Conure Diet

Hey there guys i was wondering does anyone recommend Kaytee Gourmet Variety Diet for conures.The pic on the package shows a cockiel only.I just want to find the best seed diet for my green cheek conure.Also I have ordered Harrisons high potency fine pellets for my little one but I also use supplemented vitamins in the purified water I give omto him/her so should I keep giving the vitamins or stop when i start feeding them.I heard something about supplement vitamins are not so good for birds.

Personally anything Kaytee I avoid as they're pellets that I've seen are never "suitable for human consumption" and because of that they use dyes in their pellets that are not food grade. That sounds picky but by not having that label a company has free rein to do what they like at the detriment of our pets health. The brand you mentioned appears at a glance to have coloured pellets, so I don't think you should get this seed mix. The dyes are taxing on birds liver's like alcohol is on human livers, but our birds have a much fast metabolism than we do so problems can happen much sooner.

Harrisons, although expensive are generally the most recommended pellet for birds because they have once of the best balances of vitamins and nutrients among complete bird food. Personally unless recommended by a vet to treat something you shouldn't be feeding your bird supplements regularly alongside pellets. Pellets along with a variety of real veg should be supply your bird with all his food needs with the occasional seed thrown in there for treats.

Harrison's has a great reputation, and with me, a great track record. I order the High Potency, regularly shipped, and it has kept my 30-year-old Patagonian healthy and happy for decades. I also feed fresh veggies, fruits, grains, seeds, but... the Harrison's makes up 50% or so of his diet.

Thanks guys .I would immediately stop the Kaytee as soon as i get my shipment of Harrison food monday.Mean while I guess i could take that kaytee trash and throw it in the garbage.I have notice my birds poop be a lil red maybe its the things he is been eatting with all these red green and all type of color dye food.If i had knew this earlier they wouldnt have gotten my hard earned money and i would crease the vitamin treatment.
Ask for fruits my conure likes to eat strawberries but can never eat banana even if his other source of foods are taken from him.

You GO, Kornel! I'm new here, too, and even after 30 years, *I'M* learning!

I tried getting my conures on Roudybush....failed miserably as they just would not eat it...

Then went to a seed mix with Red Palm Oil over it....worked ok, but was not happy with a seed diet...

Then started Harrisons, but it was just too expensive for me to afford on a consistent basis...

Ultimately, I found an acceptable medium with Zupreem Fruit Blend...i am not happy about the colors but it is a heck of lot better than a seed diet....

And Kaytee Brand is ok for seeds once in a while...but i do not like their pellets...has a weird chemical smell to them...

I feed baby food pouches on the side as treats...like carrot, mango, and sweet potato baby food. They go crazy for it and it is cheap and easy to use. Like $1 a pouch and it last me 2 weeks per pouch....

Yeah, with just one bird, Harrison expense is no problem.
Baby food pouches! May try that!

Lol i have other birds that are pairs mostly alot of parrotkeets males and females with some cockatiels just really want to take myself to the next level and be more serious at parrot keeping as i am with aquariums.Harrisons however never arrived through USPS so i had to file a claim and I decided to reorder it from the same distributor.

Wow... I have ordered Harrison's by schedule and they have not made one mistake in 25 years. And the "use by" dates are always wayyyyyyyyyy far away! Love those guys!

Harrisons for sure is the best! You can get it on amazon for super great prices (I get the 3 and 5 lbs bags for all my birds and it's like $32 and free shipping for 5lbs!). I figure it's worth the healthy benefits (aka less vet visits) in the long run

Definitely you won't want to use additional vitamins in the water, especially if you feed Harrisons it has everything in there already. A good supplement to use is Aviculture Probiotics for general wellness. I swear by it and there's a lot of good info online. It also provides immune support. My GCC is a mutation gene and therefore potentially weaker immune system and I give her a tiny bit of this every day (there are no indications daily serving is harmful). It's also good for sick birds and rescues. I sprinkle just a tiny bit on my birds' fresh foods instead of in the water because that makes bacteria grow quicker in the water.

I agree with others on kaytee...junk food. The colored feces you saw was from the colored foods which is normal (when my birds eat fruits especially cherry pieces you can always tell). But artificial dyes in foods and treats are not good for them just like they're not good for us.

SilverLining said:

I tried getting my conures on Roudybush....failed miserably as they just would not eat it...

Then went to a seed mix with Red Palm Oil over it....worked ok, but was not happy with a seed diet...

Then started Harrisons, but it was just too expensive for me to afford on a consistent basis...

Ultimately, I found an acceptable medium with Zupreem Fruit Blend...i am not happy about the colors but it is a heck of lot better than a seed diet....

And Kaytee Brand is ok for seeds once in a while...but i do not like their pellets...has a weird chemical smell to them...

I feed baby food pouches on the side as treats...like carrot, mango, and sweet potato baby food. They go crazy for it and it is cheap and easy to use. Like $1 a pouch and it last me 2 weeks per pouch....

Click to expand...

I am sorry to pick on this but have a real aversion to birds being fed baby food on a regular basis. Human baby food is targeted at human babies not parrots. Are you saying that you have an opened pouch available for TWO weeks? Would you have a half tin/pouch of soup or similar opened and still being consumed by yourself during such a period? I implore you to look at this as feel it isnt the best for your bird. Chop can be made fresh and frozen and probably overall more cheaply and more importantly is better for your bird. We have loads of info on here for ideas.

Just an idea re the Harrisons pellets being expensive for you - if you crush the specified daily requirement for your bird into the home made chop hopefully this would lessen the waste which adds to cost. I personally use a mix of TOPs and Harrisons - TOPS first as Harrisons wasnt accepted initially. I see Goldn'obles mentioned here a lot, would they fit the bill?

If any bird is not fed correctly in the long run you can expect frequent and expensive AV visits.

My conure gets Roudybush pellets, along with ABBA 1300 no sunflower seed mix and ABBA soak seed sprouted, as well as chop and fresh fruit. He eats pretty well and I'm lucky that he's not too picky, though he's being a little spoiled right now since he lost his mate.

No supplements given, though I've upped the fat and protein of his food for a little while since his appetite was down.

I've also used the organic baby food things (but really they need to be used within a day or two max) as carriers for some calcium powder for my greys or introducing new food, but I make sure it's no sugar added, and nothing else extra.