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Theo,

In the wild, cockatiels will eat bugs, which is an excellent source of protein. Also, non-greasy meat (chicken, pork, fish) is recommended by one of the foremost avian vets, Dr. Margaret Wissman, as well as other avian specialists. Simply put, what is a healthful diet to us humans, is, for the most part, healthy for our birds.

Sam

I've read that any kind of lean meat (chicken, turkey, etc.) is ok in small amounts. Another food that might seem unusual to give to your fids that is good for them (in small amounts) is cooked egg, shell and all...

I have given my tiels lean meats before, but not very much of it. They have eaten it but it's not their favorite! My vet did tell me about hard boiled eggs and the egg shell. Apparently it's good for female tiels??

Yep.. boiled egg is high in protein, which is the primary ingredient of feathers, much the same as hair on us. The shell is good for calcium. If you are going to feed egg shell, it's best to bake them before giving to kill off any type of bacteria that might be on / in the shell. Don't recall the temp or for how long, but main idea is to sanitize them. See no reason why a microwave would not work either, but have never tried to heat just an egg shell. Lots of the birdy bread recipes call for the whole egg, shell and all, but then that gets baked, so it kills any lingering bugs.