what to feed

[ampit88]

hello,
i have been doing a lot of research on line about what to feed my birds. i have talked to many people about this topic also. i have ended up with more questions than answers so i will start by asking what does everyone feed their bird? i have 2 seed junkies and one seed and junk food junkie (this is my fault because i didn't know any better, and i am trying to fix the issue now). bobbin is a 9 year old yellow collard macaw, who was about 5 years old when i got her. she was eating the dry seed mix from wal-mart when i brought her home. jack is a 3 year old blue and gold macaw who was 6 months old when i brought her home. nellie is a 2 year old (i think) love bird who was about 9 months old when i brought her home. all three were on an all dry mix diet when i got them. jack is willing to try just about anything i offer her. she learned quickly that she likes pizza, french fries, potato chips and so on. she how ever does not like hardly any veggies and very little fruit. bobbin wouldn't touch any type of "people" food when she came to live with me, and i'm still not sure if she is now. nellie was eating some veggies then she stopped eating them (i'm not sure why). what is everyone feeding their birdies? if they eat their veggies and stuff how did you get them to eat it? what is your opinion of dry mixes and pellets? thanks
robin

[LauraFord]

Hi Robin,

Here's what I feed my birds,
Breakfast (most days) assortment of chopped fresh greens, veggies, fruits & lots of fresh sprouts, and a sprinkling of a good quality seed mix. On weekends I'll sometimes make a veggie omlet, or whole grain french toast, or fruit & nut pancakes.
Dinner is a mash of cooked quiona, mixed grains & legumes, with either sweet potatoes or winter squash, and and assortment of other seasonal veggies & greens.
Always in the cage are Harrison's pellets.
Nutraberries are included in foraging toys.
A GREAT resource is the DVD Feeding Our Parrots Well by Pam Clark and Kris Porter (member of this forum). Not only do they show you step by step how to make the various foods, but Pam explains how to make the diet conversion very simple.
Another good resource is the cookbook Nourish to Flourish, A Healthy Cookbook for Parrots, by the Phoenix Landing Foundation.
(Deb, am I allowed to post links?)

I'll try to post my dinner recipe, and sprouting directions later today, in the Recipe Exchange section.

I will tell you that my personal experience is that Macaws are are more difficult to convert to a healthy diet, but it can be done.
I also want to say that it may sound like this takes up a lot of time in my day, but not really, maybe 10 minutes in the morning and 5 in the evening. I make things in big batches ahead of time.

[ampit88]

thaks for the references. where can i find then? it seems like i have looked at every store and on line too (i know there is always something i miss). you said you feed your birds a good quality dry mix also........ what is a good quality dry mix?

can you post sprouting instructions also?

thanks for the reply
robin

[DebWhite]

Hi Robin,

Thanks for your question and for your interest in finding a better diet for your birds. There are truly lots of opinions out there about what to feed, I agree it can be confusing.

The caloric requirements of birds in captivity are very low so you want to make sure they are getting good nutrition with almost every bite. My flock gets a wide variety of fresh greens, fruits and veggies chopped very finely along with sprouts and a soak and cook grain mix (Volkman's Birdeez Buffet). I sprinkle a handful of seeds and healthy nuts on their food and mix it in so they have to dig through all of the good stuff to find them. I would estimate that seed is only 10% of their diet. Pellets are kept available at all times in a separate bowl.

I also tend to cook up special treats on the weekends for my birds. Scrambled eggs with lots of veggies and birdie breads are the favorites.

Laura did a great job with her recommendations on books. They are two great resources for you that i wholeheartedly recommend. The Feeding Your Parrot Well DVD is available at www.parrotenrichment.com and the Nourish to Flourish coobook in available at Books

[LauraFord]

Working on it Robin.

I mostly use Volkman's which I buy online at TheBirdSafeStore. I like the Parrotlet blend, everyone gets it, Macaw included. I sometimes use the Santa Barbara seed mix form RosesPetEmporium. But I'm not fond of all the cracked corn in it.
The reason I include a small amount of seed in my birds' diet, is that undigested seed in their poop is an early warning sign of some seroius illnesses. So I it's my early warning system.

[ampit88]

thanks for letting me know where to find the books and dvds. i had someone tell me once that a diet of grains, veggies, legumes, and fruits would kill my bird. i am very worried about them not getting the proper amounts of vitamins and everything they need. i thought that if they will eat the pellets they would get the vitamins from that. so far they aren't eating the pellets all to well. jack will eat maybe one sometimes two, and bobbin just crunches them up.
i feed my guys several different veggies, 4 or 5 different grains, 2 or 3 legumes, 2 fruits, some dry seed mix (so they will eat some of the other stuff), some nuts, the pellets, and dry oatmeal. all ov the veggies i puree, and the walnuts and pellets i smash up. i smash the nuts so they don't pick them out and toss the rest, and the pellets i smash so they cant throw them out. some days they eat it real good and some days they don't. they are very picky eaters. for my lovie i mix in some millet because she wont touch the food other wise. does anyone have any advice on how to get them to eat the good stuff?

[LauraFord]

Hi Robin,
I finally got the sprouting directions posted. I wanted to include a few photos, and kept running into problems, but have it now.

Who was this person who told you not to feed your parrots grains and legumes & fruit?

Grains can be fed raw, sprouted or cooked. Good ones to start with are buckwheat, wheat, oats, barley, rice, kalmut, and quinoa (this is actually a seed, but sold as a grain).
Legumes should NEVER be fed raw, only fully sprouted or cooked. Start with mung beans, garbanzo, peas, and lentils. The larger beans like kidney are sometimes hard for parrots to digest, even when well cooked.
Many fruits are very healthy for parrots, especially berries, kiwi, mango, papaya & pomegrantes. With fruits containing natural sugars some parrots will overeat them if offered in excess. Remember that the key is moderation.

As far as getting them to eat good foods, you need to be real strick with yourself and not give in and give them the things they shouldn't have. I know it's hard. You love them so much that you want them to be happy, but they need to be healthy too, and often parrots don't show and signs of being sick untill they are VERY sick, and sometimes by then it's too late.

Keep asking questions Robin, and I'll do my best to help you.

[ampit88]

i do try to sprout grains for my birds, for the most part its going ok. i have barley, kamut, quinoa, wheat, and split. the legumes i use are lentils, garbanzo, mung, adzuki, and peas. i soak everything over night ( no less than 12 hrs.). after the soaking i rinse the grains several times the next day and the legumes i boil for 10 minutes at a rolling boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
i try to use dark leafy green veggies and some orange veggies. the fruits are apples, oranges, blueberries, and mango. they get more veggies than fruits, and i always puree the veggies or they won't touch them. i still have to mix the dry seed mix into the fresh foods so they will try it. jack will eat this mix pretty good, but bobbin is still just picking at it. nellie will only approach the fresh food if i put millet in it. these critters are so funny.
i give them a dish of the dry mix in the morning because i am worried that they are not eating enough (yes i am a sucker). i know it is a slow transition to get them to eat better and i have plenty of patients. i try to monitor what people feed my birds. jack is the only one that will eat the junk food, and believe me people thinks it fun to feed the birdie. i am always getting onto people for feeding her something they shouldn't.

the person that told me not to feed my bird this way is the same person that wants me to buy their food. this person has a store/ rescue not too far from my house, so this is where i was going. this is the person who i bought my blue and gold from. they run a rescue also. this person has told me several things that i thought was right, but has since found out otherwise. i do have another place to go to and what i cant get there i can get online.


i do have a question for anyone who wants to answer........... how do i know how much to feed them? do i give them a cup, a few table spoons or what?

robin

[CarmieJo]

We feed Howard, our Eclectus, a variety of vegies like peas, corn, celery, pepper, squash, carrots, leafy greens, sweet potatoes and white potatoes, fruits (although really the only one he likes is blueberries), Volkman Feather Glow Soak & Serve, cooked oatmeal, birdie bread, and mashes. With the exception of fruit he will try most anything we are eating. I keep Harrison's pellets on hand (in the freezer) but he does not get them on a regular basis.

[LauraFord]

Robin, it sounds like you're already off to a good start! You might try to slowly cut back on the amount of seed that you mix into their food. And give them the fresh mix in the morning, when they are hungriest and most likely to try new things, then give them the dry mix in the late afternoon or evening. See if that works a little better.
How much to feed? I know I'm bad about this, I give my birds way too much food!!! But what they don't eat gets fed to the turtles or tossed in the yard for the wild birds. I'm still trying to find the right balance myself. I did hear Steve Martin say that the best way to determine how much your bird eats is to weigh what you give them morning, then weigh way is left in their bowl at the end of the day, plus what they have tossed to the floor and the difference is what they actually ate. Personally I have better things to do with my time
I guess the key is to check your birds wieght regularly, say once a week, and make sure they don't gain or loose too much.