Ekkie with PDD - Pellets or no? Other food choices?

shinyuankuo

New member
May 9, 2019
98
16
State College, PA
Parrots
Winston 屁撚, the Eclectus. 屁撚 (pi-nian) came from Pinion (Psalms 64, meaning flight feather, typifying God's soaring power.)
Hi guys,

I want to lend some knowledge from the experienced ekkie owners once again on a highly requested topic: pellets.

So long story short, Winston was just diagnosed with AG (PDD), and the PDD support group on Facebook has been helping me a lot. They are very knowledgeable parrot owners, but they are not all ekkie owners. I was advised to consider pellets for Winston. The reason is pellets are processed to provide complete nutrients in a more digestible form. They said ekkies with PDD should be given pellets regardless of toe-tapping, which can be caused by PDD itself anyways. Oh, and TOPs cannot be considered because it has a lot of alfalfa, which is too fibrous for PDD birds. What do you think?

I am a little hesitant since I'm already ordering Harrison Recovery formula for Winston. Winston seems to be fine on chop for now, but he had become more picky. I have to add either rice mix, oats, or pasta for him to eat his chop. They say fresh produce chopped small is ok as long as not too many fibrous veggies.

I also want to ask how digestible are sprouts and dehydrated fruit and veggies. I sprout myself and chop them small. I also had to remove TOPs from his diet because I found him more aggressive on TOPs. I just ordered a dehydrator to make his dry forage food.

Please offer your thoughts and opinions. Thank you!
 

chris-md

Well-known member
Feb 6, 2010
4,349
2,119
Maryland - USA
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Parker - male Eclectus

Aphrodite - red throated conure (RIP)
I have no experience with this, so take this with a grain of salt as it’s not a solution, but a critique of what you’ve been told.

But take with a BOULDER of salt anyone who says “do it despite health consequences”. That’s dangerous. We’ve seen birds around here self mutilate because of toe tapping and it’s causes.

Pellet debate aside, regardless of opinion, I take issue with the argument that only pellets give a balanced nutritional plan. The truth is if you are feeding diversity, you’re feeding complete. If this were true, humans would be screwed.

Opinions of pellets aside they don’t provide a particularly compelling argument.
 

noodles123

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2018
8,145
472
Parrots
Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
I have always heard no pellets for ekkies-- that's just what I have heard.
If you sprout, be certain that your hands are immaculate, as well as the jar (I would use purified water). I would also only use seeds intended for sprouting, as quality control is significantly different, and standard lentils etc (from the soup aisle) can contain higher levels of harmful bacteria, as they are intended to be cooked...It's the same reason people say not to eat raw eggs, raw corn tortillas, or uncooked flour (that last one was new to me, but it is absolutely as dangerous as eating raw eggs, if not more).
 
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HEEDLESS

Supporting Member
Nov 9, 2018
347
Media
18
171
US
Parrots
Eclectus: SI. Vosmaeri
"KISE" She was born in Jan, 2018.
"Akashi" He hatched 07/13/2021.

I don't know... but....I have been using Harrison Recovery and Harrison Fauna Flora (mixed in her foods) for the last two yeas. Harrison Recovery is not using everyday, only when needed when she is too picky. ^_^


She has been done all kink of tests with her VET for the last two years; you can name it. I have her vet did it all and all are negative.

You can have a talk with the vet and go from there.


Kise is eating her TOP's too and is not her main diet.

Her main diet/foods are from Texas Freeze Dried

https://www.texasnaturalfreezedried.com

 

SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,643
10,007
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
I don't know, but I've told that the best Ekkie people are right here on Parrot Forums! And, if I recall correctly, there is numerous Threads in the Ekkie Forums that talk extensively about Ekkie diet.

And, as my good friend stated above: Any source that states: “do it despite health consequences” should have you running the other direction and as fast as you can! The only time I have used a tiny variation of that kind of advice was when a Parrot Stops Eating for reasons other than health issues regarding the crop and/or digestive system "Feed them whatever they will Eat" as that is commonly an issue regarding behavior. When I have stated this, I add that as soon as they show any interest in eating, mix in their Healthy, Natural Diet.

With great hope, one of our Ekkie folks will be around to provide you more specific advice. In the mean time, take a long look at the Ekkie Forum.
 
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