Pellet choices--or seed? Need dry food

[Grey_Moon]

Im taking my fids off of Harrisons---I'm not pleased with the price, the lack of variety and the sketchy ingredients (soy, peanuts and sunflower seed as a base)---plus Jacko will plug up his water bottle tube with pellet pieces trying to moisten them---and Im worried about keeping his water clean enough even with daily cleanings.

Im thinking of using the China Praire sprout diet---supplemented with veggies and palm oil. The problem is I'm away during the day for classes so the fids would need something dry during the day. This is where I'm running into problems. I'm considering using either the totally organics pellets (which my fids like but crumble into huge piles of dust---not very cost effective -_-) or the respective totally organics dry seed mixes.
Any suggestions or alternatives?

[sidech]

Jazz is on TOP as well, but he doesn't eat very much, he doesn't like them. Anyways, Eclectus are not supposed to eat more than a few pellets a day.

So I think I am going to try the unpellet diet.

http://www.phoenixforagingrolls.com/UnP ... ix-011.htm

Eclectus have to eat about 80% fresh fruits and vegs, and this unpellet would be about 10-15%, the rest would be my own seed mix.

It looks expensive though, maybe too much if your parrot is going to eat a lot of it.

[TheNzJessie]

i just have to ask something, PLEASE make sure the palm oil is certified.

the homes of orangutans are being torn down for it. simply look on the back of the bottle if its certified its all ok to use

[zazanomore]

i just have to ask something, PLEASE make sure the palm oil is certified.

the homes of orangutans are being torn down for it. simply look on the back of the bottle if its certified its all ok to use

[Grey_Moon]

WOW. Seriously impressed with this unpellet stuff and the foraging rolls! Thank you!

I use the aviglow red palm oil---certified, organic and brazilian palm oil....so I think im a-ok

[Michael]

I'm not going to get into the nutritional debate but just wanted to mention that feeding just twice a day (morning/evening) without food in the cage all day long is fine. Most parrots feed mornings/evenings and nap midday in the wild anyway.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Scotty came to me eating a mix of pellets and other dried foods. I've started concocting my own version and that's one way to introduce variety along with the guaranteed nutrition of pellets. The original batch had Roudybush, Scenic and ZuPreem pellets along with dried pasta, whole spices, bannana chips and bits of dried fruit and occasional nuts. The content is probably 80% pellets, 20% everything else. I'm currently using Harrisons and Roudybush. I like the Scenic in theory, but it wasn't the favorite component and it goes nasty-smelling fairly quickly.

Scooter is on a similar blend but using about 25% safflower and millet and 60% pellets. Unfortunately, I'm unconvinced he eats the pellets at nearly the rate I'd like him to. So I worry a bit he'll prop up with a deficiency at some point.

Harrisons may LOOK boring, but if your bird likes it, it has a lot of advantages - solid nutrition, USDA Certified Organic ingredients. There isn't anything wrong with soy, peanuts and sunflower seeds as far as I know, the problem comes when they are eaten exclusively and the diet becomes too high in fat and lacking in necessary vitamins and minerals, which is exactly what pelleted food was designed to counteract. FWIW.

[Grey_Moon]

Michael---I do agree with you. But, seeing as I am living pretty much on my own I make sure to leave dry food available at all times in case something should happen to me so that the birds will have some food if I am not home on time to make them dinner. Also, my grey was abused and neglected in his former homes and is a plucker--he seems to get very anxious and upset if he goes to get a midday snack and its not there---I don't want to encourage his plucking. My cockatiel suffers repeat bouts with Giardia and so his weight is an issue--so I want him to be able to eat (and put on some weight) whenever he feels the need.

Entranced---I dont eat soy and am well aware of the health risks of it. I dont think its right for me to be feeding something to my birds if I wouldnt eat it. When you think about it...in Harrison's the top 3 ingredients are the peanuts, soy and sunflower seeds. So, it *is* in my mind like the birds are eating a diet high in these things with some artificial vitamins coated on them. The only reason it seems to be publicly approved is because its in a pellet form. Obviously if i tossed these 3 in a bowl in their raw state but coated them in vitamins people on here would jump down my throat. Also, the only time for me that I saw the radical improvement in my bird's physical appearance (health) thanks to the harrisons was when it was fed as directed (90% percent of the diet or more)---as soon as you dilute it in any way shape or form thats gone. So....90% percent of my birds' diet is sunflower seeds, peanuts and soybeans with artificial vitamins. Also, the spirulina coating on the pellets washes off when exposed to water...I find it hard to believe that such a notable vet would overlook what paramounts to natural bird behaviour (food dunking). You're paying for the promise of improved health...which you get, but only if you feed the pellet exclusively and if it isnt dunked.

All this for $50 canadian a month (no veggies, raw nuts etc)...just isnt working for me.

[mrstweet]

Harrison's is what a lot of folks around her say is awesome because it's labeled 'organic'. I have always fed my birds a mixture of Roudybush daily and Zupreem fruit pellets and they love it. I buy on foryourbird.com in bulk and then just vacuum seal or repackage the larger bags into smaller ones. Never had a problem and you don't pay petstore prices...

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I'm not telling anyone what to eat, but I feel someone should present the other side of the coin. IMO, based on a fair amount of nutritional research, the idea that soy is a dangerous food product for humans lacks support from sound scientific research, and there is plenty of sound evidence that it has numerous properties that are healthful when eaten as part of an overall healthy diet.

Here is a response from Harrisons about soy and their pellets which appeared on another forum:
http://forums.avianavenue.com/feathered-food-court/37730-soy-harrisons.html It is a bit over-selling the product I think, but most of what it has to say about soy matches what I've found.

FWIW the one study I'm aware of that supports "hormone stimulation" from soy isoflavones used high intakes of a refined version of ONE of the isoflavones. IMO this is more interesting from a pharmacological viewpoint than it is illuminating of the value of soy as a foodstuff.