Harrison food or not?

Hello,

I have contacted Harrison sales staff and they recommended me:
HIGH POTENCY FINE-Harrison's Bird Foods

Our little guy is currently eating:
Zupreem Natural (not a lot, but, he is trying it)
ZuPreem

Would you recommend Harrison over Zupreem?

I have found few locations in Canada that sell them, price is reasonable i think, so, i have no problem ordering this, if its better / recommended for CoCo.

Please advise, and thank you!
damir

Hi, well they would wouldn't they? The thing is you should be able to research the ingredients and decide if you think they are suitable for your parrot? Did you ask for a sample to be sent to you?

Am I being a bit blonde but does this make sense?
"For birds that are molting, overweight, underweight, particularly active, housed in a cold climate, recovering from an illness or affected by liver or kidney disease"
How can something be both good for an overweight and underweight parrot. 20% fat content concerns me?

Thanks for responding!

I did, however, as i am in Canada, they never offered that (Even thought i mentioned that in e-mail - i think i am gonna try again! lol)

Says it all LOL.

We are a longtime Harrison household. Our Amazons tend to be more ill than what the average Amazon owner experiences. They have been both side of normal weight and the older ones had all been recovering from an illness or affected by liver or kidney disease.

With Amazons, we naturally move away from Harrisons' higher protean blends looking more at their blends for older Parrots (Lifetime). For whatever reason, our Amazons tend to be happier with the smaller pieces than the larger chunks.

I have moved away from recommending one Pellet over another. That said, the more common coloration is part of the mix, the lower I place that Pellet Supplier. Also, I look at Sugar and Salt values and move away from Sugar and only allow salt to be mid and better to the low side on the formulation. I prefer to see Sea Salt over mined Salt as the sourcing is more assured as being a North American Supplier. I once was 100% against Salt being part of the mixture, but the poor 'storage practices' of the majority of owner's had me backing away for completely eliminating Salt from the formulations.

The other items that I use to determine the status of one Pellet over another is that the formulation is combined and produced in a facility that is rated for Human Quality and Use Only! Also, the controls of the Manufacturer places on controlling their sources is equally as important. Not that long ago, there was that scare regarding Dry Dog Food Manufacturers' that found that their supply sources also including a China based supplier - the end results was the loss of 100's of dogs and the total shutdown of nine facilities for a total cleaning and re-certification by the USDS.

We have never provided a Pellet only diet to our Amazons and have long ago moved to a diet heavily based in Fresh Natural Foods with dark greens (veggies) making-up the majority of the diet with a dry food mixture based on selected seeds, grains, nuts, pasta pieces, freeze dried veggies and fruits with the pellets mixed in with them. See the Amazon Forum, Sticky high-lighted in light blue titled: I Love Amazons - ... Thread. That is a huge Thread that provides a large amount of caring for and loving Parrots information. In the List of Segments will be one that defines the mixture that we use. There are changes to the amount of each group provided based on that Species and Health requirements of the Parrot.

Enjoy!


FYI: The Segment Title is: Correct Food for an Amazon

I have 2 conures and have tried a few different foods with them. They are mainly on a fresh/chop diet with pellets to snack on throughout the day. Mine hated Harrison's but others swear by it. I'm a big fan of reading the ingredients and then going with the best thing that my birds will eat. Mine have eaten Zupreem, currently are eating TOPS and I've ordered some Golden Feast to see if they like that. The Parrot Shop: Canada's #1 Online Discounted Parrot Store - Parrot Supplies l The Parrot Shop seems to carry some pretty good brands and the prices seem reasonable. You may have to try a few things before Co Co settles on something yummy. They also seem to have sample packs (small amounts) for a decent price which might be worthwhile if Co Co is at all picky and you need to try more than one

Everyone has to find what works for them and their fids. Personally, I would never ever feed peanuts and ground shelled peanuts is the sixth ingredient in Harrisons High Potency. For me the risk of Aspergillus fungus isn't worth the risk.

I mix the harrisons and zupreem. I think my birds like the variety

Thank you all for responding and sharing useful information.

I am also thinking about mixing harrisons and zupreem for the start.

I am also trying to feed CoCo with apples, etc, i would say that he is trying it, but, not eating that much (yet).

Be persistent with the fresh food . Mine would only eat apples when I first got them and they now prefer their chop to their pellets and dive into their fresh stuff with gusto. It was a very gradual acceptance of new things, but kind of surprised me when I realized how much of it they now eat. Letting them see you eating stuff is a great tactic for making them "want" something new!

My usual 2 cents on Harrison's!

Harrison's Bird Foods
I feed Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first, and later, my current avian vet recommended it. 30-ish years ago, Harrison's was still a small company. My vet was actually able to talk to Dr. Harrison about my bird's species and status, and they decided on the High Potency. My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry enough to try new stuff. I presume the same technique could be used to get him to eat other healthy stuff. My guy was eating pellets in a couple of days, and now I can feed a good variety of other stuff, knowing he has the pellets as a basic. Pellets are out all day... fresh treats a few times a day.

damir said:

Thank you all for responding and sharing useful information.

I am also thinking about mixing harrisons and zupreem for the start.

I am also trying to feed CoCo with apples, etc, i would say that he is trying it, but, not eating that much (yet).

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I use the small harrisons pellets with the zupreem. Jazz gained some weight after I started feeding her it, I was worried she wasn't eating enough but the vet says she's at a good weight so I know she is eating.

My birds all LOVE apples. Took them awhile to give it a try, I have one of those long pins with the threaded end to cap it, you just stick it through the apple pieces and they can eat off it when I hang it on their perch. Jazz wouldn't go near it for like a week then bam she dived right in one day. My baby pineapple GCC loves apples too she makes a mess though haha.

Thank you all again!

I have contacted some of Canadian sellers, asking about shipping cost, as well as expiry date of the product (as i had bad experience before) , but, for some reasons , so far, they've been lazy to respond to me :/

damir said:

Thank you all again!

I have contacted some of Canadian sellers, asking about shipping cost, as well as expiry date of the product (as i had bad experience before) , but, for some reasons , so far, they've been lazy to respond to me :/

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Well, you can join the long lines at the Boarder Crossings on both sides as the citizens of both of our Countries shop for those items not found or heavily taxed by both Governments when shipped across the Boarder.

Resellers are commonly very slow too non-responsive in providing free samples to other than their active customers. Its just the way things are nowadays.

I understand, however, i am not asking for free samples, i am going to order 1LB (for the start)

to be honest I wouldn't jump through so many hoops for it. There's no singular top brand otherwise no other company would exist. Go with what your parrot likes and what you feel is healthy. Many people say against Zupreem fruit blend but my old conure loved them instantly. Sure there's better out there and yes it may help extend their life by a year but honestly as long as they're happy that's the important part

LordTriggs said:

to be honest I wouldn't jump through so many hoops for it. There's no singular top brand otherwise no other company would exist. Go with what your parrot likes and what you feel is healthy. Many people say against Zupreem fruit blend but my old conure loved them instantly. Sure there's better out there and yes it may help extend their life by a year but honestly as long as they're happy that's the important part

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I agree with that too, however, as CoCo is with us for only few days, and he was mostly eating corn / seeds @ breeder, the way i see it, this would be the best time to have him get used.

Right now i have Zupreem, which he eats (vegetable one) (not much left in the bag though), thats why i am looking into what to get.

Thank you!

My two tiels have tried Harrison's fine (size of pellet) was lost so much since it's so hard that when they tried to crunch it half of it got fired wherever
I got the super fine and finally no loss!!

LordTriggs said:

to be honest I wouldn't jump through so many hoops for it. There's no singular top brand otherwise no other company would exist. Go with what your parrot likes and what you feel is healthy. Many people say against Zupreem fruit blend but my old conure loved them instantly. Sure there's better out there and yes it may help extend their life by a year but honestly as long as they're happy that's the important part

Click to expand...

I understand your point, but take a bit of an exception with the combination of whatever a Parrot likes and one 'feels' is healthy.

- The greater the Sugar Load, the more common a Parrot will like it! Parrots on a 'Sugar' high and hormonal is a serious issue to be faced with. Also, behavioral problems are enhanced with a high sugar diet!

- Coloration added to Pellets can and do result in variation in the color of their Pooo. One can find themselves in a rush to a Avian Vet's Clinic with a Parrot that just pushed a dark red or black dropping! There is no advantage to adding color to a Pellet other than appear to Humans.

- What one Owner 'feels' is a well balanced diet and what is in fact a healthy diet for that 'specific' Parrot is a very different thing. Most Owners are not even aware that there are different diet requirements between species.