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i have a pair of breeder sever macaws (proven) at leaset thats what they said had them for about a month now and all they will eat is sunflower seeds thay have pretty bird pellets + lafer macaw pellets + zumifen pellets + i give them apples they take a few bites not much and grapefriut and ornges the same wont tuch lettus callfower cerey grapes carrotts the pellets any advice would be helpful or will they breed ok on just sunfower seeds thanks

Below was written by tina from Sweetheart Aviary (still the best I have ever came across. Thanks Tina, we miss you up here in Michigan!

DIET

It is imperative that you feed fresh ORGANIC fruits and Vegetables. Pesticides are not good for humans, much less for parrots.

Here is a list of the vegetable and fruits that have the most pesticides:

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nutrit ... icides.htm

And some good information on pesticides:

http://www.foodnews.org/
http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0996/et0996s5.html
http://nofany.org/hottopics/pesticidesinfood.html
http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxificat ... -foods.htm

Fresh foods contain live enzymes that the birds need.
Here are some articles on live enzymes:


http://www.rawfoodlife.com/Articles___R ... cooked.htm


Broccoli and Cauliflower must be steamed. It contains a protein molecule that binds to the calcium in the bird’s body and saps it out of their blood stream.

Here is information on Oxalic Acid:

http://www.cloudnet.com/~djeans/Asides/OxalicAcid.htm

Apple Seed is toxic (VERY). However, when feeding organic apples, you may leave the peel on. Please do not feed any Apples unless they are Organic. Do not feed Spinach to your parrot.

This mix is fed a daybreak. (7:30 to 8:00 am) My Fruit and Vegetable mix contains a variety of the following

ROLLED OATS They soak up the juice and the birds love them.

Organic:
Baby Arugula Leaves
Kale
Swiss Chard
Dandelion leaves
Mustard Greens
Collard Greens
Mache Blend
Carrots
Celery (Peeled)
Apple
Cucumber
Bell Pepper
Hot Pepper
Sweet Potato
Walnuts
Hulled Millet
Hulled Sunflower Seeds

The following items are not organic, and if you can find them organic please let me know your source.

Acorn Squash
Butternut Squash
Spaghetti Squash
Other squash in season
Corn on the Cob (still in the husk)
Honeydew Melon
Cantaloupe


Feed the Seeds! Peel your squash with a potato peeler. Quartering it first makes it easier. (Do not feed the peel)

Mango (Peeled)
Papaya (Peeled) The seeds are relished by the birds! There are two types one is extremely large, both are good.

Organic:

Banana
Kiwi
Grapefruit
Navel oranges
Rasberries
Blueberries
Strawberries
Blackberries


Grapes (organic only) (again very hard to find but do not feed non organic grapes)
Lemon
(adding a squeeze of lemon or grapefruit keeps the food fresh longer)

I also sprinkle some Sprouts on top.

Sprouting is not hard or time consuming and your birds will thank you for it.

I sprout: (All organic)

Garbanzo Beans
Chick Peas
Mung Beans

Wheat
Barley
Alfalfa

Sunflower

Around 1 pm I feed a soft food mix containing a variety of the following:

Quinoa (cooked)
Barley (cooked)
Navy Beans
Brown Rice
Bulgar
Millet
Oatmeal
Rye Berries
Wheat Berries
Amaranth
Sweet Potato
Organic Pumpkin
Squash
Walnuts (Organic)
Almonds Slivers, Pine nuts (shelled)
Granola

I also use Cayenne Pepper and Real lightly ground dried hot peppers and/or fresh hot peppers.

Here is some good info on grains:

http://www.aaoobfoods.com/graininfo.htm

Around 6:00 pm I feed them their seeds.

Higgins Fruit and Seed
(Scarlet or Browns Tropical Carnival with extra nuts for the Macaws)

To this I add the following supplements:

Dandelion
Alfalfa
Wheat or Barley Grass
Spirulina
Super Max breeder or Aviagra
Feather up (when needed)

Mix dry supplements thoroughly then add your oil.

I use alternating:

Organic:

Red Palm Oil
Hemp Oil
Coconut Oil
Flax Seed Oil

I leave the seed mixture in overnight.

I only have one bowl of food in the cage at a time. This way they eat a little of everything.

Note* The macaws and large cockatoos always have a bowl of plain seeds and nuts in their cage. Hyacinths have a steady supply of Macadamia Nuts. They should always have them accessible.

Good information on Nut nutrition can be found here:

http://www.landofvos.com/articles/NutNutrition.html


Pancakes.

In order to feed liquid supplements such as pro-biotic and calcium the following recipe works wonderfully:
Do not use palm oil as it smokes on your cast iron griddle pure vegetable or olive oil works fine.

Start with an organic pancake mix.
Add Organic Pumpkin or Sweet Potato
Any one or two of the greens listed above

Any one or more of the following

Walnuts chopped fine or ground
Almonds chopped fine or ground
Pecans chopped fine or ground
(most supermarkets sell small bags of these for 99 cents each in the baking isle.

Break it up into pieces spread a little Palm oil (or coconut, hemp or flax) and you dandelion, alfalfa, wheat grass (or barley grass, I alternate) and/or put your liquid supplements on it. Only give small pieces so that they eat the supplements. After they have eaten the first piece with the supplements, you can give them more.

Cook on a low heat and make them thin so you don’t over cook.

You can refrigerate these, but do not freeze them. You kill the live enzymes by cooking to much and/or freezing.


Remember NO TEFLON. A good cast iron griddle can be purchased for $10.00 to $20.00

This is not an all inclusive list of the foods I feed my birds. I created this document for a friend to get her on the right track.

Tina- Sweetheart Aviary (from her web site I believe is not working now)
All rights reserved for her.

Here is my updated diet page on my website. Thank you Dutch for the great compliment. I miss you guys too.

www.freewebs.com/macaw672/feedingyourparrot.htm

mccaw672 wrote:Here is my updated diet page on my website. Thank you Dutch for the great compliment. I miss you guys too.

www.freewebs.com/macaw672/feedingyourparrot.htm

Well I've always admired a Lady that could stand toe to toe with me! Especially when she knows what the heck she is talking about. Well Michigan's loss is Arizona's gain for sure! Nice to see pictures of your new set up there and the wonderful birds you call companions. They all look great in that South Western sun. No need for those lights anymore... lol. Glad to see the Red Fronts are getting well, you have a knack for that, and the world will be a better place when those endangered Macaw's produce. Keep up the great work hon! You will always be the "Very Best" in my book.

Dutch

P.S.- seeing Joey again brought a tear to my eye. In loving memory of a magnificent bird!