Buying bulk? Am i feeding wrong?

[ConureLady]

My newest conure came home October first with a nutriberry bag. He has since then opened my other two conures up to a wider variety of foods, including a new favorite of everybodys, nutriberries.
I'm having a hard time keeping up with their intake and have reduce their intake down to 20 berries divided amongst 3 birds, a little under the recommended amount.
They also receive LM small parrot food mixed with other brands of foods they didnt really like and the end of my discontinued conure garden feast bag.
I always offer nutriberries ontop of the cages play gym slide out tray, so they stop dropping them inside the cage and into the droppings, which i wont dig food out of for obvious reasons.
i also offer birdie bread, fresh produce, some of my dinner, healthy seeds, nuts, etc throughout the day..
They have dry food all day inside the cage and they have fresh water of course..

I spent $65 for 6 lbs (19 days worth) of nutriberries at just below minimum amount each bird needs a day.. that means that 20 lbs online at $100 is enough for 57 days.. that means i need about $600 in nutriberries a year.. i might as well buy 6-20 lb boxes of nutriberries, bulk millet, bulk cuttle bone, and bulk bird food. i foresee my paycheck diminishing quickly.. but atleast if i buy it all now i wont have to later? step 1. buy a deep freezer for storage. -.- birds are expensive..

Does anybody know a good place where I can buy an excellent quality of dry food in bulk? It doesnt have to be cheap.

Where can I buy bulk millet, cuttle bone that is a reliable source?

I'm going to buy nutriberries through amazon.com

Can I freeze these foods? what about millet and cuttle bone?

Also, does anybody see anything that I might be doing wrong?

 

[MonicaMc]

I'm sure there is an expiration date on that food, and they'll want you using the food up prior to that date and/or within 3 months of opening the bag/container.

That's the only concern I see... having said that, I buy in bulk for my birds. I'd rather save money in the long run instead of the short run, because that food ads up!!! Especially if I'm having to constantly buy new bags! So bulk it is, for me!


Cuttlebone is actually a bone, from a cuttlefish, so in theory, it shouldn't go bad.. just keep it dry and away from anything that might chew on it unless of course you *want* something to chew on it!!!


It would honestly be better to store the food in the fridge rather than freezer to preserve freshness and keep the food healthier - since freezing can destroy nutrients. Worse case scenario, you'll have to freeze some of it, defrost it, and if it hasn't gone bad in the freezer, feed it to your birds and watch their droppings and behavior!


Most people I know don't feed Nutriberries as part of the main diet... but rather as treats. I would think it would be cheaper to have them on a pellet based diet with Nutriberries as a treat.. maybe 2-3 per day? And some may still feel as if that's a lot!



I've been buying from MySafeBirdStore, and Kathie is really great! I could probably save some money by buying stuff from various different retailors, but she has great prices, may give free shipping on certain purchases over x-amount of money (usually doesn't apply to bulk food and cages), has promos and discounts, wraps everything individually so it's like Christmas getting a package from her (sometimes she does throw in extra goodies!!! ), and she's *always* willing to work things out and talk with you!