True or False?

[Tena]

is it true that if feed your bird Harrisons, then you can't give them ANYTHING else that's not organic?​

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Where on earth did you hear that?

Not true.

Harrison's is an excellent food - it's one of my top recommendations. There may also be good reason to only feed your parrot organic foods/produce but that is an entirely separate issue.

Whether or not you should feed organic only has *nothing* to do with the choice of pellet (the opposite may not be true, as if you choose to only feed organic you'd need to find an organic pellet ... like Harrisons).

We should be careful where we get our food that we eat ourselves and that we share with our fids - but in America at least, the label "organic" doesn't actually mean anything. In fact, in the US organic has a few standards that require farmers to use older pesticides KNOWN to be dangerous rather than the newer ones that are improvements on the old versions.

 

[Tena]

I didn't think so. The lady at the exotic bird store (where I get my food) told me that if you give organic pellets(Harrisons, which is what I wanted for my bird) to a bird you can't give them anything at all that isn't organic. ie: fruits, veggies, meat, nuts.. Though she couldn't explain to me why (she may be an idiot). She flipped out when I told her I was switching my bird from Roudybush (the breeder gives that) to Harrison's Hi Po, because that's what they reccomend for Greys. It's vet reccomended and they've done years of study and altering to find optimum nutrition. When I told her that she said that Harrisons is really only for sick birds or birds with issues and that the only reason people say good things about it is because it's vet endorsed, sorta like science diet for dogs. (which I give my dogs). WTF? I ended up getting some Roudybush anyway to get my bird used to eating Harrisons.​

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Yup, she's an idiot. Every village has one, you found yours.

On science diet though, it's worth keeping an eye on. It's still a good quality food, but over the past 5 to 10 years they've really been banking on their reputation as their quality has declined. There reputation now well exceeds their quality. That is not to say it is not good - just not as good as it was, nor as good as they'd like you to think it is.

Many Science Diet dog foods have corn and fillers as the first ingredients now.

 

[Tena]

Yeah, i've heard about that. There are some other great dog foods out there as well.

 

[Rio Mom]

Yeah, i've heard about that. There are some other great dog foods out there as well.

As far as dog/cat food go, I use Taste of the Wild, and have used Blue Buffallo too. Both have no corn, grains, or byproducts.

 

[Rio Mom]

We should be careful where we get our food that we eat ourselves and that we share with our fids - but in America at least, the label "organic" doesn't actually mean anything. In fact, in the US organic has a few standards that require farmers to use older pesticides KNOWN to be dangerous rather than the newer ones that are improvements on the old versions.

Well yikes! Pay more money for possibly more dangerous pesticides? Guess I will stick with the non-organic, less expensive fruits and veggies!

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I'm all for the 'spirit' of the organic trend - but the label itself is abused and now, essentially, meaningless.

Luckily I'm in an area with lots of farms - I can see much of my food growing before I buy it and get to know the people who grow it.

For the rest I go to Trader Joes I love that store.

 

[Rio Mom]

There's a little farmers booth set up right beside where I work. Often at the end of their day, they will bring over some of what they didn't sell to give the employees. What's better than farm grown produce? FREE farm grown produce lol.

 

[Remy]

That makes zero sense. Of course it's better to consume less pesticides, but just because someone eats one type of food that's organic doesn't mean they need to go ALL organic. It's nice, but not necessarily affordable.

I've been getting frozen organic fruits some of the time to save $$.

 

[Tena]

so, it's not dangerous to mix organic and non oraganic?

 

[Rio Mom]

so, it's not dangerous to mix organic and non oraganic?

Nope! It's perfectly fine.

 

[Tena]

didn't think so, thanks so much guys!

 

[HRH Di]

Do you ever wonder where people get these ideas? Do you think someone in her position just spouts off this crap to see how many people blindly follow becuase she's supposed to be an "expert"? Aren't you glad that you can think for yourself and question this sort of thing?

I guess if you say something with enough conviction you can find someone to believe you...like the guy who predicted that the world would end in May.

The only thing I buy consistently that's organic is my coffee beans...but I use this particular company more because they're free trade than "organic".

 

[henpecked]

Harrisons only available from 3 places ,vet,vet distributor,or retail from Harrisons.In other words vet has monetary interest in recommending it.Yes it and TOP are (to the best of my knowledge) the only USDA certified organic pellets.(What ever USDA certification is worth,think Apple Baby Food with pesticide).Your pet store may carry Harrisons but they are paying more for it,which of course is why it's 6 dollars a lb. Vet may pay 2-3 dollars but he gets it cheaper than anyone else,and doesn't have to compete with pet stores.Of course this is the American Way and that's fine.My issue arises when that vet tells people that they are risking their birds health by feeding other than Harrisons,is that true or is it about a dollar? Been lied too a few too many times.Sorry to go off on a tangent.

 

[Tena]

That's pretty much what the lady in the store was saying. Vets get profit from endorsing Harrison's and all that.

The whole reason i liked the idea of Harrison's was due to the fact that it has "human grade" ingredients.

That's totally true about saying things with enough conviction to get people to believe you. I'd never heard that before so as soon as she said it, and a soon as she was not able to provide me with an explaination WHY you can't mix the two, I knew she was FOS