Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

[Pajarita]

Oh, poor babies! But they will do just fine with you, Liz.

[liz]

The babies are doing really doing good on the new diet with steamed grains. Maggie always has grain on her face. Lola, Flutter and Phoenix are the only ones still eating seed. Lola is eating the other foods but still goes to the seed. I have not tried to change Flutter and Phoenix. When they join the flock they will learn by example. Sweetie used to be the adventurous one to try new things. Now that she is gone, Maggie has stepped up to show the others.

[Matt Alyk]

Rambo was walking through the dining room when Rachel's puppy started following him too close. Rambo turned around to scare him back. Myrtle zoomed the puppy and chased it away from Rambo. Dumb puppy didn't know that Rambo had airial support. He does now.

"Aerial Support" haha. The only time we had pet to pet conflict was when Lilly nearly bit my dogs foot.

[liz]

They are not always trying to bite. Sometimes they just want to taste. I bought a new area rug for the living room. Rambo got so excited he screamed with joy then tasted every color on it to see if there was a difference.
Myrtle claims Squeakie the cat and Jasmine the dog as hers. She will climb down the front of me to pet them but I have to stop her from tasting.

[marie83]

Liz what grains do you steam please and how long does each one take?
I currently boil everything and that can take ages depending on what it is. I prefer steaming stuff.

[liz]

You also take out the taste and nutrition.

Faro is the favorite but also barley, lentil, whole oats or whatever else you can come up with. I put the portion I want in a thermal cup and pour boiling water on it. I leave it at least 15 minutes.
The grain isn't really cooked but it is softened and warm.

Wolf and Pajarita got me started giving warm food. They love it and complain and call me in the morning until they get it. It is so funny to look back in there and most of the beaks have faro on them.

I used to give them human whole grain cereal before Pajarita stopped me because of the iron. If you buy the grains in the grocery store make sure they are not fortified.

[liz]

You also take out the taste and nutrition.

Faro is the favorite but also barley, lentil, whole oats or whatever else you can come up with. I put the portion I want in a thermal cup and pour boiling water on it. I leave it at least 15 minutes.
The grain isn't really cooked but it is softened and warm.

Wolf and Pajarita got me started giving warm food. They love it and complain and call me in the morning until they get it. It is so funny to look back in there and most of the beaks have faro on them.

I used to give them human whole grain cereal before Pajarita stopped me because of the iron. If you buy the grains in the grocery store make sure they are not fortified.

[marie83]

I don't think I could cook any whole grain in 15 mins, are you using pre-prepared stuff (not human cereal)?
Mine don't get any fortified foods- well maybe a very very occasional piece of toast or bread- but that's literally once in hardly ever and its the teeniest piece you can imagine, only slightly bigger than a crumb.

[Wolf]

If the grains are for your birds, you don't want them fully cooked. You want them to be softened on the outside and hard in the middle.

[marie83]

That's how they are Wolf but not in 15 min :/ it takes at least double that (depending on the grain) otherwise they are rock solid so steaming them for 15 min wouldn't even begin to touch them since steaming is slower to cook stuff.