Polly want a cracker?

[BeatriceC]

I'm working with a friend's bird to try to get her on a better diet. The bird in question is an elderly U2, and is showing signs of significant nutritional deficiencies. My friend hasn't had the bird very long; less than two years, and has had no success getting her to eat anything but mostly seeds with a small amount of pellets. I'm bird sitting for a few days, so she asked if I could experiment and see if there was something I could get the bird to eat, or if I could come up with any ideas for a plan of action.

One thing both my friend and I have noticed is the bird really likes crunchy things, though that doesn't extend to vegetables. She sniffed at, then turned her beak up at my birdie bread. Even Goofy didn't do that! But I think that could be because it's soft, and she doesn't like soft things. So my thought then is to wonder aloud if I could possibly use the same concept as birdie bread, but in cracker form. I've been scouring the internet for cracker recipes that might work, but I'm coming up empty handed. Are there any bakers on the forums who are perhaps more creative than I? I don't do a lot of savory baking or break making (all my most skilled baking is sweets), so I'm not coming up with anything I think might work.

 

[Billdore]

What about freeze dried vegetables, those might be crunchy enough. Good luck your a good friend!!

 

[plumsmum2005]

Would she take to Lafaber Nutriberries or Avicakes?

https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/birdfood/pellet-berries-for-parrots/

Might just be a way of getting something good into her.

Have you tried an omelette or scrambled egg, test her see if she likes egg, if yes you can then add some good things to it.

 

[SailBoat]

There are a couple of what I am going to call 'Wide Spectrum' mixes on the market today. The attempt is to provide that group of Parrots that have very limited interest in widening their selection from near straight sunflower and peanut diets.

The mixes provide a very wide selection of different types of seeds, grains and nuts. Also and as noted above, a wide selection of freeze dried Veggies and fruits. Plus, various shapes of pasta and chili, with various shapes and sizes of pellets.

Since we are an only Amazon home, we pull-out the shelled peanut and those items that we clearly do not want to offer (or limit offering) or that the Amazon in question will not touch and pass those along to friends and a Rescue Center.

As you are likely doing, we also work at having our Amazon at the table when we are eating. As you know, the goal being to get the Parrot to at least try different things.

CRACKERS: According to Mrs. Boats, crackers are a very difficult thing to prep and bake, since the goal is thin and crunchy. The thin part really makes it difficult to add much to them. She suggested looking in the cracker sections or specialty cheese stores for unique crackers that have different types of grains /nuts that may catch your eye.

 

[Bundiibird]

What about making the birdie bread but then slicing and rebaking? Kind of like making biscotti. Basically It is cooked once fully and then sliced and dried out in the oven. That should give it a crunchy texture.

 

[Flboy]

Take a look at hardtrack recipes! Very easy to make! Since most comments are ‘hard on the teeth’, this is just what the Parrot ordered!

 

[Scott]

What about making the birdie bread but then slicing and rebaking? Kind of like making biscotti. Basically It is cooked once fully and then sliced and dried out in the oven. That should give it a crunchy texture.

I'd think this would have promise!

What about making a dedicated batch using significantly less water than normal? Might result in a more dense and crusty/crunchy ambiance?

 

[Terry57]

We have made these several times now, switching out ingredients. They turn out crunchy as long as you press them pretty flat before baking:
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/62396-birdie-cookies.html

 

[bill_e]

For crunchy, try Harrison's Power Treat. it can be up to 30% of their diet. My fussy Hawk Head loves these and I credit them with allowing her to make the switch from Zupreem cold turkey as while they tast much better than the Harrison's High Protein coarse, they look almost exactly the same. I just dropped a few of the treats in with the pellets and Nike would go for the treats first, then eat the regular pellets. They are very hard and do not crumble like the pellets do. Might be worth a try.

 

[Taprock]

I’d go with the crackers. Usually that means rolled thin and baked with a high temperature. Instead of regular flour put some pellets through the coffee grinder. My first thoughts for wet ingredients would be coconut oil or olive oil and egg but you would have to check they are best. Throw in some extras like shredded veggies or chopped nuts. At our house any messed up experiments my birds don’t like the dogs are happy to cleanup! My conure also only likes flakes and his favorite treat is freeze dried strawberries, neither of the other birds will touch them.

 

[KozmoKramer]

Last time I made bird cookies (pumpkin, apple, carrots, hemp seeds, coconut flour), I had some batter that wouldn't fit on the baking pan so I decided to put it in the dehydrator and make crackers! I dehydrated it for 8+ hours and they came out crunchy. And I can break off chunks to give to my birds, which they hold with their feet and devour.