The Trolling Thread

[Carflier]

My African Grey is so happy now he gets cheap but over priced GMO corn as his base ingredient in his pellets. I'm glad the health of my beloved friend was no obstacle to the enrichment of greedy pet food companies (kinda like vets).... Still, waiting for Zupreem and Roudybush to get back to me on the longterm studies done with GMO corn being fed to animals longer than 90 days. Hmmm, how long do parrots live?

 

[Kiwibird]

I opt to feed my parrot cooked and sprouted grains, fresh produce, some (healthy) table food and a little seed. I do use Goldenfeast Golden'obles (which are pellets, but the best ingredients I can find) as treats/incorporate into foraging/self rewarding toys. My mom's 3 birds (all healthfully in their 40's) have eaten a produce-heavy diet with some seed and healthy table food their entire lives. A varied produce-heavy diet seems to be a huge contributing factor to a healthy, happy parrot that will live out his or her full lifespan, not a pelleted diet. That's all the "proof" I need that I want to feed my bird, fresh healthy foods as the bulk of his diet. I think that pellets can have a place in a VARIED diet, but IMO, should never be the bulk. To me, a pellet-BASED diet seems like a diet based off vitamin-enriched cereal. It just can't be healthy long term IMO. Though in comparison to an all seed diet, pellets are comparatively healthy. That doesn't mean they ARE the healthiest, and a lot more research would need to be done into them to convince me to feed them in any significant quantity to my bird!

 

[Puck]

I actually ate almost nothing but organic, vitamin rich cereal for two months as a lazy way of "clean eating". I lost thirty pounds and got bruises all over my legs that didn't hurt but made me look like I was being beaten! Nothing to do with parrots but a good example of what happens without having variety in your diet--it ain't pretty! People are not meant to eat nothing but granola, lol!

 

[labell]

A bulk pellet diet is as bad or worse than a bulk seed diet imo. Fresh variety is key. Some pellets for certain species is fine just as a little seed but I will 100% agree with April that fresh is best for our fids and us!

 

[Carflier]

We know what is good for pets and how to feed them, and on and on... The question is why don't pet food company care about the health of animals with such a simple choice as who their corn vendor is....Greed is the answer, government corn is cheap and pet owners are easy to scam. <bleep> the birds, these rich yuppies have a lifestyle to maintain.

 

[JerseyWendy]

This will NOT turn into a political debate or the thread will be deleted.

And Carflier, please mind your language, we have a very young audience here, too.

 

[Carflier]

Who's taken about democrats and republicans? Is free speach have to meet the approval of Zupreem and Roudybush dealers .... Rand Paul 2016

 

[JerseyWendy]

Who's taken about democrats and republicans? Is free speach have to meet the approval of Zupreem and Roudybush dealers .... Rand Paul 2016

Since its quite evident that you have YET to read our forum rules and guidelines, let me quote a part of them...perhaps that will help clarify some things for you.

[SIZE=+1]This site is NOT a public owned nor government site. ParrotForums.com is privately owned and operated, so freedom of speech does not apply here![/SIZE]

Thank you,

Parrot Forums Staff

Whatever your agenda may be, we will NOT tolerate any Government bashing whatsoever. You can take that elsewhere, where it's perhaps more appropriate and appreciated.

 

[Kiwibird]

We know what is good for pets and how to feed them, and on and on... The question is why don't pet food company care about the health of animals with such a simple choice as who their corn vendor is....Greed is the answer, government corn is cheap and pet owners are easy to scam. <bleep> the birds, these rich yuppies have a lifestyle to maintain.

Because I actually care about remaining a member on this forum, I debated deleting this post, but instead, I am editing it to be more friendly.

In the spirit of another great thing we have here in America called the "free market", anyone who feels a pelleted diet is best for their bird AND is looking for a non-GMO corn-free pellet you don't have to call and complain en-mass about to the company, Goldenfeast Goldn'Obles is a great product many parrots enjoy- http://goldenfeastdirect.com/best-sellers/goldnobles-i/ I'm sure there are other brands out there without GMO corn (or corn at all) as well. Buy from them instead. It's not as if a GMO-free (and corn-free) pellet doesn't exist, but maybe the OP had some difficulty finding a brand that more suited his/her beliefs. Now I'm offering a brand suggestion instead of some pointers of getting the word out about a controversial issue you feel passionately about from my many years of experience being involved in activism on many "controversial" issues. I suppose it still holds true that there is no better way to learn than by your own mistakes.

 

[Carflier]

Kiwibird, throwing the conspiracy card is pretty lame. Greed is prevalent problem with Americans and not a myth. Being complacent to subordination is not going to help any one. In fact. You know Kiwibird, people can actually create change with the voting power or the dollar. If all the bird owners called those two companies tomorrow and demanded non-GMO for their overpriced corn meal they would switch right away........ So yea Kiwibird lets try to keep the topic on track, the topic is about " cheap" chemically laden GMO corn as the base for pretty pricey pellets, and not how great Kiwibird is in the kitchen and all the wonderful pet diets out there in the whole world...

 

[Puck]

Hi Carflier, and welcome to the forum! It's a pretty friendly place around here so I am sure you will enjoy your stay! As to the thread, I think it's less any political thing and more that there are many people who don't mind GMO foods and we have to respect that they are free to buy what they wish--not every bird owner in the world has a problem with genetically modified food, so the idea of a mass protest that prompts change is highly unlikely. That's all I'm going to say on the topic because I have no problem with pellets AND think feeding as much fresh veggies as possible is awesome, so I don't really have an opinion on this subject. Not taking a side either way, and not saying anymore, just wanted to point out not all people hate GMO foods, so there is a market for them and companies are free to sell to those people.

 

[Kiwibird]

I'm a realist, and you're not going to get "all the bird owners" to call bird food companies to remove GMO corn because NOT ALL BIRD OWNERS SEE A PROBLEM WITH GMO'S. Your like the Gary Yourofsky of bird food, offending more people than enlightening. Best of luck though changing any minds or helping any birds be on better diets with your rudeness and horribly negative attitude. As the old saying goes, you catch more bees with sugar than you do vinegar.

 

[Bandespresso]

My CAG loves her roudybrush and Zupreem natural and, while I would prefer she opted for something more organic, my pocketbook doesn't mind her pellet choices one bit.

If you are concerned about your bird's health, might I suggest looking into TOPs pellets? TOPs has some great ingredients! Or feel free to not feed pellets as, when given a balanced fresh-produce/grain/seed diet with some nuts, pellets are completely unnecessary. There are so many different ways to provide a great diet for your parrot!

 

[RavensGryf]

This thread is being watched.... Thank you to those who are keeping it civil. Hearing a variety of opinions keeps things interesting, and that's what the forum is for... but to sign up and start insulting regular members is not the thing to do here. Please don't.

 

[Carflier]

Kiwibird, well I'm looking on the positive side and think people can create change, throwing the conspecy card is negative...Thanks Band and Puck, don't use pellets much so it's not my issue with my bird either but Its all the birds collectively as a whole thats the issue.... The independent longterm studies are out and obviously they were horrible... Again if you don't know, there were no longterm studies done, 90 days was it. 90 days. Say that real slow, niinneettyy daaayyysss....

 

[Carflier]

This thread is being watched....

Already? Can you track them? Who is watching
Monsanto's? Zupreem? Facebook? NSA? Local police department? All our apps?

 

[Kiwibird]

Kiwibird, well I'm looking on the positive side and think people can create change, throwing the conspecy card is negative.

I have been "voicing" my concerns over GMO's (among other things) for a long time. In my experience, people do not react favorably to the idea they warrant more research and generally feel they are safe to consume (but what to do about it is a whole other subject for a different forum).

I think GMO's are one of those "topics" our mods would probably 'frown upon' there being a full on debate about on this forum (as much as I would LOVE to be able to openly post about the topic on here). There are definitely forums where sharing information, studies and the graphic videos related to GMO research is appropriate, but our mods run a tight ship here on this forum when it comes to controversial topics. Kind of *hinting* at the fact many people on this forum do enjoy seeing are recipes and reading about how others feed their birds, so some chops or "base" foods involving healthy, organic ingredients, a review of a non-gmo brand, how a healthy diet has positively impacted your bird and/or tips to entice a bird to eat those healthier foods (without getting into the GMO controversy) may inspire another person to try feeding their bird the same way and you've achieved the same result without violating forum rules. Basically (on this forum) focus on promoting the merits of a healthier diet rather than starting a debate that will get shut down.

 

[RavensGryf]

This thread is being watched....

Already? Can you track them? Who is watching
Monsanto's? Zupreem? Facebook? NSA? Local police department? All our apps?

...and then some!! You'll find this is a closely "watched" forum... Interpret that as you will

We have such a large and diverse audience here, you can only imagine what kind of environment this forum would become if any sort of threads or postings ran all over the place unchecked, containing attitudes or language that might not be appropriate for all. We also have members of ALL ages including children and minors remember. It's really a nice place here, and I think the regular members appreciate that. I know I do. Surely you understand?

 

[Kiwibird]

[
We have such a large and diverse audience here, you can only imagine what kind of environment this forum would become if any sort of threads or postings ran all over the place unchecked, containing attitudes or language that might not be appropriate for all. We also have members of ALL ages including children and minors remember. It's really a nice place here, and I think the regular members appreciate that. I know I do. Surely you understand?

I know I do my best to dance around certain subjects or to plain not comment on some threads/posts in the spirit of a friendly, all ages forum:54:. Though it can be difficult not to debate when certain topics come up:20:

This really is a unique forum in the fact there is NO section where people can openly discuss controversial topics. I still like all the cute birdies and sharing bird information I'm on a few other forums where heated debates are allowed and encouraged, though they are the kind of forums I doubt younger kids or people not passionate about the topic would ever join.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Nobody on the forums discourages a friendly and respectful debate. As a matter of fact we put a sticky in place just to explain what can happen if a controversial subject is brought up, just as there is a sticky explaining that politics and religion are subjects not to be discussed on here.

http://www.parrotforums.com/new-members-welcome/46804-safety-guidelines.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/off-topic/38119-no-religion-no-politics.html

When a brand new member signs up, decides to forgo an introduction (which, of course, is entirely optional and up to each individual), and instead starts off a thread with: Parrots love cheap Government subsidized GMO corn, alarm bells go off. When the same (brand new) member then blatantly disregards and/or ignores the forum rules and guidelines that were sent to him/her, even more alarm bells go off, not to mention the ‘tone’ in which he/she chooses to communicate.

I personally love learning new things on these forums, and I do so on a daily basis. By all means, discuss GMOs, share pictures, studies, videos, just please be sure to let everyone know ahead of time if you post something that could be sensitive to younger viewers. We could also always move this thread into the OFF TOPIC section, where certain adult content is allowed.

And to the OP: You seem to seriously lack effective communication skills. It’s all in the tone!