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Feeding

Talk about bird illnesses and other bird health related issues. Seeds, pellets, fruits, vegetables and more. Discuss what to feed your birds and in what quantity. Share your recipe ideas.

Feeding

Postby Rafiki-hen » Tue Apr 17, 2018 1:32 pm

Hi I’m new to this. We have just got our first Kakariki. She was the little one of the flock and born with splayed legs. Although she is getting a lot better she was hand reared and hand fed due to sibling bullying. She eats independently now but has never really had much access to fresh fruit and veg as siblings stole most of it. I’ve done plenty of reading but can’t seem to see if it’s best to have fresh and seeds separate or mixed ? And also any tips on getting her into fresh as she goes straight for seed mix. Thanks.
Rafiki-hen
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Types of Birds Owned: Kakariki hen.
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Re: Feeding

Postby Pajarita » Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:11 am

Welcome to the forum and thank you soooo much for taking a little bird with a handicap! Splayed legs, as long as the problem is not super extreme [I had two that had their legs sticking out and up like a V], is not a real problem for them but I suggest you supplement the baby with a good multivitamin/mineral supplement because this happens when the parents are depleted and cannot provide enough calcium to the babies so, most likely, she was born with vitamins and mineral deficiencies.

Now, you can't free-feed the seeds [as in when you fill up a bowl and just leave it there all day long] because you would be feeding way too much protein and fat and end up messing up the liver and kidneys but, aside from that, it's almost impossible to convince a bird to eat produce if they have protein food readily available to them. I recommend you feed it gloop, mash or chop for breakfast and a measured amount of seeds for dinner with a multivitamin/mineral supplement every day until the bird is eating a goodly amount of a large range of produce when you can reduce the vitamin/mineral supplement to twice a week [you still need to supplement, no matter how well the bird eats, because it's the only way of getting enough vitD3 into them].

I don't know how old the bird is but, if it's still a baby [under 6 month of age], you need to provide two types of nutritious soft food served fresh and warm twice a day. Soft food is simply food that is soft and easily digestible - like gloop [this is what I feed all my birds from the budgies to the cockatoo] or couscous/polenta/pastina cooked and mixed with either baby food from jars [when they are very little] or baby food and finely chopped veggies as well as some source of betacarotene like carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, etc [basically, anything orange or yellow] when they are a bit older.

Let me know if I was not clear enough and you need further clarification, please.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
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