BirdTricks Natural Feeding System wanted

[Minor_Arcana]

Hi there!

I just wanted to know if anyone had the BirdTricks Natural Feeding System cookbooks that they’d be willing to sell to me.

I’ve been wanting the set for a while but they’re just so expensive.

If you have the cookbooks (whether it’s for sale or not) please tell me!

Here they are: https://birdtricksstore.com/collections/top-8/products/natural-feeding-system-parrot-cookbook

Thanks!

 

[chris-md]

I love birdtricks but save your money. They feed chop, which so many of us do. Keep sugar down, but always less sugar during the winter.

That’s it.

 

[wrench13]

Whoa talk about sticker shock.... a $19.00 digital scale w/T stand for $99.00
Can you say preying on new parronts !

 

[Minor_Arcana]

Whoa talk about sticker shock.... a $19.00 digital scale w/T stand for $99.00
Can you say preying on new parronts !

I know right! You could easily just shop somewhere else and get a scale, calibration weights, and a short t-stand for 30 bucks! Talk about over charging!

 

[Minor_Arcana]

I love birdtricks but save your money. They feed chop, which so many of us do. Keep sugar down, but always less sugar during the winter.

That’s it.

I know, but it’d be nice to have all of those recipes in one place, plus a bunch of fun little recipes to make on holidays and stuff

If I buy it from them, then I’m definitely getting the digital version. The physical book set is just so expensive. I guess it has to be, though, considering it’s 180+ pages on photo quality paper, plus spiral binding it. It must take a while, and a lot of ink! I looked up how much it would cost to print at staples, and it would be about $110! Plus the $40 do get the files themselves with the digital version.

All I know is that I’m definitely going to buy it, 1. Because it will be nice having all of the recipes in one place without even doing a bunch of research to find them. 2. Because I know it’s been approved by multiple avian vets, and I know it’s good for my birb. 3. Because all of the recipes are cheap. The Jan-April chop makes A LOT. It’s supposed to feed large birds like macaws and ‘toos while I only have a little ‘tiel who will only eat 1.5 teaspoons of chop per day (with 1 teaspoon of pellets) but even with the amount of food it makes, it only costs $13 for all of the ingredients... $13 for food that’ll last you 4 months! That’s almost as good as getting cheap seed from Walmart...

It will save me a lot of money, Lexa’s diet right now is $18 for 1.25 lbs of food...

Most of the chop recipes I’ve seen have been pretty expensive, so if you know any inexpensive chop recipes please let me know! I could drop the whole cookbook idea right now!

 

[noodles123]

I love birdtricks but save your money. They feed chop, which so many of us do. Keep sugar down, but always less sugar during the winter.

That’s it.

I know, but it’d be nice to have all of those recipes in one place, plus a bunch of fun little recipes to make on holidays and stuff

If I buy it from them, then I’m definitely getting the digital version. The physical book set is just so expensive. I guess it has to be, though, considering it’s 180+ pages on photo quality paper, plus spiral binding it. It must take a while, and a lot of ink! I looked up how much it would cost to print at staples, and it would be about $110! Plus the $40 do get the files themselves with the digital version.

All I know is that I’m definitely going to buy it, 1. Because it will be nice having all of the recipes in one place without even doing a bunch of research to find them. 2. Because I know it’s been approved by multiple avian vets, and I know it’s good for my birb. 3. Because all of the recipes are cheap. The Jan-April chop makes A LOT. It’s supposed to feed large birds like macaws and ‘toos while I only have a little ‘tiel who will only eat 1.5 teaspoons of chop per day (with 1 teaspoon of pellets) but even with the amount of food it makes, it only costs $13 for all of the ingredients... $13 for food that’ll last you 4 months! That’s almost as good as getting cheap seed from Walmart...

It will save me a lot of money, Lexa’s diet right now is $18 for 1.25 lbs of food...

Most of the chop recipes I’ve seen have been pretty expensive, so if you know any inexpensive chop recipes please let me know! I could drop the whole cookbook idea right now!

I agree--I totally get why you are interested because they are highly rated/safe recipes in one spot (as opposed to finding random stuff on the internet).
I like the idea of having the set too even though it is over-priced.

 

[bill_e]

Take a look at Texas Natural Freeze Dried chop. I feed my bird a little over 1.5 dry tablespoons a day before hydration and a quart sized bag lasts me about 3 months. The only way it goes bad is if once opened, you don't close it and it gets moisture in it...I have not had that issue so far and I've been using the product for just under a year. Feeding as little as you do I'd spend a little more and get the smaller bags as they have a 25 year shelf life. There is no waste and no defrosting. I just portion it out with a measuring spoon that I keep in the baf, put a small amount of fruit juice in it to hydrate it (you can feed it dry or hydrate it with water, but Nike likes the Mango juice I use) and then, in my case, 7 seconds in the microwave to force the hydration.

Nike eating the small chop from Texas Natural Freeze Dried

 

[Pampa]

BirdTricks is crazy expensive but I do love and trust them. They are excellent at breaking things down into understandably steps. I have the electronic version of the cookbook. I wouldn’t feel right sharing the whole electronic version but I could email you the seasonal chop recipes. . I don’t think you can get the actual books anymore. Try eBay. I just bought the elite trick training manual used for $25. And it isn’t actually used.

 

[chris-md]

The thing is you don’t NEED a recipe book to make chop. Completely unnecessary.

Have you ever made chop before?

 

[noodles123]

I know, but so many of my recipes are not a hit that I wonder about alternatives---plus, mine tend to freeze poorly! I end up wasting a lot of money on fresh produce that doesn't keep well and my bird doesn't like it much even though I keep trying. It may just be that I have a very picky bird...I cook well for humans lol...

 

[chris-md]

That’s when you do the research to find out how to freeze them . you can’t add fruit to the chop until the last minute when you are serving it, you really need to blanch prior to freezing, and you need to continually remove moisture (wring it out). It’s a process most Ekkie owners go through. It’s not hard at all once you figure it out. All about reducing moisture.

If it’s not a hit, play with the size and shape of the chopped pieces. Play with toppings they like (chia seeds, flaxseed) to get their beaks into the chop. Serve it slightly warmed

Of course, it could also simply be that noodles will never take to frozen, so you have to serve fresh. Adoption to chop comes from knowing what your bird likes and doesn’t. That’s not something birdtricks can do for you.

 

[noodles123]

Shes a lovely little brat, so I wouldn't be shocked if she just didn't care for frozen (heck, she probably would prefer living in a life of luxury beyond her current status---climbing the social rungs or at least excessive socializing lol)

Do you have any recipes you love that could work? Also, do you use a food processor or chop by hand (I have tried both with limited success).

 

[chris-md]

No recipes. I know what veggies are parrot safe and what aren’t. So I randomly grab stuff, 7-10 ingredients. Some with put 20+ ingredients in the name of nutrition, but then the chop becomes the same food day in and day out for years. Any bird would ultimately get bored and quite eating it.

I do take into consideration different colors (=nutrition) and textures, as we as fiber content. I try to make something a little different every time to keep it from becoming too boring.

Here’s what I’ll be mixing today:

Broccoli
Kale
Rice mixture from a box (wild rice and brown rice mostly)
Assorted sprouts that just finished today
Colored bell peppers
Green beans
Spaghetti squash
Carrots
Mixed frozen veggie pack

I may go to the store to see if I can find frozen pomegranate seeds

I mostly use a food processor so Parker can’t pick and choose what he wants to eat and throw out. But I’ll hand chop a little today, like the broccoli, just for something different sicnce it’ll give different sized broccoli chunks. Part of the “don’t bore them with the same chop over and over again”

 

[bill_e]

I know, but so many of my recipes are not a hit that I wonder about alternatives---plus, mine tend to freeze poorly! I end up wasting a lot of money on fresh produce that doesn't keep well and my bird doesn't like it much even though I keep trying. It may just be that I have a very picky bird...I cook well for humans lol...

Exactly why you should try the freeze dried stuff...no waste from bad freezing/freezer burn.

 

[Tami2]

I really want to get them, until I saw the price. I love books and I wanted the print version not digital.

I'll check out, 'freeze dried stuff', thanks Bill_e.

I'm going to buy one, just to check it out. Also, to have as back up. But, I wouldn't feed it in place of fresh organic veggies/fruit. Just sayin ...

 

[bill_e]

I really want to get them, until I saw the price. I love books and I wanted the print version not digital.

I'll check out, 'freeze dried stuff', thanks Bill_e.

I'm going to buy one, just to check it out. Also, to have as back up. But, I wouldn't feed it in place of fresh organic veggies/fruit. Just sayin ...

Tami, when you get it if Levi gives you any trouble, let me know. Nike is super fussy and I have tried and can explain a number of ways to serve it.

Just a thought about "backup". While the shelf life is decades while still sealed, once opened it can spoil if constantly exposed to humidity. I've had a bag last me more than 3 months over our humid summer and it still smelled and appeared fresh but I'm careful to always double check that I've sealed it properly after use....which is daily. So if you buy one bag and open it, you should use it up and if you like it buy another for backup and/or consider the small, less price efficient bags.

Sources say that Freeze Dried is like 98% retention of nutrients and in my opinion that's better than the rest of the batch of fresh food one might freeze in the freezer which is constantly degrading over time because of the water content.

 

[Owlet]

I have the books and its much much more than just chop recipes. It gives some protips and information on making chop and having it last and keep its nutritional value and it has a lot of non-chop recipes that are great for a variety of reasons. You bird needs some additional calcium? There's a fun recipe for that. Your bird is picky? Recipes for that. One of their recipes that I am eager to try out is a nutriberry alternative that I am HOPING will help my transition Apollo onto healthier stuff since she's been rejecting pellets for the most part and only eating seed. I'm also excited for Valentine's day to roll around so I can have fun with this holiday recipes. Also, as a picky eater, the book for food you can make for yourself AND share with your bird really motivates me to try to eat better/more things as now I can include my birds!

Other things I forgot to mention but remembered now that I'm actually looking at the books:
- Information about liver disease and signs for it and how to avoid it
- Information about obesity in birds and what to look for and how to avoid it
- Information on sprouting
- Information on hypocalcemia
- Info on vitamin A deficiency
- Info on hypervitaminosis
- Information on best way to prepare food so your bird is getting the most nutrition possible
- Recipes designed for pellet conversion, foraging, healthy alternatives (for like potato chips), recipes you can make in your slow cooker, recipes for birds with a preference but still keep it healthy, etc etc

Sure you can google a lot of the information but it's just so nice and convenient to have it all in one place. Also the recipes just make it more fun to make food for the birds.

 

[Flboy]

Sorry to point to FB, but there are a couple of parrot groups the are exclusively natural foods! Keep in mind, fresh food can equal heightened spoilage and potential food poisoning!

 

[cneuhauser]

As a previous jazz artist... and understanding how this crazy world works. They probably don't get much from the hard copies they sell. I'd also take a bet that they may only receive 1/3rd of the revenue from the digital copies.

Just buy it from them, support the cause and education.

Regarding the comments about the "scale" actually I found the same scale on amazon for about $89.00 so they aren't making that much money of resales.

How many of their parrot videos have you watched and learned something? Does that not count for anything? Just an FYI I make a modest living, but if something like this is important to you... support the cause (again)!

 

[wrench13]

Just a FYI. Digital scales $15 and up. Weighing perch $15. Same as my vet uses.
All on Amazon. Not saying BirdTricks shouldn't charge for their videos, bu their mark up is steep. Example, Dart Board trick $24, on Amazon for $3.