Changing or converting pellets?

bill_e

Supporting Member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Dec 24, 2015
1,225
414
New Hampshire
Parrots
Nike a Hawk Head Parrot (Deroptyus accipitrinus)
This may be helpful to you.

I got Nike in Dec 2015 and she was on a total seed diet. I immediately switched her to Zupreem Fruit pellets and the conversion was pretty easy.

Back in November 2017, before the current Zupreem concern, I decided to convert her to Harrison's. This again was relatively painless and her weight has been consistent through all the conversion processes.

I put Nike on Harrison's High Potency Coarse, 100% switch just like I did with the Zupreem, and the first day she was slow to take it. A month earlier I had also purchased a bag of Harrison's Power Treats which she loved almost as much as her beloved cashew. The power treats look the same, a little darker and a lot harder so I started mixing s couple in with the regular pellets. She would go to the Power treats first but that seemed to get her eating instinct going and would continue on with the coarse pellets.

The difference in how Nike looks plumage wise is like night and day from before. Thinking that the Power treats which contain red palm oil contributed to her health lead me to order some red palm oil.

The second suggestion to help with the changeover is to try adding some red palm oil to the pellets. What I do is take a half teaspoon of the waxy red palm oil and put it into a little bowl, microwave it for 20 seconds to start it melting then sit the bowl in some hot water to finish it up and get it to an oil state. Still cold here so maybe when it gets warm I wont have to do that.

With the oil in the bowl, I drop in a handful of the Harrison's coarse pellets and just move them around with a spoon until they're reasonably coated. They will turn darker as the oil coats them. You'll have to experiment with how much oil to use with your handful of pellets...I think less is better and not much is needed and I don't think you want it dripping off the pellets, just enough to enhance the taste of the pellets.

Since a handful is a few days worth of food for Nike I put them in a zip lick bag in the frig until I feed them. When I feed I mix them with uncoated pellets about 50/50.

These coated pellets are much more readily taken by Nike and may help your bird in the conversion...and again, I cant say enough about the visual difference in her since I went to Harrison's and Red Palm Oil.

This is what I got for Red Palm Oil, it is a lot of oil but buying just one wasn't really any cheaper so I bought the 2 pack on Amazon. Not sure of the shelf life, I have the unopened one in my dark, cool basement.

Red Palm Oil
 

GaleriaGila

Well-known member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
May 14, 2016
15,038
8,732
Cleveland area
Parrots
The Rickeybird, 38-year-old Patagonian Conure
I, too, love Harrison's.
The Rb has eaten them for over 30 years, supplemented with healthy table scraps... well, not scraps... portions! I like to order the pellets from Harrison's directly so that I never have to worry about freshness or expiration dates. Here's their website for any who'd like it.

Harrison's Bird Foods
 

Caitnah

Active member
Mar 24, 2018
267
65
Upstate New York
Parrots
GCC Pineapple
Thanks Bill for the write-up. My Conure loves his Harrison's pellets. I had read before about the benefits of Palm Oil. Unfortunately I forgot about it but will now order from Amazon.
That's a very good price. Have seen it for about $18 for 1 jar.

Will try your "recipe".
 

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