GCC - Feathers On The Back Are These Ok?

[Scotty]

But I thought we said we are wanting to keep the protein down for the GCC, more fruits and veggies, and like the seeds/protein type of thing once a day?

Because that gloop list of ingredients you showed me is a lot of protein...

Hmm

Thanks Bibi

[Pajarita]

It might sound to you as if it has a lot of protein but it doesn't because when you cook the grains, the volume expands with the water and the protein percentage is lowered -this also makes the bird consume less protein because it gets its crop filled up with grains that have swelled to two and three times their size with water. Plus, gloop is half 'protein' -grains, pulses, seeds- and half veggies! But the biggest argument is the comparison to pellets which are all a min of about 17 o/o!

[Scotty]

Ok...

Well my gloop for the moment isn't as fancy as yours, I wanted to make something and just used what I had on hand for the moment.

organic cooked quinoa
sprinkled in dry a little organic oatmeal
organic spinach & kale, but very little kale
organic carrot
organic dehulled hemp seed - very little
TOPS - crumbled them up, but just a few
a few pellets from her bird seed mix
organic sprouted whole grain bread, crumbled up a little
grapes & banana
organic carrots

So hopefully this is ok for the moment...

Here's some pics of the gloop and BeBe chowing down...

[Pajarita]

That was a great first effort and it looks as if she loved it, doesn't it?! Now, a word of caution, spinach is really not recommended for birds because it has a high content of iron which is not good for birds [humans need a lot but birds can only consume a max of 2 o/o]. And, if you replace the quinoa and the hemp with stuff like wheat kernels, kamut or even millet, the protein would be lower. Another word of caution about kale. I know that there is a hype now with it BUT it has a high content of sorbitol, an indigestible sugar that causes stomach upsets like diarrhea and bloating so it's not good to give it to them every day. I have pretty much stopped using it regularly and, when I do, it's only a tiny bit of the blue curly one [because it's the lowest in sorbitol of all the kales]. I can't eat a salad with kale - if I do, I get diarrhea.

[Scotty]

Hi,

Ok I'll remove those veggies and replace with the grains you mentioned...

So after I give this gloop in the morning, in the afternoon should I change it up with some other types of snacks, or fruit, or another style of a gloop?

I guess I'm so use to birds eating all the time, that I'm not sure what approach to take here with food since I'm no longer free feeding, like how often should a GCC be munching on something?

I guess time to do some shopping! LOL...

Thanks a lot!

[Pajarita]

I put out the raw produce first when the sky is not quite bright yet. Then, about an hour or so later, I give them the gloop [and put them in their cages for 30 minutes or so] and leave both [gloop and produce] there all day long until the sun is halfway down the horizon when I turn off the lights - about an hour or so after this, I take out the gloop bowls and replace them with the bowls with their seed mix dinner. Davy Redbelly has learned the routine so well that he 'helps' me. He has the type of cage where the bowls go in something that resembles half a round cage with a little door to the outside so he stands on the edge of the 'half cage' and, as soon as I open the little door, he pushes the bowl with gloop out with his beak and then pulls the dinner bowl in when I place it on the outside edge This way, they have food all day long but they don't end up eating too much protein.

Oh, I forgot! At around 2 or 3, I give them a little treat -usually a piece of a birdy cookie or bread but, on special occasions, a nut or half of one, depending on the size of the nut and the bird. And, if I don't have any cookies or bread, I give them a piece of these crackers: https://www.wholeandnatural.com/kemach- ... s-10-5-oz/