Progress on the flock's diet!

[hiriki]

You've seen me post a couple of threads recently about bird chop and birdie bread. It's going well!

Birdie, my jenday, specifically is the issue here. She stopped eating her LaFeber pellets after her cagemate passed away. Kiwi, my GCC, was also not eating pellets--but I never really anticipated too much trouble from him, he was weaned onto seed and is a young bird so I figured I just had to come up with a plan and enact it, I didn't think he'd give me too much trouble.

For Birdie, my vet tech suggested birdie bread to reintroduce her to the taste of pellets. I finally made the bread. First day in the cage--ignored. By everyone. Birdie, Kiwi, even Elby, my lovebird who loves pellets. From research to writing up a recipe to actually baking the bread, it was a lot of effort, so I was kind of devastated, but it wasn't the first time they'd rejected something new... so I just decided to give it time. Well they didn't need much time--day two of birdie bread in their primary food bowl and they devoured it!

My biggest complaint about the birdie bread--and, well, transitioning in general--is that I have to mix so many different types of foods into one bowl that inevitably, the pellets get thrown out the next day. With a pellet-only bowl, I can sift the pellets and reuse from day to day, topping off when it gets low. But if I have to mix pellets with birdie bread that goes stale with seeds that get hulled... well, despite there being full pellets left in the bowl the next day, there's no way I could possibly separate them from the stale birdie bread crumbs and seed hulls so in the trash they go. That said, if I offered a seeds and birdie bread bowl AND a pellet bowl, we all know they wouldn't even glance twice at the pellet bowl. Lol.

I don't know if this is really a problem in the long haul, I guess. Yes, it's more expensive, but it will mean that I go through my pellets more quickly and before they go stale. Previously, I didn't really think of pellets as something that went stale--I would buy the big bulk bags of LaFeber and it would last me a long time. I saved money that way, but I don't know how much actual nutritional value was left in the pellet by the time I reached the bottom of the bag. I'm buying the tubs now, not the bulk bags.

 

[onamom]

Sounds like a start to some good progress! Thanks for sharing all your recipe ideas too! Good idea using the bread to get Birdie more interested in pellets again. And hey her name is Birdie! Just like “birdie bread!” …. I’ll see myself out

I tend to get mixed results with birdie bread myself. Ona either nibbles at it for a second and then ignores it or eats a little bit of it. She likes the “Mamas” brand best. I also have a hard time with it because she is very teeny and making a whole box for just her feels like A LOT. I freeze it but even then it’s just a ton of food for a single, small bird.