New food

[Luckyandjenn]

So i was told that the bag of food i bought isnt healthy for lucky he was on a food called hookbill before i e been trying to get him to eat fruits and veggies but i need to know what i can buy in store that would be better i got higgs sunburst gourmet food mix im not sure what to get

[Wolf]

I believe that you were told that that specific blend was unhealthy for your bird due to the chemicals that were used in dehydrating the fruit in the blend and partly due to the dehydrated fruit itself. The reason that dehydrated fruit is not so good is due to its moisture content being so low and in order for the bird to digest it properly it must get enough moisture from someplace. You hope that the bird will drink enough water to rehydrate the fruit, but you can't be certain that it will and that just leaves one place for the fruit to get that moisture, that is from the tissues surrounding it and that can cause a chronic, mild case of dehydration in the bird.

What I would d is to look for the organic seed mix that does not contain the fruit in it, just a good variety of seeds. Now I understand that you may want to keep some dehydrated fruits on hand due to their lasting for a longer period of time, but you want to get them from a health food store or other place, making sure that they were not processed with the chemicals that are bad and then soaking them to rehydrate them before you feed them to the birds.

Another way to do this would be to buy and dehydrate your own fruits so that you know that they do not contain any chemicals that could harm either yourself or your birds. Or you could buy smaller amounts of fresh organic fruits that you feed fresh.

For the birds that I have that require a bit more protein in their daily diet than the others, I buy human grade tree nuts and add a few of them to their dinner and/ or give them the nuts as treats throughout the day.

Fresh, raw organic fruits and vegetables are the best foods that we can give to our birds especially throughout the day with the foods that are highest in fats and protein being reserved for treats and for their dinner. The reason for feeding the higher protein foods for their dinner is that birds do not eat during the night and since the protein foods take longer to digest they will provide the bird more nutrition throughout the night while it sleeps.

I hope that this brings what you were told into a better focus and understanding of why.

[Luckyandjenn]

I believe that you were told that that specific blend was unhealthy for your bird due to the chemicals that were used in dehydrating the fruit in the blend and partly due to the dehydrated fruit itself. The reason that dehydrated fruit is not so good is due to its moisture content being so low and in order for the bird to digest it properly it must get enough moisture from someplace. You hope that the bird will drink enough water to rehydrate the fruit, but you can't be certain that it will and that just leaves one place for the fruit to get that moisture, that is from the tissues surrounding it and that can cause a chronic, mild case of dehydration in the bird.

What I would d is to look for the organic seed mix that does not contain the fruit in it, just a good variety of seeds. Now I understand that you may want to keep some dehydrated fruits on hand due to their lasting for a longer period of time, but you want to get them from a health food store or other place, making sure that they were not processed with the chemicals that are bad and then soaking them to rehydrate them before you feed them to the birds.

Another way to do this would be to buy and dehydrate your own fruits so that you know that they do not contain any chemicals that could harm either yourself or your birds. Or you could buy smaller amounts of fresh organic fruits that you feed fresh.

For the birds that I have that require a bit more protein in their daily diet than the others, I buy human grade tree nuts and add a few of them to their dinner and/ or give them the nuts as treats throughout the day.

Fresh, raw organic fruits and vegetables are the best foods that we can give to our birds especially throughout the day with the foods that are highest in fats and protein being reserved for treats and for their dinner. The reason for feeding the higher protein foods for their dinner is that birds do not eat during the night and since the protein foods take longer to digest they will provide the bird more nutrition throughout the night while it sleeps.

I hope that this brings what you were told into a better focus and understanding of why.

Thank you so much i will start making my own dehydrated fruit and ill look into an organic seed mix im still working on fresh fryits and veggies he loves pasta and he also like steal oat oat meal this helps out so much i need to fix his diet

[Wolf]

Just like everything else regarding parrots changing his diet is and should be a slow process. Not only do we deal with teaching them to eat totally new food that they did not know were foods, we also have to not change the diet too fast or we can stress the birds system and cause the bird to develop a case of diarrhea which is not good for them. Personally other than introducing them to new fresh foods that they have never had before, I like to change their diet one thing at a time and then watch their poops to make certain that it remains normal. Slow and easy is the best way.

[Pajarita]

I don't think that dehydrated anything is good for parrots - especially macaws that eat A LOT of fruits which have a water content of 75 to 95%. For one thing, they are not as nutritious as frozen or even fresh (the only preparation that is marginally more nutritious than frozen is freeze-dried but the stuff ends up like pieces of crunchy cardboard!) but the more problematic side is the lack of moisture which, in fruits, for example, go from 1 to 7% - a HUGE difference to what they are meant to eat!

If you are going by their natural diet moisture requirements, safety (in terms of bad bacteria and such) and nutrition in general, the best you can offer is something you grew yourself and picked when ripe -which is great but not what one would call practical, right? The second is frozen produce that is allowed to thaw in the fridge - which is what the gloop has. Accompanying the gloop with raw produce rounds up the nutrition because although the raw is not as nutritious in terms of vitamins, it does still have live phytonutrients.

With a macaw, I would offer very little seed... I would use nuts, instead (bigger and more nutritious than seeds) and then only for dinner.

[Luckyandjenn]

Just like everything else regarding parrots changing his diet is and should be a slow process. Not only do we deal with teaching them to eat totally new food that they did not know were foods, we also have to not change the diet too fast or we can stress the birds system and cause the bird to develop a case of diarrhea which is not good for them. Personally other than introducing them to new fresh foods that they have never had before, I like to change their diet one thing at a time and then watch their poops to make certain that it remains normal. Slow and easy is the best way.

Huuummmm ok so im going to keep eating with him "he still isnt digging the new stuff im trying to get him to eat i will not give up thoe" got to get more fresh nuts and seeds but also try and get him to fruits and veggies i belive his diet has been wrong for a long time so it will take time to correct im working on new perches and training too he seems happy and healthy saving money to take him to get a check up i know that will be kinda pricey but all worth it thanks for all the great info you have given me

[Luckyandjenn]

I don't think that dehydrated anything is good for parrots - especially macaws that eat A LOT of fruits which have a water content of 75 to 95%. For one thing, they are not as nutritious as frozen or even fresh (the only preparation that is marginally more nutritious than frozen is freeze-dried but the stuff ends up like pieces of crunchy cardboard!) but the more problematic side is the lack of moisture which, in fruits, for example, go from 1 to 7% - a HUGE difference to what they are meant to eat!

If you are going by their natural diet moisture requirements, safety (in terms of bad bacteria and such) and nutrition in general, the best you can offer is something you grew yourself and picked when ripe -which is great but not what one would call practical, right? The second is frozen produce that is allowed to thaw in the fridge - which is what the gloop has. Accompanying the gloop with raw produce rounds up the nutrition because although the raw is not as nutritious in terms of vitamins, it does still have live phytonutrients.

With a macaw, I would offer very little seed... I would use nuts, instead (bigger and more nutritious than seeds) and then only for dinner.

Actually i have a bunch of organic veggies to give him thoe hes not so into them yet he has bad eating habits from his previous home and what is gloop? Other than having a hard time changing his diet hes an active healthy guy and best part is hes not a screamer lol lots of happy chatter i love him and i love all the learning i get to do to inprove our lifes

[seagoatdeb]

Change his diet slowly. Dehydrating your own is a great option for your parrots. I dehydrate mine on a low setting and only enough so they store longer in the fridge, so that the enzymes and nutrition are preserved. I always serve anything dry with a wet food like apples, etc. so it isnt too dry. Sometimes the dehydrated version will encourage them to learn to like veggies and fruits more. One funny thing about my pois is that my Red Belly hates bananas with a passion, but my meyers loves pieces of banana. But my Red Belly will eat dried banana pieces and my Meyers hates dry bananas, it is the only food he will work to push out of his cage on to the floor, he doesnt even want them in his cage....lol

[Pajarita]

I don't think that dehydrated anything is good for parrots - especially macaws that eat A LOT of fruits which have a water content of 75 to 95%. For one thing, they are not as nutritious as frozen or even fresh (the only preparation that is marginally more nutritious than frozen is freeze-dried but the stuff ends up like pieces of crunchy cardboard!) but the more problematic side is the lack of moisture which, in fruits, for example, go from 1 to 7% - a HUGE difference to what they are meant to eat!

If you are going by their natural diet moisture requirements, safety (in terms of bad bacteria and such) and nutrition in general, the best you can offer is something you grew yourself and picked when ripe -which is great but not what one would call practical, right? The second is frozen produce that is allowed to thaw in the fridge - which is what the gloop has. Accompanying the gloop with raw produce rounds up the nutrition because although the raw is not as nutritious in terms of vitamins, it does still have live phytonutrients.

With a macaw, I would offer very little seed... I would use nuts, instead (bigger and more nutritious than seeds) and then only for dinner.

Actually i have a bunch of organic veggies to give him thoe hes not so into them yet he has bad eating habits from his previous home and what is gloop? Other than having a hard time changing his diet hes an active healthy guy and best part is hes not a screamer lol lots of happy chatter i love him and i love all the learning i get to do to inprove our lifes

Gloop is a dish made out of lightly cooked (al dente so they are soft in the outside but still hard in the inside and retain their shape) whole grains and pulses (I only use white beans because they are the lowest in a toxic lectin that all beans have - and black lentils but regular lentils are fine, too) mixed with chopped veggies (I use frozen and mix them into the cooled grains after cooking them so they remain frozen until the daily portion is allowed to thaw). I use: kamut, oat groats, hulled barley, wheat kernels and teff or spelt and black and red rice for grains. And, for veggies: chopped broccoli (it comes already chopped in a bag and frozen), corn, peas, carrots, butternut squash (it comes cubed and frozen), white hominy (this is from a can, not frozen), baked (or nuked in a Potato Express bag) sweet potatoes (I cook them with the skin so as to not to loose any nutrition and then just peel them) and chopped artichoke hearts and green beans (these are the only two things that I need to chop myself). To this I add flax and sesame seed after the grains, beans, lentils and veggies are all mixed in and this mixture becomes the 'basic recipe'. This is put into freezer baggies with a daily portion each and frozen and, every day, I use one to which I add the flavor of the day by adding stuff and spices (they love cinnamon and chili powder!).

I have transitioned over 300 birds to it and they all loved it!

[seagoatdeb]

Raw food style dehdrated is still very nutritious and it is similar to what parrots have in the wild when they eat the berries etc. that drop too the ground. dehydrating at temperatures below 112-118F is what is considered still raw. I dont think you can go wrong with their natural diets. Also they must be stored in the fridge becasue they still have a high water content, but they keep for a month and sometimes more. Also when you raw food dehydrate flax veggie birdie bread... they are much more nutritious than anything baked and also have a higher water content than baked.

Since the Op has expressed an interest in dehydrating i will give my basic raw birdie bread recipe. Here is my recipe I use and I often season it for me and may have a different seasoning for a little of it for my parrrots.

1.Grate some flax seeds and also some other seeds too…… you can also grate some raw nut pieces if you like.

2. In a blender blend some garlic, some orange sweet potatoes (also called yam), and some greens, season with ginger, coriander, cumin and/or other spices you like or what you think will be good for your parrot.

3.Mix it together it should look like a mash.

4. then put some seeds in (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, hemp, flax etc. )

5. press flat then cut into squares and dehydrate 112-118F.

They will store in your fridge and are great for birdie bread treats and power snacks for you.