Vegetable oil, Wheat germ meal, Sucrose, Dicalcium phosphate, Calcium carbonate, Ground vegetables (carrots, celery, beets, watercress and spinach), Iodized salt, DL-methionine, Choline chloride, L-lysine, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Natural mixed tocopherols, Rosemary extract, Citric acid, Canthaxanthin, Manganous oxide, Zinc oxide, Copper sulfate , Calcium iodate, Sodium selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin K Supplement, Niacin, Calcium pantothenate, Pyridoxine hydrochloride, Thiamine, Riboflavin, Folic acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement.
Harrison’s Adult Lifetime Coarse (not happy about peanuts in there).
Ingredients: *Ground Yellow Corn, *Ground Hulless Barley, *Ground Soybeans, *Ground Shelled Peanuts, *Ground Shelled Sunflower Seeds, *Ground Lentils, *Ground Green Peas, *Ground Rice, *Ground Toasted Oat Groats, *Ground Alfalfa, Calcium Carbonate, Psyllium, Montmorillonite Clay, Spirulina, Ground Dried Sea Kelp, Vitamin E Supplement, Sea Salt, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, d-Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Sodium Selenite.
*CERTIFIED ORGANIC INGREDIENT
Guaranteed Analysis: Crude protein (min.) 15%, crude fat (min.) 5.5%, crude fiber (max.) 6.5%, moisture (max.) 10%.
Thanks in advance, and thanks for the link Wendy, I'll check it out. Everyone keeps telling me that Harrison's is the best, so before I go out and buy any, I just want to make sure.
Here's Golden feast golden obles ingredients, to compare, as I was looking at Harrisons and Golden Feast.
I like that the first ingredient is Quinoa, instead of corn or soy.
This delicious gourmet formula is made by processing the following select ingredients: Quinoa, organic roasted Soy Beans, par boiled brown Rice and organic long grain brown Rice, raw Almonds, dehydrated and freeze dried vegetables composed of Carrots, sweet garden Peas, Parsley, Green Beans, Spinach, Red Garden Beets and Cabbage. Cranberries, shelled Walnuts, natural organic Agavi sweetener, organic Barley, organic Alfafa, freeze dried Banana powder, organic hulled proso Millet and white proso Millet, organic Flax seed, organic Spelt, organic Rye, Sesame seed, domestic grown Apples, dehydrated Honey, organic Chia seed, organic Kamut, organic Tricale, organic Amaranth, stabilized hulled Oats, Sunflower Kernels, organic Spinach, Fenugreek, freeze dried Raspberries, Hemp seed, organic Timothy, Ginger, Star Anise seed, Cinnamon, Fennel seed, dehydrated whole Eggs, Bee Pollen, Wheatberries, organic Echinacea powder, Cilantro, organic Red Clover Leaf powder and organic Spinach, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus fermentum fermentation product, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product and dried Bifidobacterium.
Guaranteed Analysis: crude protein (min.) 17.5%; crude fat (min.) 9%; crude fiber (max.) 6%; moisture (max.) 3.5%; ash (max.) 3%