harrison's and fresh fruit

[roy]

I got my new b&g macaw Thursday his name is Chico, I've got him eating nutribird pellets and harrison's high potency pellets and I give him fresh fruit aswell. Chico is only 16 weeks old he lived with another 3 b&g's in the same cage the reason I'm telling you this is I fill the bowls and he eats the lot all in 1 sitting the fruit and the pellets almost the same. Is this because he lived with 3 other parrots in the same cage and he had to eat as much as possible before the other parrots got in there. It says on the back of the harrison's packet 40 grams a day for a macaw but how much fruit should I give him. I'm going to split the 40 grams of harrison's to 20 on the morning 10 dinner time and 10 with fruit tea time would I be right in doing this. All the other parrots I've had have been on a seed mix but I only want the best for Chico

[Pajarita]

He is a baby! He needs soft food and lots and lots of it (cooked cereal grains, polenta, couscous, birdybread, etc and lots and lots of fruits). Macaw parents feed their babies until they are nine months old and you should be hand feeding him once a day (twice would be better" breakfast and dinner). Parrots that are improperly weaned develop problems as they grow up.

Kudos to you for wanting only the best for him but I am sorry to say that, in my personal opinion, pellets ain't it. Fresh plant material is what nature meant for them to eat, not dried up, highly processed, ground grains and soybean meal mixed with man-made vitamins.

[Cedardave]

Your on the right track.Harrisons is a very high quality food for him.We feed all our macaws and other parrots this as a base food.In nature of course these birds have the ability to select the food they want to eat from the territory they are living in.As captive companions it falls upon us to be sure their diet is well balanced and nutricious.Harrisons is a good base. Be sure along with it they have a good selection of fruits and vegetable.Limited seeds and nuts are also a great treat.Since they count on us to feed them right be sure their selection is varried so they dont get bored.Your guy may be eatting so much because his handfeeding was cut short.Im not sure a bird will really overeat...could also be a little seperation anxiety ,no longer being with his clutchmates..Keep an eye that is health remains good, keep doing what your doing.Stay with the Harrisons.Be sure to add green vegetables as well.Our guys like broccoli,snow peas green beans.Lettuce has little nutricional value...they may enjoy the taste but kale would be better.Im sure somewhere online there is a list of all the good foods to feed and those that are bad and some even deadly..find a copy and use it as a guideline.