Is alot of Variety good??

locito277 · Aug 19, 2014

Hey guys I feed my birds a wide variety of stuff. I have gone more towards Harrisons Pellets (Super potency, Lifetime and now Pepper)and just ordered feed your flock to add to my Zupreem veg, Nut and fruit variety. I am beginning to feed Kale daily in the morning when I leave to work and occasionally purchase kaytee macaw foraging food. In addition to this are blue,black and strawberries, Bananas, Apples and a occasional orange. I also feed a Legume mix as well which I leave soaking overnight. I recently bought sprouting seed mix and Roudybush soak and feed mixes. Should I stick to one pellet or is the variety good? I would not want to overdo the mixing of foods if I should just stick to the Harrison's. Whats your take and what pellets do you prefer? Thanks

locito277 · Aug 19, 2014

Also is there anything else you can suggest to feed them?

RavensGryf · Aug 20, 2014

As far as pellets go, the variety is fine as it might add some interest in terms of texture, shape, taste. That being said, I think Harrision's is superior quality nutrition. I have proof of this by seeing perfect bloodwork results over many, many years in a bird who eats little else.

The fruits are more like 'healthy treats'. Try more vegetables. They tend to like sweet things like yams, carrots, butternut squash, peas, red bell pepper, corn. You said they like kale, and that's a great one.

Certainly nothing wrong with spoiling them with variety, but don't stress about it not being enough. You already have a whole lot there! Many pet birds actually have much more variety in their diet than their wild relatives. Some species really don't have a super wide range of natural food items in the wild, yet it's sufficient.

MikeyTN · Aug 20, 2014

There's so many things you can add to their daily diet such as broccoli, romaine lettuce, cucumber, zucchini, green beans, celery, carrots, bell pepper, etc. We feed a variety on a daily basis. A lot of people get things are go in season during that period.

locito277 · Aug 20, 2014

I add various nuts in shell as well. Thanks guys. I figure the more stuff the better. LOL My B &G is named Lola as well.

MikeyTN · Aug 21, 2014

Lola is a lovely name!!!! She took to her name right away.

locito277 · Aug 21, 2014

Have you guys heard anything about feed your flock pellets?

RavensGryf · Aug 22, 2014

Never heard of 'Feed Your Flock' but I just googled it! Looks like a Bird Tricks product...

JerseyWendy · Aug 22, 2014

All my babies get a wide variety of foods. Let me see if I can dig up some of the recipes I feed them.

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/22594-cook-portion-freeze-my-recipe.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/28298-my-birdie-bread-macs-love-these.html

This is what my fids get on a daily basis
It's the MSBS parrot mix, and I also add several Goldenfeast mixes and additional pellets (TOPS & Zupreem Natural)

These nuts are for my Macs

My homecooked stuff

And fresh fruits and veggies

Choy, Sugar Snap Peas, Red Peppers, Jalapenos, Carrot, Zucchini, Broccoli, Celery, Plum & Peach.

Please don't ask me the nutritional values, as I have absolutely NO clue. :32:

Ripley had a hard time just “watching”.

Featheredsamurai · Aug 22, 2014

Feed your flock is the same thing as Totally Organic Pellets, just more expensive because your buying it through bird tricks. I love TOPS, great food

locito277 · Aug 23, 2014

Good to know. Ill just buy TOPS directly from the source. All that food makes me hungry

RainbowRose · Aug 23, 2014

Variety is always best! That's what my vet even says. You just need to balance the portions. Most of the good should be pellets. Then a little bit of seed or mixed seeds. I throw in a vegetable and/or fruit once a day. I experiment and see what my bird likes (he seems to love oranges and carrots, not so much broccoli and apples). Chicken can be fed too, my bird will nibble at it. Just plain chicken though, no spices or anything. Variety keeps the body healthy and well balanced! You seem to give a lot of options so that's great! Just make sure majority is pellets.

RavensGryf · Aug 23, 2014

RainbowRose said:
Variety is always best! That's what my vet even says. You just need to balance the portions. Most of the good should be pellets. Then a little bit of seed or mixed seeds. I throw in a vegetable and/or fruit once a day. I experiment and see what my bird likes (he seems to love oranges and carrots, not so much broccoli and apples). Chicken can be fed too, my bird will nibble at it. Just plain chicken though, no spices or anything. Variety keeps the body healthy and well balanced! You seem to give a lot of options so that's great! Just make sure majority is pellets.

I *personally* happen to agree with the pellet statement (as long as high quality such as Harrison's), veggies and some seed, and limit fruit to treats, but that's my opinion. I don't agree with saying that it "should be" the same for all birds. Different people have different views on that. Some might swear pellets and fruit and veggies is best, others might swear less fruit mostly veggies and a good seed mix with no pellets is best. Still others swear by the phytonutrients from sprouted fresh food, etc., etc.

Also, some parrots such as Eclectus have specialized needs and it is widely believed they are best without any pellets or extremely minimal. Some species like Pionus need to watch that protein content isn't consistently too high. Macaws need nuts, while some other species would get overweight with as many nuts as Macaws should have.

What I think is safe to say all educated bird owners do agree on though, is that they shouldn't live off of sunflower seeds and peanuts alone!

hNicholeh · Aug 23, 2014

What kind of nuts should you give them?? And where would be the best place to buy them? For a macaw

RavensGryf · Aug 23, 2014

Hopefully some Mac owners will chime in on the nuts

. I'm not sure if specific ones are preferred or better than others? Leave them in the shell... They do have a nutcracker attached to their face after all

hNicholeh · Aug 23, 2014

Haha yes the best of the best nut crackers

Im not sure which nuts my mac will like as I've only given him peanuts and Im wanting to expand his variety also. When he gets a good variety it changes his mood i think. He becomes more happier

just wanted some opinions on what kinds the macs seem to prefer and such

JerseyWendy · Aug 23, 2014

We get our nuts (in the shell) at a local farmer's market.

You can also purchase them online. Goldenfeast makes a fantastic (and expensive) nut blend:
GFEPSN Goldenfeast Patagonia Spice & Nut In Shell Bulk Lb - GOLDENFEAST BIRD FOOD

Or you can purchase from an online nut store such as this one:
raw / nuts — Nuts.com

Blancaej · Aug 23, 2014

Great suggestions here! I find the best place is nuts.com to get unshelled nuts as I can not find them locally here except during the holidays.

Definitely, variety is good!

hNicholeh · Aug 23, 2014

Okay how many pounds of it should i get for one macaw? And how many pounds will last a month?

Blancaej · Aug 23, 2014

I buy the 25 lb box of mixed nuts. It last 3 or 4 months (I think) for my 3 large birds.

Is alot of Variety good??

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