trying to master ekkie diet

[littleredhen77]

Hello everyone! ive been working hard at making sure my Ziggy bird gets the best diet he can, and ive come up with another idea i would like feedback/thoughts on.

currently he gets 50%sprouts 50% veggie chop in the morning, and in a seperate bowl he gets a piece of fresh fruit, about 1/3 the serving size of whats in his 'veggie bowl' i toss 5-8 pumpkin seeds on top as well.

for dinner he gets an 'ice cube' of squash, warmed up and mixed in with more veggies and sprouts, though a little less to compensate for the added squash. i alternate every other day or so between warmed squash, and roasted sweet potato/carrot mix. either way, he gets something warm with his dinner. around bed time he gets an almond. i rarely feed fruits at dinner time. ((is that ok?))

a few times a week i give him a treat of a millet spray, ((mostly trying to encourage foraging and clipped up so its inside a toilet paper tube he has to chew to get to the seed)) i also bought him some 'hint of salt wheat thins' the healthiest ones i could find, i split each cracker in half. i also bought unsalted rice cakes and i break off a half dollar sized piece when i feed them to him. he doesnt seem to like eating these much but he has fun making huge messes.

i guess the point here is, that pumpkin season is over here in maine, and i have only a pint sized mason jar or pumpkin seeds left. that will last me months if i feed them only to him, ((theyre very tasty though and i tend to grab a few for myself every time i feed him some )) but i have thought that maybe i should make him a chopped nut mix with several different ones to add as a garnish over his food. my options would be:

pine nuts
palm nuts
walnuts
sunflower seed
chia seed
mustard seed
seseame seed
pistachio
pumpkin seed

all of these would be broken down to smaller bits and mixed together in a jar, and id be careful to have less sunflower than the others. i would use his smallest serving spoon which i believe is a 1/4tsp.

does it seem more beneficial to give him a very small amount of these various seed/nuts each day instead of the pinch of pumpkin and the nightly almond? i feel like the variety would provide more minerals than just the 2 i give him currently. does the serving amount sound good? or too high?

hes an older bird, and the diet he was on before i got him worries me..im just hoping i can get many more years with him if i try hard to keep him as healthy as he can be! do your birds eat any of these things on a regular basis? any input is welcome and appreciated!

 

[littleredhen77]

i will add that he is a little bit on the lighter side for a male SI, i weigh him frequently now, and he seems to fluctuate between 350-370g. 370 is usually at night after hes eaten most of his dinner and i just want to check to make sure hes really full. most mornings before food hes at 350-360g. it varies daily. his keel bone can be felt a little with my thumb but it isnt visible through his feathers. i feel like maybe hes just a smaller male? im not trying to fatten him up i i just want him to maintain this weight, for any less and id be worried.

 

[chris-md]

Always good to mix it up, so yes go for it! Just make sure it's a garnish and not the main event. Look at adding more grains to the mix: rolled oats, spelt, quinoa, flaxseed, amaranth seed, etc...all of which are available in the bulk area of most health food stores like whole foods. I used just the Quaker Oats oatmeal rolled oats. I serve all these as garnishes to the fruit/veggies sprouted (except the oats and flax), raw, and cooked.

I only ever give fruits at night. But that's because I work 9-5, and feeding in the morning means messy wet fruit sits around for 13+ hours, which scares me for bacterial reasons. I'd rather have it so it's only available for a few hours at most before I clean up.

 

[littleredhen77]

Thank you Chris! I do feed cooked quinoa sometimes, he loves that! Also good point on the fruit at night thing, I too work long ish hours so I think I'll start doing it that way as well. Mostly he goes straight over to his fruit bowl after he's eaten what he funds to be the tastiest bits from the main bowl, and there isn't any fruit left after a couple minutes but that doesn't mean he's not still going over and nibbling old rinds or left over bits I guess. Better safe than sorry! Thanks again! :-D

 

[Anansi]

I'd say as long as the nuts you're giving him don't add up to more than maybe 2 a day, I think that's fine.

Personally though, I use nuts almost exclusively as training treats. They go crazy for them, and I break them into small enough pieces that 2 nuts go a long way.

I think you're doing an exceptional job with everything else! 50% sprouts? Sweet! Squash, carrots and sweet potato every day? Excellent! Vitamin A is huge for ekkies and those are all rich in it.

Are dandelions included in the veggie mix? That's another essential food.

How has Ziggy handled the transition to that amazing fresh food diet? Is he eating enthusiastically?

 

[littleredhen77]

Hello anansi! and thank you! currently he does not get dandelions as i also have two free range geese that annihilated every single one from my yard ((and i have a large yard!)) i do however include at least one leafy green into his chop. he doesnt care much for them though so i bought a food processor and i chop them to a fine almost herb like size and it sticks to everything. currently his chop has half of a large bag of kale mixed in. ive tried romaine lettuce woven into his cage bars for entertainment during the day but he seems to tug the whole thing out and drop it, once its on the floor hes done playing with it. im not sure if kale offers the same nutrients as dandelion and i will look into that.

as for the mixture not equaling more than 2 whole nuts, im basing my 'nut size measurements' on almonds, and with that being said, no i wouldnt feed him more than that. i think the size scoop i would use would equal about 1 almonds worth of content, and id give him maaaaybe 2 scoops a day.

he seems to have transitioned well, he was eating veggies before as well, but not quite as much variety while he was with his last owner. when i bought him, he sent me home with a tupperware that had what looked like the mixed veggies you get in the frozen food section. his very first owner i was told was a doctor though, and id like to think he had fed him very well since in my head, doctors=people who know about the importance of proper nutrition.

saturday is my bird food shopping day so i will be looking for as many of these 'treat garnish' ingredients as i can find and maybe making a post on the mixture as i prepare it if anyone wants to see!

 

[Anansi]

Looking forward to it!

And while kale, and leafy greens in general, are great for ekkies, none pack quite the nutritional punch of dandelions. But still good stuff!

 

[Aquila]

I get dandelion greens at the supermarket, with the other loose leafy produce. I normally shop at Giant and they always have them. My birds are pretty good about eating anything I have, and though I don't have an eclectus, I'm fascinated by their nutritional needs!

 

[littleredhen77]

I will check for dandelion greens this weekend.. my only supermarkets are Walmart and hannaford though, wish me luck! :-D Walmart had the best pomegranates last weekend I have ever seen!