corn flakes, toast butter n jellie

[bongodoggie]

My birds live right with me and intently watch when I'm in the kitchen. I have a yellow naped amazon female I've had 28 years, and a male scarlet and a female blue and gold macaws I've had 4 years.

I feed the birds a lot of human food, they like rice with a little butter and romano cheese sprinkled on it, they love spicy noodles, turkey sandwiches with mayo & cheese, toast and jellie, whipped cream, cucumbers, apple, strawberries, potatoes & potatoe skins, fresh roasted chicken, and scrambled eggs and jalapenos. They are only moderately interested in most vegetables, as am I, so it would be good if we all ate more vegies.

They get all this, but I can't cook for them everyday, so give them the standard sunflower seed based parrot mix with dried red peppers and peanuts. They get walnuts and hazel nuts too and the occassional pistashio.

I would like to move them off the sunflower seed mix and have tried various kibbled parrot mixes, but they don't like it and I understand why, they taste blah, I tasted them myself.

So I've also tried cereals like cornflakes, actually less expensive than the parrot foods, but alas the birds aren't real big on them either. Maybe Captain Crunch?

Now I know some of you will oppose the high fat milk products like whipped cream and cheese and butter, but really I just give them a small taste. Though birds aren't milk based mammals, they really do seem to like it and would gobble it up if I let them. I give them more of the low fat food like toast and grape jellie, which is one of their favorites.

Anyway, thats what I've been doing .... no vitamins except what they get in good food and a calcium block.

If you all got suggestions, or other foods to try, I'd like to hear it. I'm new on this forum and besides the birds have got a german shep dog, two cats, two horses, and a flock of hens, my girls come running when they see me! I live in Las Vegas.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Welcome to the forum Sounds like you have a wonderful little flock of fids :heart:

Please take a few minutes to read these two articles
The 6 Components Of A Healthy Parrot Diet
Cooked Vegetables Are Better Than NO Vegetables

Have you tried Harrison's pellets? Many "parronts" here recommend it. Most certified avian vets will carry it, some specialty pet shops, and it's easily ordered online. Most birds will love pellets once they start eating it, they can be very picky. The important thing is to never give up. It took 6 months to finally get my galah cockatoo off of seeds! And she is SO much healthier(she had been very ill from her past diet) physically and mentally. My african grey(he's 20) grew up eating Harrison's supplemented with fresh food. He is a beautiful healthy bird who's never had any major issues even after all these years. I'm confident he is set up for success when it comes to health.

I have tried harrison's before, it's much better than other pellets. Has a nutty flavor. I always have to try at least one of the pellet types I've tried to feed them LOL Zupreem is nasty.... Although your birds do not seem to like pellets, it's important you still get them to eat it. It fills any nutritional gaps. Just like kids it's important to give them the healthy foods, not just what they want to eat lol.

Don't feed white potato, only cooked yams and sweet potatoes. Squash is also fantastic, you can even feed pumpkin(just make sure to buy food grade pumpkin). You can cut yams, squash, and sweet potatoes into strips, bake them for some birdie french fries. Only use vegetable oil, no butter, salt, or sugar.

cereal is only good as a treat, keep in mind those are designed for humans. They will not meet the nutritional needs of a parrot, and long term use will do more harm than good. Captain Crunch is FULL of sugar, avoid sugary cereals at all cost. You do not want a parrot with a sweet tooth.

There's a fantastic thing called a chopmix, you can read about it here. It's easy and convenient. Buy a bunch of veggies, some grains(such a quinoa and barley), chop up the veggies(a food processed speeds this up), add the cooked bean mix, and then stick them in small freezer bags for storage. I usually make several months worth and the birdies love it.

Another GREAT product is the bird tricks cookbook, many people have some issues with this company, I as well do. but there's no denying that their cookbook is excellent! I strongly believe this is something that all parronts should have. They also have a less expensive digital version that you can printout at home.
https://www.birdtricks.com/naturalfeeding/order.php

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

Here are 2 GREAT links that you might find helpful.
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html