New Diet Plan---can you guys help me?

[Grey_Moon]

Okay so here's the plan.

I spoke to the vet at Sully's check-up on Thursday and discussed the diet ratios she'd want to see/recommend for my two.

She gave me this:

Sully---60% pellets, 25% seeds/sprouts and 15% percent veggies.
Jacko---60% pellets, 25% veggies/fruits and 15% seeds/nuts/sprouts (she actually put the nuts in with the fruits and veggies but it confuses me that way)

I'm okay with the concept, but confused as to the amounts. Currently, it seems Jacko's max food intake a day is 3 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons of food (the dosage max for pellets and supplements according to the Harrison's high-potency bag). Sully eats about 3 teaspoons and 2 teaspoons of supplements (confused as to the its supposed to be 10% supplementation recommendation). How do I take these amounts and plug in the percentages above for the diets?

Currently they're eating solely harrison's high-potency (Sully may or may not be switched off after the 6 months---vet recommended to but I will discuss further considering he is flighted and sensitive health-wise) and the supplement amount on each bag of millet spray and sunflower seeds respectively. I will be switching out the sunflowers for cashew pieces.

My question is, given the easier time getting the bigger nutritional bang from sprout mixes than vegetables---would it be acceptable to feed them as the seed *and* veggie portion of the diets (Sully wouldn't be getting any dry seed, and Jacko's seed/nut quotient would be the cashew pieces and sprouts). I'm just a little overwhelmed at trying to provide a balanced veggie portion (the receptionist said basically to chuck a little of whatever veggies etc i was eating in their bowls...but if its going to be 25% of Jacko's diet that sort of nonchalant thing doesnt seem right!)

Any tips, ideas?

[Michael]

I think you're over thinking this and worrying a bit too much. It's not as measured and defined as you may think. The percents are approximate and just a suggestion. You can't actually tell how much of each food actually went in the beak instead of being played with and dropped. This is why I suggest you follow the same general approach I use with my birds and then you'll be able to offer a varied diet in close to the proportions suggested by the vet. First off, this advise is mainly for the Grey and partly for the cockatiel. You may need to try a somewhat modified approach with the tiel but for the larger parrots this is definitely a safe approach.

First, don't feed the bird all day. By leaving food in all day you completely give up all control over their diet ratio. Not only that but you also won't be able to motivate them to eat any foods that are less than favorite for them to eat. Therefore, step one is to establish a feeding schedule of 2 to 3 meals per day. This way come subsequent meal times, the parrot will be hungry enough to eat what it is served rather than be picky based on preferences.

Second, ratio food by number of feedings of it per week rather than quantity. So instead of measuring out one spoon of this and two spoons of that, etc, serve all veggies one meal, all pellets another, etc. Keep the seeds and fruit strictly as treats (I recommend trick training most of all or at least foraging, heck give the treats from your hand rather than serving them in a bowl). So let's say you need to serve 25% veggies. Feed just pellets in the morning and take them away (that's 50% right there). Then serve veggies for the evening meal. After the bird is done eating veggies (Kili can eat all veggies as a dinner but Truman ends up begging for pellets), offer pellets and see if it still wants them. If it does, offer pellets and a meal of pellets will be approximately half of second meal which dilutes the veggies to 25%. If the bird is finished eating and doesn't want pellets that time, simply don't feed veggies the next day. If you feed like this, you'll easily establish the ratio:

Day 1, Meal 1: Pellets
Day 1, Meal 2: Veggies
Day 2, Meal 1: Pellets
Day 2, Meal 2: Pellets

You see, veggies establish 25% of the diet this way by alternating a single 100% veggie meal every 2 days. Unless your parrot loves veggies though, I see no harm in offering them slightly more frequently and offering some pellets after a complete veggie meal. My parrots usually prefer pellets so if they had a bunch of veggies to eat already, I'll just sprinkle some pellets into the bowl and they'll mostly stop eating veggies and focus on pellets. This ends up diluting that meal into 50/50 pellets/veggies so I can do that daily.

Third, feed only one kind of food at a time. Unless you parrots are very broad eaters (like mine have learned to become over time), if you serve "variety" in reality it just means they'll eat their favorites and ignore all else. This is the kind of unhealthy diet that leads to nutritional problems and why pellets end up being recommended (because they can't unmix them). Instead, offer a single (or maximum 2-3 veggies) per meal. For example:

Monday, Meal 2: Broccoli
Wednesday, Meal 2: Carrots
Friday, Meal 2: Corn
Sunday, Meal 2: Peppers

Regardless, offer a single veggie first. Then if the bird eats very little of it, offer another veggie later. Start with the least favorite ones (that are known to provide good nutrition) and then throw a piece of something else in every 15 minutes giving it a chance to pick at the other stuff over that time period. This way you're getting them to eat variety rather than just offering it and letting them be picky.

In summary: twice daily feedings with no food available between meals, use ratios in the span of every few days rather than single meals, and offer veggies one at a time especially starting from the least favorite ones so things actually get eaten.

[Grey_Moon]

Well I've started emptying the food dishes at night before they're put to bed and feeding them in the morning instead of having food availabe 24/7.
Generally before breakfast we do a bit of training because they're very eager to work---then they're put in their cages to eat. I'm eventually going to food manage them a bit more, but will do so slowly because of their health/mental history (Sully is health-fragile and needs to put on weight, Jacko is a plucker so I wouldnt' want to worsen it by her panicking and thinking she cant have food all of a sudden in a manner she's used to).

I'm thinking I will feed sprouts as the morning and the veggies as the evening meal and leave their harrisons as forage to keep them busy during the day and also calm any food availability-related anxiety. The plan as you laid it out seems a bit less worrisome and stressful. The seeds/nuts will remain as treats from my hand for training as they seem to be the best motivators.

Thanks

[Michael]

Sure, I'm not necessarily saying to do it all at once if that's not how it worked before. However, it works great for me and I get remarks from vets and bird people who see my birds in person about how health wise their right on (weight, plumage, etc). So not only does food management by scheduling help with training, but it also helps with health.

Of course in your case you have to take it slow to switch but I think that's the ultimate feeding method you should work towards. The exact ratios, types of foods, etc you can work into that concept yourself.

BTW for whichever bird needs to PUT ON weight, I would not recommend feeding veggies at all. They just dilute nutrition. They are better for making a parrot prone to obesity to avoid it. Instead, I'd focus on pellets, nuts, fruits, and seeds for the one that needs to put on weight. As for the plucker, I dunno but it's possible that a better balanced diet could help with some of the plucking. Of course the reason of plucking has a lot to do with it (like if it's from lack of attention vs poor nutrition). Good luck and let us know how it works.

[Grey_Moon]

Great, so with that in mind will stick to sprouts and Harrisons for Sully (he doesn't like veggies anyway lol).