Converting to Harrison's

I'm finding after 5 days with Oatty he's a very seed-favoring bird. The previous owner did not send any food with him and when I asked her answer was very vague. I picked up a more "treaty" blend of stuff at the local pet store knowing there was a bunch of different things I could offer him until I figured something else out. After all, his first few days were expected to be uncomfortable and eating something was better than nothing. Little did I know he would be a champ! He's so friendly and outgoing! He's even starting to eat a few things I'm sure he's never been exposed to (peppers! Quinoa!).

I have noticed he likes very tiny things(quinoa size). He prefers the very small seeds over the larger ones. When I crumble the pellets in this mix, he will try them, but not even a chance if they are whole. I've decided to go with Harrison's...

My questions are...

Should I start him on the super fine Harrison's or is the fine pretty small?

Harrison's website says they should be on the high potency for 6 mos first...should I do that since he's been on a crappy diet? What is the reasoning behind this?

He is at the very end stages of a nice healthy molt(I think)...does that make a difference?

Thanks for your help! Everyone has been so kind!

I wanted to include these pics. The one of him kissing me was Saturday(5 days ago) and the one of him showing off was after a couple days worth baths(yesterday). He's really preening well and "fixed" the couple of feathers he was picking at on his back. Is this the end of a molt?

Aaawww... he looks absolutely adorable ! I am going though the exact same as you and here is what I was recommended and my thoughts and notes: I started about a month ago converting all my dinosaurs to harrisons and I was recommended on this forum to give only pellets during the day and then seeds in the evening. That way if he gets hungry during the day he will try the pellets and after a while he will get used to the taste and eventually be converted. The seeds in the evening is to ensure he does eat in case he doesn't try the pellets in the first coupe of days. Eventually he will try them, but that is where you need to keep an eye out for whether the pellets have been chewed or not. So crushing and superfine is probably not the best to begin with.. that is also intended for smaller birds. But this strategy has worked really well with my flock, but weirdly it's my CAG that has converted the best whereas my two senegals require a bit more convincing. I also read the recommendations on Harrisons website and got a bag of both coarse and fine as I also have a Sun- and they're supposed to have fine apparently. If you look at the ingredients list of the pellets, they vary. So what I have been trying, is to give my two senegals and sun a mix of both pellets to see if they have any preferences. It seems they all mostly like the coarse so I may go over to that completely. But I continue to give a little seed mix in the evening just to spice things up. All this of course goes with a big bowl of veg on the side. As Oatty is molting he definitely needs the high potency as he needs loads of protein to replenish the feathers. Not sure why they recommend the high potency for conversion, but maybe it's to do with them not eating much of it to begin with, so the little they eat needs to be.. well.. high potency. Not sure about that. Oh.. I also leave a little treat every morning in the bowls with whatever they prefer to lure them over to the bowls. Walnuts and banana chips are made of win.
Sorry for the long post, but hopefully it has been somewhat useful !
Note: The coarse pellets have a diameter of about 0.5-1 cm whereas the fine is ~2 mm.

Thank you for all of that great advice! I got him to eat some smashed sweet potatoes with quinoa rolled into a ball. I'm feeling very positive about his openess to new foods!

I have fed my caique whom a rescued the high potency for about a year because he was never exposed to pellets, I did mix it with the crappy seed mix his other family gave me and he actually preferred the high potency to the seeds. Now I feed him the adult lifetime super fine mix, I've found the super fine is a lot nicer because same as your bird, my caique likes small seeds and other foods. I tried the larger and he just crushes them up and ends up wasting a lot.
Good luck trying to convert your new birdie! He's gorgeous by the way!

Mis dos centavos...

I feed Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first, and later, my current avian vet recommended it. 30-ish years ago, Harrison's was still a small company. My vet was actually able to talk to Dr. Harrison about my bird's species and status, and they decided on the High Potency. He's a high-activity little rooster! My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry enough to try new stuff. I presume the same technique could be used to get him to eat other healthy stuff. My guy was eating pellets in a couple of days, and now I can feed a good variety of other stuff, knowing he has the pellets as a basic. Pellets are out all day... fresh treats a few times a day.

GaleriaGila said:

Mis dos centavos...

I feed Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first, and later, my current avian vet recommended it. 30-ish years ago, Harrison's was still a small company. My vet was actually able to talk to Dr. Harrison about my bird's species and status, and they decided on the High Potency. He's a high-activity little rooster! My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry enough to try new stuff. I presume the same technique could be used to get him to eat other healthy stuff. My guy was eating pellets in a couple of days, and now I can feed a good variety of other stuff, knowing he has the pellets as a basic. Pellets are out all day... fresh treats a few times a day.

Click to expand...

AHA.. it was probably you that gave me that advice in the first place.. and it definitely works.. so thanks for that !

I grind the pellets up and mix them in with my sweet potato mashed. Separately my TAG isn't a big fan mix em together and crumble some avi cake in there and its a whole new ball game. My TAG was given up after a year and a half also.

Thank you everyone! The advice is amazing. I really do appreciate it. It's reassuring me that I'm on the right track and truly doing right by my new boy.

Next question-

My son is having a fresh coconut for lunch today...Can he share with Oatty? I know there are toys made from the shells. Can they eat the white meaty part?

...Nikki...

Fresh coconut is a regular for a lot of parrots.

I stay away from the prepared or pre-shredded (preservatived?) stuff but fresh is great.

Yes, you want the high-potency at first, as already stated it's because it can take quite a long time to get them converted, or to even eat much if any of the pellets. So the high-potency ones ensure that if he's only eating a few pellets at a time he's still getting a large dose of protein, fiber, fat, vitamins, minerals, etc. Only when Oatty gets to the point where he is eating all of his pellets every day, in the same way he now eats his seed mix, should you take him off the high-potency. This will prevent him from losing any weight and keep his immune system in good shape, along with the rest of his body!

My Quaker, Lita Ford, absolutely loves quinoa too!!! He (yes, Lita Ford is a boy, bad DNA test from his breeder 😱) loves anything that is mashed up and warm, like oatmeal, mashed sweet potatoes, grits, etc. I have a very, very healthy suggestion for you to try!!! I just happened to see this stuff at Petco one day while I was buying millet so I thought I would try it since he loves oatmeal and quinoa. It is made by Higgins and it's called "Worldly Cuisines". Now Petco had only one variety and still does only carry one variety in the store, at least my local store, so I grabbed one pouch. They are little pouches that I just happened to eye hanging up above the shelves of bird food. My Petco hangs all the bird treats above the shelves of bird food, and that's where they hang this pouch of bird food, though it's not really a treat in the sense that it's not at all junky but rather a very healthy food, but Lita and every one of my other birds act like it's a treat!! When they see me get out a pouch of it they go crazy, especially Lita quaker!

These Higgins "Worldly Cuisines" pouches cost under $3 a pouch, like $2.39 at Petco I think, and you get a good sized bowl full of food that I split up into individual bowls for each bird, then I cover and refrigerate each bowl and they finish it the next day (if they leave any). The variety that Petco keeps in-store is called "African Sunset" and it's made up of quinoa, flaxseed, sweet potatoes, papaya, pineapple, cashews, and spices. You add water to the pouch then microwave for 3 minutes, then let it cool. Now the first time I bought this for my birds and made it, I am not ashamed to admit that it smelled amazing and I tried it...It's really, really good! I love quinoa myself and this is actually very similar to snacks I've gotten myself at Wegmans. This one smells like a fruity cinnamon oatmeal...So I looked it up online and found that they have like 12 varieties! And I now order from Drs. Foster and Smith every month. They sell a larger sized pouch of each variety as well as a very large bag of each variety. I tend to just buy an assortment of the ones Lita loves, and they cost $2.49 a pouch, but are $2.19 a pouch if you order more than 3. Way cheaper than Petco and they have all the varieties. I just love this stuff as a treat for my birds because it is so good for them but they still just love it! It's such a healthier treat than sunflower seeds, millet, etc. And while they all love it, my Quaker devours it and goes ballistic when I pull a pouch of it out of the cupboard! He usually starts dancing and yelling "I love you! I love you! My baby!", Lol...

I just thought I'd let you know about these Higgins treats since my Quaker loves them more than any other food or treat (even more than millet or sunflower seeds), and you seem to be concerned with feeding your Quaker a healthy diet, as I am. Like I said, I don't really consider these things a treat, but my birds do!!!

Here's the link to one of the varieties at Doctors Foster and Smith. I'd actually see if you can buy a pouch of it locally and if your Quaker likes it then order away. This is the link to the only variety I've ever seen for sale in any store (Petco), and it's the variety that is quinoa and sweet potato!

http://m.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+5911+32986&pcatid=32986&r=1965

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It was good to read this thread as I sit a week into my relationship with my Alex listening to him throw a full day's supply of Harrisons on to the floor of his cage! (Grrrrrrr!) I've only been giving him Harrisons for a few days and he is not a fan. I've been moistening it with warm water, but I don't think I've been restricting his access to other foods enough.

Good to read it can take longer than H's website suggests, which sounds like it should only take a couple of days. I think I'll offer him more Harrisons later today. When he realises his vegn fruit and seed mix bowl hasn't appeared as usual he might give it another go.

Keep your fingers crossed for us. A seed diet is not an option having lost an OWA due to a poor diet for her entire life before we got her. She never took to Harrisons either, but by the time we were trying to convert her we'd run out of time.

Yeah, the Rb was a very young bird when I switched him to Harrison's... that probably was a big factor in his rapid conversion. Harrison's recommends maintaining the High Potency for Patagonians, and my vet agrees, because the Rb is skinny! Patagonians are very light-bodied birds, usually, and Rb is still thin. My dog is skinny; my ol' man is skinny; my bird is skinny. I'm the only one who eats around here.
Sorry. I got carried away.

Yes, good luck! Sorry to hear about your OWA. Fingers crossed!

Jottlebot- Glad you've found this helpful! Good luck with your transition!

Here's my one month update- Oatty is a champ. He's loving the HP fine. He walked right over to the bowl and started eating. He doesn't eat as much as he should though...I'm pretty sure he just likes to grind it and most of it lands in powder form on the bottom of his dish. For this reason, I still give him a seed mix dish when he's hanging out on top his cage. I leave it there for about 15 mins twice a day. I also use sunflower seeds as a training aid. Eventually, I would like seeds to be for training fun only.

He has been a little moody lately...I'm not sure if it's the shift in nutrition, the shift in ownership, major molting, the new cage, a real sleep routine?? All things considered, he's a total sweet heart for me most of the time. Hopefully, when all things settle he'll stop nipping others....that's probably a whole 'nother thread...lol

Thanks again for all the advice!

...Nikki...

I'm proud to be on Team Oatty!