A Menu?

[Titanius]

I must admit I draw a blank when it comes to adding veg and fruits to my bird's diet. They never try it and will do all they can to avoid the area of the cage where the fresh food has been placed. This game goes on and on till the food has become brown.. I've tried a couple times.. Even Diamond who's most adventurous takes a sniff and turns her head. Could anyone write up a short list of things they give their birds and how it's served like in very small bites or slices? I really wanna throw some variety into their lives.

[pchela]

Sally Blanchard Glop Recipe

The following recipe feeds my 4 parrots of various sizes and appetites for their morning meal. ‘Glop’ also makes a great hand-weaning food to finger feed your bappy.

* 1 small jar of baby food carrots, sweet potatoes, or winter squash (I use Earth’s Best because it is organic - they also have high vitamin A vegetable varieties with chicken and turkey. I occasionally use apricot, peach, or papaya baby food.) You can also use baked yams, winter squash or cooked, mashed carrots.
* 3 slices of coarse whole-grain crumbled toast. (I vary the bread but use the healthiest bread I can find without sugar. I particularly like a jalapeno cornbread loaf I buy at Trader Joe’s.) You can also use high quality cooked grains such as quinoa, amaranth, etc. and/or oatmeal.
* 2-4 Tablespoons of nonfat plain yogurt.
* I highly recommend adding a a few drops to a 1/2 teaspoon of Essential Fatty Acids (EFA). There are several varieties available including Flax Seed Oil. Adding EFAs to the diet has helped quite a few parrots with feather destructive behaviors.
* Optional: 1/8 cup high quality handfeeding formula or a sprinkle of a spirulina or wheat grass type supplement.

Put in a large bowl and mash together until toast is saturated with baby food and yogurt and everything is evenly mixed. Consistency can be changed according to your parrot’s preference. Mine like the toast chunky and the mixture thick - about the consistency of turkey dressing. ‘Glop’ is ready to feed - it does not have to be cooked.

Anything that is nutritious can be added to the glop for a variety in texture, color, and shapes. I will feed it plain or mix one or more of the following: finely chopped collard (mustard or turnip) greens, kale or broccoli flowers, grated carrots, wheat germ, oat bran, no sugar breakfast cereal, low salt V-8 juice, grated tofu-cheese, nonfat cottage cheese, chopped nuts or raisons, chopped very hard boiled egg, pasta, brown rice, well, cooked chopped chicken, powdered pellets.


I use this every day... make a batch and keep it in the fridge for about a week. They get this along with sprouts and some frozen veggie mix, sometimes a grape or some other fruit. They all really like the glop. It took Nicodemus, the Red Belly, several weeks to start liking it. He wouldn't even try it at first. You just have to be patient with them. I think that sometimes they simply don't recognize whatever we're trying to feed them as food. It does help if you try it in front of them and act like it's the best thing ever.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Scooter absolutely loves berries, especially blueberries, and corn cut off the cob. For him, I vary the size and shape, but he most seems to prefer beak-sized nibbles --although he does also enjoy nibbling off a kebab with large pieces.

Scotty... well, they fed him "salad" every morning at the store, but I'm beginning to wonder if he ever actually ate it -- he turns his nose up at it every morning at our house, no matter what size, shape or content I have tried. Still working on this one. He holds out for sprouts in the evening and eats his dry mix.

[Giantmoa]

heres some foods I feed, but for the most part its whatever vegi I'm eating or have around thats healthy for her:
-peas & green beans
-carrots, some birds like tiels like it best clipped to the cage bars where they can gnaw it
-bell pepper (she hasn't quite started liking it yet....)
-kale, dandilion greens, and other leafy dark greens
- beets and beet greens
-broccoli and/or broccolini
-mashed sweet potato
-fresh coconut chunks
-corn =]
I give fruits as treats since she loves them the most: banana, berries, apple are her favorites
as for how I present it, I like to vary from shredding to chopping to slices and weaving it through the bars or putting it in a bowl. When I introduce a new vegi I make myself some to munch on as well and when she becomes insanely jealous and wants a taste I give her a bit of the portion I made her. She isn't a picky eater though... I used to smack my lips when I introduced the food to her and now she immitates me when she gets a big bowl of greens