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New member

Postby Petfriends » Thu Oct 24, 2019 8:07 pm

New to the forum
I wanted to introduce myself and my parrot
My name is Mona and I’m owned by an african grey Congo . Her name is kenya and she is 14 years old.
I’ve had her since she was hatched and old enough to come home.
Here in the sunshine state of Florida
Kenya is a plucker and I’m constantly battling her habit .. she is super healthy and happy .. she is very naughty sometimes and just plucks. She’s on a special diet. She get 100% attention and is among the best talking parrots, she super unique.
Thanks for reading this
:gray:
Thank you
Petfriends

African grey parrot Kenya

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGGEWF ... cGetEcyiqg
Petfriends
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 9
Location: Florida
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African grey Congo
Flight: No

Re: New member

Postby Pajarita » Fri Oct 25, 2019 12:21 pm

Welcome to the forum, Mona and Kenya! Sorry to hear she plucks. What is her special diet, if I may ask? I have been doing research on parrots diets since 1994 and I am always super curious about this issue...
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: New member

Postby Petfriends » Fri Oct 25, 2019 1:16 pm

Hi and thank you for the welcome
Well it’s not really that special lol I just don’t feed her anything anymore since she started plucking besides 90% Harrison’s .. she eats little bits of treats to forage for in her forging toys and all the veggies she wants to eat which is kale and broccoli this week , maybe some peepers next week. But that’s it.
It’s a habit for her to pluck now .. I made the mistake of complaining about it to her and now I have to leave the room.. and she still will do it if I leave the room.
It’s an on going battle
Besides that she is super smart and talks a bunch and even says to stop it when she plucks herself .. so I’m working on it.
I tried a collar in the beginning when she first started plucking but all that did was break her trust from me and I hated it and took it off..
Anyhow that’s my story
Thank you
Petfriends

African grey parrot Kenya

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGGEWF ... cGetEcyiqg
Petfriends
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 9
Location: Florida
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African grey Congo
Flight: No

Re: New member

Postby Pajarita » Sat Oct 26, 2019 8:54 am

Ahhhh, well, you might want to do a bit more research about diet because pellets are not and never will be the best dietary option for parrots. Unfortunately for us and our birds, the pet food industry is unregulated and manufacturers can claim 'complete nutrition' on their labels even when it's not true. To make matters worse, avian vets have this habit of giving advice on diet and behavior even though they never actually study either subject and most of them don't even have birds. But, even if pellets were good for them, they should never be free-fed and can not be more than 30% of their diet. I am saying this because diet is super important for undomesticated species and pluckers, in particular, need everything to be perfect for them to stop. I've cared for 6 greys (5 Congos and 1 Timneh) and have found them to be picky eaters but if you persist, time the feedings correctly (super important!) and present the food the way they like it, they can end up eating a very good range of foods. Mine LOVES juicy things like cantaloupe, oranges, ripe peaches, blackberries, blueberries, etc. And she loves her gloop with a passion!
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: New member

Postby Petfriends » Sun Oct 27, 2019 6:52 pm

Yes I hear that and I would say I was following Harrison’s diet plan and doing 75-80% and the rest fruits and veggies.
I only want to do what’s right and find out what going to make her happiest and healthiest.
I’m always scared I’m not going to give her what she needs and that’s why she’s on Harrison’s
And that’s why I’m here of coarse to learn more and to be the best parrot mom I can be.
Other people like yourself with your experience can help a lot
Yeah I’ve had her for 14 years and I’ve messed up a lot along the way listening to the vet from the beginning they never really helped with the proper information.

Thank you
Thank you
Petfriends

African grey parrot Kenya

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGGEWF ... cGetEcyiqg
Petfriends
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 9
Location: Florida
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African grey Congo
Flight: No

Re: New member

Postby Pajarita » Mon Oct 28, 2019 8:47 am

Well, I've used a lot of different avian vets and, as it is with every other profession, there are good ones and there are bad ones... And the two good ones I've had, both had multiple birds for years before they even became avian vets and, although both told people to feed their birds pellets, when I asked them why they did it, when they knew very well that pellets were not the answer, they both replied that they just thought it was the lesser evil. But, as far as I am concerned, feeding 'the lesser evil' is not the right thing to do! I want my birds to get the best possible diet because I firmly believe that it makes a HUGE difference not only in their health but also their moods.

The biggest problem is that nobody has any real information as to what are the exact nutritional values of different species of parrots (I don't know if you know this but Dr. Harrison based his original pellets -the recipe has changed since- on chicken feed). The other big problem is that ALL birds are seasonal eaters so what they eat in the spring is not the same thing they eat in the summer or the winter so, in reality, nature did not evolve them to get a perfectly balanced meal every day -which is what the manufacturers attempt to do. I've been doing research for over 25 years on their natural diets (about two hours every day except Sundays) and I can tell you that the info out there is very little. I mean, you get a list like: seeds, buds, flowers, fruits, nuts, etc but they don't tell you what kind, how much of each, for how long, etc. so one needs to put a lot of effort and work into figuring things out. But one thing is obvious: pellets are not really very good for them and I'll tell you why.
For one thing, they are WAAAAYY too dry - parrots eat a diet that is 85 to 95% moisture while pellets are only 10% and we have learned from other animals diets that when an animal evolved to derive most of their hydration needs from their food, you can't feed them a dry diet without affecting their kidneys. We know that they eat completely unprocessed food so grains that were cooked, mashed and compressed together into little pellets and dried to the point of resembling sawdust is not what nature intended for them. Plus, there is only one pellet that uses human grade products (Harrison doesn't) and which doesn't use soy (real bad for animals). We also know that lab-made vitamins (like the ones in pellets) are not utilized efficiently by the body, they need natural, food-derived vitamins. Furthermore, we are learning more and more about phytonutrients (things like flavonoids, enzymes, etc) role in health and pellets have the sum total of ZERO. And to put the icing on the cake, you never really know for certain how much protein you are feeding because they NEVER give you an exact value (it's always 'minimum' or 'not less than', etc). There is also the fact that they don't taste like anything (have you tried them? I have, it's like eating sawdust).

I feed gloop and raw produce for breakfast and nuts/seeds for dinner plus a multivitamin/mineral I add to their water 3 x a week (this is to catch whatever deficiency there might be in their diet and to provide vit D3 for calcium absorption). My gloop recipe is still (25 years and counting) a work in progress - as I do more research and learn more, I keep on tweaking it. And one thing I can tell you, I have transitioned, literally, hundreds of parrots to it and they all love it (which I count as a big plus because we all know how difficult it is to convince them to eat something healthy and new).
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: New member

Postby Petfriends » Tue Oct 29, 2019 7:48 pm

You know what!? You’re right
Kenya told me they were poop
I’d love for Kenya to transition over to some gloop. I’ve given her chop before and she liked it . I stopped because Harrison’s says not to feed much else because they have all the vitamins. So it’s a boring diet. It took me 3 months to get her to eat them ..
Thank you for this ..
I believe Kenya needs this in her life.
We will see how she looks in 6 months
Thank you
Petfriends

African grey parrot Kenya

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGGEWF ... cGetEcyiqg
Petfriends
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 9
Location: Florida
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African grey Congo
Flight: No

Re: New member

Postby Pajarita » Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:20 am

Well, please tell Kenya that I am with her: they are poop! :lol: Check out some recipes of gloop in the diet section, there are from the simple one to the more complicated... And the complicated does look like a Federal project but once you get the knack of it, it's not hard at all. I make the grain/pulses base once a month and split into two halves. I freeze one half for later use and prepare the other half with the veggies and seeds that make what I call the 'basic' recipe (this is because, every day, I add stuff and seasonings so they end up eating one day spicy and one day fruity) which, in turn, I split into daily portions and freeze. Every night, I take out one baggie (I use large baggies because I have a lot of birds) and allow it to thaw naturally overnight and, in the morning, it's ready to be 'doctored' and serve for breakfast. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: New member

Postby Petfriends » Thu Oct 31, 2019 9:01 am

Thank you so much
I’m so glad I joined this forum .
I have a couple questions, is whole grain brown rice good for this ? Like uncle bens natural whole grain?
And I’m cooking kamut oat groats brown rice and lentil then mix together. This is a good start?
I’m adding the fruits and veggies when ready to serve?
I’ll get it I just don’t want to be serving something I’m not supposed to . It got overwhelming reading the diet forum lol
Thank you
Thank you
Petfriends

African grey parrot Kenya

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGGEWF ... cGetEcyiqg
Petfriends
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 9
Location: Florida
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African grey Congo
Flight: No

Re: New member

Postby Pajarita » Thu Oct 31, 2019 10:11 am

I used to use brown rice but stopped because I found out that it has a large concentration of arsenic (this is because arsenic was used as a pesticide in the 50's before people realized that it does not disappear even after years and years of not using it so the soil still has it and passes it on to the rice) but you can use Indian, Thai or Indonesian Basmati brown rice. I use the black and red rices grown by Lundberg in California because it's the most nutritious and cleanest.

And yes, the combination is a VERY good start but do try not to add fresh or canned veggies to the grains/pulses and use frozen instead because the idea is to provide the most nutrition and fresh ain't it. Fruits and veggies start degrading (In terms of vitamin value) as soon as it's taken from the plant (because it starts dying) and the fresh produce you get in the supermarket has been picked days and days before it got to you (it requires shipping) and green (also because it requires shipping and green bruises less than ripe). The most nutrition is achieved when the fruit ripens on the plant and eaten immediately but because frozen produce is picked ripe and frozen almost immediately (processing plants are right next to the fields that provide them with the produce), it is the one that has, by far, the best nutrition - well, actually, this is not stricly true, freeze drying is the process that retains the most nutrition but dried stuff is not good for parrots.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

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