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Parrot Nutrition, How Do You Even Know?

Talk about bird illnesses and other bird health related issues. Seeds, pellets, fruits, vegetables and more. Discuss what to feed your birds and in what quantity. Share your recipe ideas.

Re: Parrot Nutrition, How Do You Even Know?

Postby purringparrot » Sat Feb 13, 2010 6:01 pm

Feeding Feathers group has a great variety of mash receipes all with with fresh things. Our birds get a mix of pellets brands and the ekkies that stay with us always seem to ignore pellets, most of the owners request no pellets just fresh things and a dry mix in the cage at night.
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Re: Parrot Nutrition, How Do You Even Know?

Postby alexjoan » Tue Mar 16, 2010 3:49 am

Parrots in the wild and in colony aviaries will fill their crops to bursting point in the morning, which will then slowly release into their system, throughout the day. On an evening they will go and do the same, taking them through the night. You will be amazed at how much food it takes to fill the crop, of say, an African Grey, definitely not the bucket full most owners give their birds. In fact the amount of a good quality parrot mix offered, should be approx 30/35g or a level serving-spoon. It is up to you what is fed in what order, but we feed the seed mix with a little fruit and veg in the morning and the animal matter with fruit and veg in the evening. We never have any waste and all the birds are of good weight, the birds inside weigh only a fraction more than the birds outside.
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Re: Parrot Nutrition, How Do You Even Know?

Postby LeeBee » Sun Apr 04, 2010 11:50 am

As nobody knows the best route to true nutrition in parrots, and as it has only been in the past twenty or so years that people noticed that all seed diets were actually bad for our birds, I honestly don't (at the moment) trust any 'expert' to tell me what is, and isn't the best way to feed a bird. I am also a little dubious to believe that an all pellet diet is really good for birds, especially if we look at Parrotlets, for example, that have actually been found to suffer with a number of complaints because of the raw nutrients in pellets.
As I understand it, pellets are a wonderful addition to a birds diet, and it can't be argued that they are a wonderful way of ensuring that a bird gets a certain number of vitamins, minerals etc. however, I am not convinced one way, or the other that they are really all that a bird should be fed, and as such I try and aim for a varied diet, consisting of pellets, seed, fresh cooked foods, fruits and veggies.
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Re: Parrot Nutrition, How Do You Even Know?

Postby pchela » Sun Apr 04, 2010 8:04 pm

LeeBee wrote:As nobody knows the best route to true nutrition in parrots, and as it has only been in the past twenty or so years that people noticed that all seed diets were actually bad for our birds, I honestly don't (at the moment) trust any 'expert' to tell me what is, and isn't the best way to feed a bird. I am also a little dubious to believe that an all pellet diet is really good for birds, especially if we look at Parrotlets, for example, that have actually been found to suffer with a number of complaints because of the raw nutrients in pellets.
As I understand it, pellets are a wonderful addition to a birds diet, and it can't be argued that they are a wonderful way of ensuring that a bird gets a certain number of vitamins, minerals etc. however, I am not convinced one way, or the other that they are really all that a bird should be fed, and as such I try and aim for a varied diet, consisting of pellets, seed, fresh cooked foods, fruits and veggies.


What they said. :thumbsup:
"I bet the sparrow looks at the parrot and thinks, yes, you can talk, but LISTEN TO YOURSELF!" ~ Jack Handy ~ Deep Thoughts
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