upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

Which reminds me, there is a feeding guideline written for African Greys by Shauna of the Feeding Feathers YH Group...


The file is in the below link, however I do believe you have to be a member of the group in order to view the file.
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QC9yS-hNmp ... REY%20DIET

The YH Group is here.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/FeedingFeathers/

That is soooo complicated (purpleheart) but you're a breeder so you are old hand at this. I'm a nurse (retired recently) and I can't deal with all this. Vet says a good pellet saves you all the worry and you can supplement with all the stuff everyone has said above. I posted a seperate issue about diet - my stubborn TAG won't eat his pellets anymore cause I gave him seed when I ran out of pellets. I'm so mad at myself for having caused this problem and this bird is so stubborn, well, I've never met such a stubborn.....human or bird! I believe in supplementation of healthy veggies, etc. but he must have his pellets! I've tried everything to get him back on his pellets (from books, vet and what I've read here) and he has temper fits, throws stuff at his cage, tries to tip his food dishes, gets bity. I'm at my witts end with my baby so I'm going to try and get a ride to the bird store and get a scale to see if he's really starving himself or eating those pellets when I'm not lookin. When a tag doesn't want to do something, it's exasperating!

Pellets are full of shelf life extenders and preservatives.

How about Tinkerbell Mash which is based on Mike's Manna Mash.
This is how that is prepared with lots of care and love.
Serving portion of that mash is mixed with fresh salad and pieces of fruits in season.


Morning with Harry & the decision// Sultan of Oman Palace// Tinkerbell Mash Batch 7

http://shanlung.livejournal.com/109957.html

I feed my grey, a combination of dried fruit, pellets, etc. from bird store. Sophie loves to have a piece of toast, to start her morning. As far as vegetables, she is not very fond of them, but will eat anything we eat. She will eat carrots, peapods, greenbeans.LOVES banans, grapes, apple slices. She enjoys whole grain pasta, (no sauce). The only protein outside of nuts, is chicken.Sophie, is easy to feed! Don't get caught up with the "perfect diet". Go to your local bird store, get a mixture of food, including dried fruits.She will always be interested in YOUR diet. Just be careful! Nancy

Some thoughts on food for your parrots.



World smallest water lily // Seeing Balad Sayt // More of how much mash Riam ate
http://shanlung.livejournal.com/115201.html

Latest set of data shows Tinkerbell Mash remained good for over 24 hours out of refridgerator.
I was wrong thinking that mash sour after 3-4 hours.


Month of soccer // Cyclone Phet & Riamfada neighbourhood hide & seek // Mash eating
http://shanlung.livejournal.com/115514.html

Hand of Clod //3 hour and day old Mash // Outdoor hide&seek recalls
http://shanlung.livejournal.com/115814.html

SA 2010 & things //other Batchs of mash? //Katleen//neighbour walks & exuberant flights
http://shanlung.livejournal.com/116079.html


SA 2010 & current affairs // Cost of mash experiments & sexy cleavage// More Riam hide&seek recalls
http://shanlung.livejournal.com/116336.html




Warmest regards



Shanlung

山 龍

http://www.geocities.com/shanlung9

I feed Louie, my CAG Harrison's High Potency Pellets and fruit and vegetables. He also always seems to get some of my dinner. He was on a diet of only seed when I got him and did not look that well. His feathers were dull and he was quite plucked. After a couple of months on the Harrisons along with the fruit and vegetables he looks so pretty and seems so much happier.

Pretty Bird - African Special pellets (50% of diet), peas, corn, other veggies, 2 slices of banana, some other fruits, broccoli stems (raw) (40% of diet), mixed seed and almonds in shell (10% of diet)

My African grey has eaten these pellets as a main part of her diet for about 16 years. Lately, people have told me I need to change her pellet diet because of the "natural and artificial colors" used to color the pellets. Any thoughts? I have a hard time believing a pet food company would use harmful dyes.

My parrot has been very healthy except for an unexplained episode a year ago that put her in "parrot intensive care" for four days because her digestion system shut down. We thought it was caused by fumes from carpet cleaning solution being used in the back part of the house (with lots of windows open). The vet said she had never seen or read about a connection with fumes and the digestion system.

I've attempted to give her Harrison pellets. I've mixed them in with the Pretty Bird pellets, but she picks them out and throws them out of her cage. Any ideas on introducing these to a very fussy eater.

Azrich wrote:... I have a hard time believing a pet food company would use harmful dyes...

I have some land in Florida I'd like to sell you

You could get a quick catch-up here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_coloring And you could google "food coloring" and "dye in food" for a bazillion other sites that might help you believe. I don't use Pretty Bird, but I hope their dyes are natural. I doubt they're the reason for your bird's near-death experience.

Here's my flock diet, often posted: If our birds would eat enough variety of vegetables and greens to get all the nutrients they need, I agree with many others who feel that fresh food would be better than pellets. But before I retired, I was gone 10 hrs each weekday and found pellets a necessary part of the flock diet. Now, almost 7 yrs retired, I still feed some pellets, nuts, and seed in the morning, then fresh veggies, cooked grains, fruit, and sprouts in the late afternoon. My greys get a tablespoon of seed (Volkman hookbill), a tablespoon of Roudybush pellets, an almond, and a couple fat sugar snap peas.

I serve fresh food finely chopped in brown rice and quinoa, all organic, home grown except in winter. Since quinoa is high protein, I mix one part of it with 2 parts of rice. As you may know, but for the benefit of newcomers reading along, the best vegetables are the ones with red or orange color all through: carrots, red peppers, sweet potato, and beets (feed sparingly due to high sugar). Squash and cauliflower are good too. And greens that are high in calcium and vitamins A and C: broccoli, collards, dandelions, kale, bok choy, mustard, kohlrabi, carrot tops, spinach (only if organic and sparingly even then), arugula, and chard. Parsley is controversial. I avoid it in an abundance of caution. Lettuce (other than Romaine), celery, corn and peas are very low in nutrition and take up space in the crop, killing the bird's appetite for the healthier foods she needs. Because the chopped veggies and greens are so tiny and the grains are sticky, while the birds are eating the grains they love, the veggies are getting eaten accidentally! YAY!!!

While cooking a 3-day supply of grains, I drop in a gelcap of beta carotene from the healthfood store and a little red palm oil. Then I stir the minced veggies and sprouts into the cooled grains. My greys get 2-3 tablespoons and eat it all about 2/3rds of the time. I put a half teaspoon of Stonyfield plain, non-fat yogurt on the side. It's good calcium and, if ever meds need to be given, it's an easy way to dose them w/o restraint. I don't feed much fruit, usually just a half dozen pomegranate arils and a slice of banana about 1/3" cubed.

I love talking diet, so if you have other qxs, just ask!