Feeding - mess and waste, portion size

strudel

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I am a new owner of an adopted pink and grey galah and this is my first question....

She makes a HUGE mess when eating/mucking about with her food. She doesn't really seem to eat, but often just bites and drops it without anything seeming to be kept in her mouth or swallowed. When I have her inside and am hand feeding her treats, I can pick the pieces up (I have a towel across my lap so she won't poo on me) and offer them again and she seems to eat some, but she still seems to drop a lot of her food. Out in her cage she seems to drop huge amounts onto the floor. Huge mess and a lot of waste.

So, I found a thread linking to advice on feeding that said instead of food being supplied ad hoc or all day, she should get actual mealtimes for her fresh food. I gave her veges and fruit tonight and she seemed to eat some but still dropped a couple of bits on the floor before moving away. There's still heaps left and I realize that I've really no idea as to the portion size I should be giving her - I have just been taking her things to eat and if she doesn't eat them taking them away again later. She's got pellets there which she can help herself to all the time - she might not be hungry tonight if she's been stuffing herself with pellets. When she gets used to the idea that she gets meals she might not fill up on pellets if she likes her breakfast/dinner?

What sort of portion size should I be giving her?
Can I put something underneath to catch the dropped food (like a tray or a shelf) and can she still eat if it hasn't been pooed on, or should I get her a bigger bowl so that if she drops it she drops it back in there, or should I feed her down on the floor instead of bowls hung up on the cage or should I just get used to her flinging stuff about and wasting it?

Any tips directed to minimizing mess and waste gratefully received, thanks.
 

weco

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While it may be that you could portion control a bird, it is not in their nature to have polite table manners and finish their food.....virtually every bird is an opportunistic eater...eat a little here, eat a little there and so on.....in this respect, birds are propagators.....partially eaten fruit may just be the next apple tree of fig tree.....

Food waste has been a concern of most parronts from as long as I can remember & that's over 30 years of involvement with companion birds.....I just dump what's left in the dishes & seed catchers outside for any critter looking for lunch or a snack.....

Welcome to the forums.....

Good luck.....
 

Pinkbirdy

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Welcome to TOO Town [their all like that] .Try a hooded feeder . I put paper on the bottom .So he can go down and retrieve the food hes thrown down there.I don't want him hungry ! In the wild its instinctive for them to be ground feeders.
 
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strudel

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partially eaten fruit may just be the next apple tree of fig tree.....
You reminded me of an incident years ago. A flock of cockatoos came and stripped the almond tree or all the green almonds, they didn't eat them, they just took a bite out of each and left a huge mess on the ground. :D

I wouldn't mind so much if she was eating and dropping while she was eating, but this "bite it in half and drop the lot" really pushes my "don't waste your food!" buttons. :D
Try a hooded feeder .
Her pellets are in a hooded feeder, but she just picks them out, bites them and drops them (or some of them). She doesn't eat with her head in there. I put paper on the bottom, and then I put a tray under her food "station", but she doesn't go down there to finish anything off. I got her a seed button thingy which I put in and take out as a treat, most of that seems to have been bitten and dumped on the floor. I'd read that they are supposed to be ground feeders, but she seems to like being up in her cage, she doesn't seem to go down there.

I'm going to make her a "tree" from branches and she might start going down there when I've done that. (If she doesn't just ignore it, like all her other "stuff" I've spent a fortune on :D)

Thanks for the replies. It looks like I'll have to get used to her being a messy little pig.
 

Sammy01

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You could try giving her pellets that are a smaller size. For example, a budgie you give them finch size.

For the fruits and veggies I'd cut them smaller so they're bite size and there's less waste. :)
 
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strudel

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Aren't the crumbles formulated for the different birds, or is just the size that varies? Are the budgie crumbles the same formula as the parrot pellets? (I'll have a look at the packets tomorrow). I don't know whether she would eat the budgie crumbles, she seems to like cracking and dropping. The powdery residue from her pellets doesn't seem to interest her.....
 

getwozzy

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Welcome to the forum and yay! another galah! :D

It's normal for them to rummage, fling, take a bite and toss...and I do meal times for chili- breakfast at 8am and dinner at 3pm. A bowl of fresh fruits, veggies, and chop mix at each meal- remove the bowl after a couple hours since fresh foods will start to spoil. He usually eats a tiny fraction of what I offer, since most of it ends up everywhere else lol. He also gets a bowl of pellets and some seeds that he can pick at through the middle of the day. Everything sits on the play top of his cage, so there's actually a cage pan that catches food so sometimes I'll catch him wandering around grazing and picking lol
 

Jayyj

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I do a fresh breakfast for my galah: sweet corn, peas, pepper and cucumber being the popular ingedients. She likes the bowl to be brought to her, little madam, and I take it away altogether at 9.30 when I leave for work: she gets pellets in her bowl and a few nuts and seeds hidden around the cage as foraging rewards whilst I'm away.I generally give her a few spores of millet when I get in, then I'll cook something for myself in the evenings she can share, so she gets some fresh food at dinner time as well.

She creates an extraordinary amount of mess when eating outside of the cage, but as Weco says, it's part of nature, playing their role in disseminating seeds and spores on behalf of the plants they feed from.

For pellets, I use the Harrison fine grade high potency, and there's very little wastage. Galahs have quite small beaks for a mid sized bird, and the fine grade seems more suitable than the course.
 

Birdman666

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Panama Amazon (1 Y.O.)
I am a new owner of an adopted pink and grey galah and this is my first question....

She makes a HUGE mess when eating/mucking about with her food. She doesn't really seem to eat, but often just bites and drops it without anything seeming to be kept in her mouth or swallowed. When I have her inside and am hand feeding her treats, I can pick the pieces up (I have a towel across my lap so she won't poo on me) and offer them again and she seems to eat some, but she still seems to drop a lot of her food. Out in her cage she seems to drop huge amounts onto the floor. Huge mess and a lot of waste.

So, I found a thread linking to advice on feeding that said instead of food being supplied ad hoc or all day, she should get actual mealtimes for her fresh food. I gave her veges and fruit tonight and she seemed to eat some but still dropped a couple of bits on the floor before moving away. There's still heaps left and I realize that I've really no idea as to the portion size I should be giving her - I have just been taking her things to eat and if she doesn't eat them taking them away again later. She's got pellets there which she can help herself to all the time - she might not be hungry tonight if she's been stuffing herself with pellets. When she gets used to the idea that she gets meals she might not fill up on pellets if she likes her breakfast/dinner?

What sort of portion size should I be giving her?
Can I put something underneath to catch the dropped food (like a tray or a shelf) and can she still eat if it hasn't been pooed on, or should I get her a bigger bowl so that if she drops it she drops it back in there, or should I feed her down on the floor instead of bowls hung up on the cage or should I just get used to her flinging stuff about and wasting it?

Any tips directed to minimizing mess and waste gratefully received, thanks.

1. It's normal. All birds do this. Their role in nature is to share the wealth.

2. I wouldn't feed recycled possibly contaminated food, because bacterial infections are not easy to deal with, and are very expensive to cure. (Like a years worth of food for one good crop infection!) So penny wise, and pound foolish.

3. Don't overfeed, and don't hide their favorite treats on the bottom of the bowl. The famous beak swipe maneuver will occur.

4. I've been doing this for well over a decade now, if you find any tips for minimizing mess let me know. Better strategy, set up the bird area for ease of clean up! And light daily cleanings. (morning feedings & birdie bedtime) make for a better living space for both of you.
 
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strudel

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and a few nuts and seeds hidden around the cage
How do you hide them? I bought a plastic cup thing with a lid on it for the weeros, but they never figured out how to open it and they are not tame so me showing them just freaked them out. When the galah came, I put it in her cage and she figured it out straight away. She doesn't lift the lid to take a piece out, she grabs it with her foot, pulls it over and just chows down on the entire contents in about 10 seconds flat. There's no real foraging required, it's just a regular dinner dish as far as she's concerned. :D

For pellets, I use the Harrison
I haven't seen that brand here.
2. I wouldn't feed recycled possibly contaminated food
I was thinking more of the "just dropped" stuff, but it's difficult to know the difference, I suppose and now I've read the replies, I understand better that she's not doing it to aggravate my anal-retentive, finish-your-plate indoctrination but it's what they all do, it won't bother me as much.
because bacterial infections are not easy to deal with, and are very expensive to cure. (Like a years worth of food for one good crop infection!) So penny wise, and pound foolish.
Noted, thanks. Good point.

Better strategy, set up the bird area for ease of clean up!
I'm having to rethink that, initial efforts would have been fine for people, not for cookie monster.... At the moment it's a disaster area.

Thanks for the helpful advice everyone:)
 

Jayyj

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As far as hiding goes, I have quite a few toys hung up which have receptacles for foraging treats, I have holes drilled into a lot of the perches I can put seeds or pellets into and I leave a few seeds in the crooks of java branches as well. The idea was to get her used to using the full space inside her cage - in her previous home she was in a small cage with one perch - but now it's part of her morning routine. The only problem is she's rather have pellets, nuts or seeds than her fresh food, so if left to her own devices she'll ignore breakfast and wait for the foraging treats to be distributed. I get round this by keeping the breakfast bowl on my lap and holding it out to her whenever she comes close, and she'll take a few bits and pieces out of the chop mix each time.

This is the Harrisons: Product. She's been on it for nearly 5 months - I'll check with the vet next time I see him about whether to stay on the high potency or not but I think some people stick to the high potency in the long term anyway. She actually really likes this stuff which is a help.
 
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strudel

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Thanks, I'll have to try putting some up in her "bedroom". I wonder if she'll climb up there and find them during the day, or just discover them when she heads to bed. I found her standing on her ladder today, which was interesting. I didn't think she was climbing down, but obviously she's started exploring more.
 

MonicaMc

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Birds often eat 10-20% of their weight in dry food per day. If you feed a diet high in fresh foods, they could potentially eat more than that. Don't feed her more than what she'll eat within a day.

If you can get them..... mix some pistachio shells in with dry food. This will get her to forage some.

Also, look into getting maybe 6 small dishes and place these around the cage. Fill each dish with a *small* amount of food. What you might place into one dish, split that up into say 6 dishes so she has to go around her cage to get to all of her food.
 
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strudel

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If you can get them..... mix some pistachio shells in with dry food.
Thanks I can buy some pistachios, and give her the shells, but they have a lot of salt on them usually, don't they? Do I need to wash them, or is the salt ok for her? Can she have the pistachio nuts as well for treats?

I'm not sure how I could easily spread her food about. I had her hanging "treat thing" up towards the middle of her cage (it opens at one end) but I've moved it up near the door because it was too difficult to put her grass in it. I probably need to rethink her cage organisation - I've set up her food and feeding perch right in front of the door, which makes access to the rest of her cage for me a pain because I have to go under her perch - but it's the easiest for access to her bowls... Maybe I'll put it up higher. Maybe make a longer one and put it diagonally instead of across.... hmmm. So many ideas, so little knowledge :D
 

MonicaMc

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Yes, she can have pistachios as well, but they need to be unsalted.

If you feed large pieces of food, you can always make the pieces smaller and spread it between dishes.
 
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strudel

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I cut her food up, but I think I'll try chopping it up really small in the food processor. It's finding the happy medium between it not turning into a soggy mess too quickly and making it easier for her to chomp on.
 
Oct 8, 2013
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Also, look into getting maybe 6 small dishes and place these around the cage. Fill each dish with a *small* amount of food. What you might place into one dish, split that up into say 6 dishes so she has to go around her cage to get to all of her food.

I like this idea a nice easy foraging idea that will get birds to explore the entire cage to see what goodies they might find. Thanks!:)
 
Oct 8, 2013
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I like to put a large dish like a pie plate on the bottom of the cage in the center (avoid putting it under any perches) and then place a perch over or nearby. That way the birds will often sit over the dish and drop some of the bites back in the dish and then pick them up and take another bite.

I also try and make bite size pieces and feed an amount that is consumed in a few hours so there is very little left overs. I feed fresh food first thing in the morning and then I feed seed (or you can give pellets in the afternoon). If I know that I will not be around by 2 or 3 in the afternoon I just give the seeds in another dish right in the morning.

It is not fool proof but it does seem to help. This has worked for me with both parrotlets and caiques. The caiques especially will take some of their food up to a perch to enjoy, but hey, at least they get some exercise ;)
 
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strudel

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Unfortunately, I'm not really sure how much she is eating because of the amount she drops. I put her pellet container over her salad dish so she has another chance to eat all the dropped bits. Those pellets aren't cheap, girly. Eat them! :D I suspect I'm doling out way too much food, but I don't want anyone going hungry. I'll figure it out, in time. I'm just glad she's such a good eater, and likes her fresh food and pellets. The weeros I adopted seem to have been raised on seed so aren't as keen to tuck into other things I give them, but they are giving things a try now, so that's good.
 
Oct 8, 2013
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I suspect I'm doling out way too much food, but I don't want anyone going hungry. I'll figure it out, in time.

I am sure you will :)

Just give it a little time and try a slightly smaller amount each day until she is eating all of what you put it. If she is eating everything you can always give here more late in day after she has finished just in case she is still hungry. If she digs in to that then you might need to give a little bigger portion earlier in the day. If not then you will know that she is not hungry.
 

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