what is the VERY BEST pellet? or pellet & seed mix?

[Skittys_Daddy]

My green cheek was on a seed diet and she had a vitamin deficiency which was causing her normally green feathers to turn white and yellow. I switched to Harrison's High Potency Fine and she molted all her old feathers out and grew in shiny bright green feathers in only a week of feeding her them.

I think that Harrison's pellets are great so I am trying to convert my other birds onto them.

I have a 'similar' story. My cockatiel, Peaches, who will be 19 in March suffered from a deficiency too. I used to feed her a balance of seeds, commercial pellets and fresh fruit/veggies and she kept getting respiratory infections. The vet told me she was malnourished with a Vitamin A deficiency. She was 9 at the time and I didn't believe him. I thought her diet was quite varied and he was just trying to push a product on me. I told him I'd stick to her current diet and put her on anti-biotics. He gave me a sample of the new food, but I didn't give it to her. A few days later, she showed no improvement.

I called the vet and he told me to try the new diet so I did. Within a few days she was back to normal and hasn't had another infection since.

I continue to swear by Harrisons. I'm convinced Peaches wouldn't be alive today had I not switched her over.

I was lucky, Peaches was 9 when I did the conversion and she took right too it. Skittles did too when I first got him.

For those who are concerned about conversion, Harrisons offers some very helpful tips on their website - Harrison's Bird Foods

Also, using 'power treats' to start the conversion can be VERY helpful for stubborn eaters. If you take your bird to an avian vet, they will most likely have 'samples' of Harrisons so you can try it out before spending money on a whole bag.

In the nearly 10 years I've been a customer of Harrisons, when I call to order, I've spoken to only 3 different people - 2 of them most often. They are a rather small company so they are very committed to customer service and high quality products. <---"Hey, Daddy! We want some Harrisons'!"

 

[MissBMonkey]

I use these organic pellets. Ducky loves them. BirdTricks.com Products

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Harrisons is nutritionally complete. Even on every package it gives a detailed list of the ingredients and explains how to use it what the ingredients do.

 

[JadeC]

Harrison's is nutritionally compete but should not be fed as the sole diet of a parrot of any size.

 

[Maria_Metropolis]

I like Goldenfeast goldn'obbles. My bird loves them, and I hear many parrots readily accept them.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Harrison's is nutritionally compete but should not be fed as the sole diet of a parrot of any size.

I respectfully disagree. My cockatiel Peaches is almost 19 and in perfect health and all I feed her is the Harrisons.

My sun conure, Skittles, is on the Harrisons as well. I do feed him power treats and fresh organic fruits and veggies as treats, but his health is ideal as well.

But everyone has their own opinion. I respect that.

 

[kiwiS]

The power treats sound good, and I'll keep an eye out regarding the Nutriberries. I really treat those as a rare treat though, and so when I put them in her foraging toys I make it very difficult to get to. She really has to work hard to get even nibble, if she can find it at all ^.^ The thought behind it is that it 1.) keeps her motivated and occupied 2.) burns off the calories she gains when she finally gets to it ^.^

 

[jenphilly]

I find it interesting that any pellet can be considered 'complete' in any aspect... where do all the wild birds find their 'complete' pellets... in reality, pellets are a convenience feed that we as humans look to for feeding our birds. If my vet handed me any package of pellets and told me that was all I needed to feed my bird to keep them happy and healthy, I'd be looking for another vet...

Maybe we do go over the top with feeding our birds, half my freezer has birdie bread, quinoa mixes, beet mix, mash, etc. We do feed TOPs and not sure why no one can find more nutritional info, but totallyorganics.com has quite a bit of info on their page about nutrition and ingredients. While B12 is naturally found in fish and eggs, typically and those are not ingredients in TOPs, however, I would not expect someone to just put TOPs in their birds bowl and call it a day. When you add in fruits, nuts, seeds and all the goodies most of us cook / bake for our birds, those diets are very complete.

I am a bit of a natural food fan, I beyond love my nutribullet blender and we have shakes / blends just about every day. Eating the real food, not something with supplements added is healthier for us and the same is true for our feathered family members. Have you really read all the additives / supplements to Harrisons? I know its a great pellet, but in my opinion I'll stick with TOPs and make scrambled eggs for the kids once in a while to make sure they get their B12 and side note, TOPs does have Vitamin D, check out the ingredients, while they may not tell you its has Vitamin D, but the foods have Vitamin D... I have MS, I am painfully aware of what has D3 and B12, both MS related nutritional concerns.

Our cockatoo won't readily eat any pellet, we have tried just about all of them, still have opened bags of different tries. What I found works best is a mix of Goldenfeast blends with nuts and I put TOPs pellets thru the grinder and dust the mix with that, its about the only way to get any type of pellet into her body! She also gets fresh foods daily along with birdie breads, mashes and usually a bite of whatever we have for dinner that peaks her interest.

Just my two cents thrown in... not that its worth much, probably not even the two cents

Happy feedings!!

Jen

 

[JadeC]

I totally agree with jenphilly. Pellets are just a convenience food we feed our birds. If you wanna throw Harrison's in a bird's bowl and say they're getting a complete diet, that's you. I'm more into the natural foods and diets. In reality, each parrot lives in different areas of the world, so if you really want your bird to have a complete diet, you would have to look up where they're from and see what they eat naturally and feed that. I wouldn't eat just a multi vitamin and Cali my diet 'complete'. Harrison's is a good brand but I wouldn't feed it alone. That's boring and lazy.

Anyway, everybody has different opinions, so it's up to you to do research and do what you think is right for your bird, but like jenphilly said, most vets do NOT recommend feeding solely a pellet diet.

 

[kiwiS]

I agree with you there - it also keeps life interesting..who wants to eat the same thing day in and day out. Since the humans get variety in food, then the fuzzies should have that option too. It's the right thing to do!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Well, I'm not boring and lazy.

I don't see why people can't have a respectful disagreement without namecalling.

 

[JerseyWendy]

I have to admit that I hate Birdtricks.com lol. That doesn't mean that their pellets are bad, but the link doesn't say enough to let us know whether they're good. It doesn't say whether they're nutritionally complete and doesn't tell us anything whatsoever about the ingredients beyond saying they're organic, which is not a good sign. It looks like TOPS pellets with a different label. TOPS is a good brand but it is NOT nutritionally complete. I dislike the way the site bashes seeds and nuts (apparently in any quantity whatsoever) and the claim that seeds and nuts make birds bite 31% more is just plain weird.

It IS the same as TOPS under a different label, and with a heftier price, too.

PS. I moved this thread to a more appropriate location.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I give my birds fresh fruit and vegetables, and sometimes eggs and pasta. I buy organic fruits & veggies merely so I don't have to deal with pesticides.

Harrisons isnt the only thing I feed my birds - its just the thing I fee them the most of. Skittles & Peaches love their food. Maybe I'm just lucky in that aspect. But to me, spending more money for a more natural diet is worth it for me given the results I've gotten from it.

EDIT: @tielfan - I use the same approach. Skittles LOVES grapes and orange juice. He gets them regularly. He also loves spicy sweet potatoes and pasta. He gets those regularly too. The thing about those processed foods - anything in moderation is okay, pretty much. It's just I wouldn't live off of canned and boxed foods, but I wouldn't eliminate them either.

I have just seen so many people in my real life feed their birds nothing but the boxed and bagged seeds you get at places like Walmart. I don't think it's any coincidence that most of their birds don't even live to be half their life expectancy. So, I'll admit I am against sole seed or mainly seed diets, but it's based on my own personal experiences with my birds and what I've witnessed of others. Other peoples approach may be different based on their own experiences. I am mindful of that.

 

[Maria_Metropolis]

Let's not forget that 150 years ago everyone ate organic food and used herbal medicine, and life expectancy then was approximately half of what it is now. Human survival and reproduction is so good now that overpopulation is a serious issue, and for the first time in human history obesity is a bigger problem than malnutrition. This is all because of modern medicine and food production techniques, not in spite of them.

I wouldn't say food production techniques are so great. They're actually more about quantity than quality, but modern medicine, in the form of antibiotics especially, did help to increase life expectancy. Our food is full of crap these days.

In any case, I use goldn'obbles by Goldenfeast, as they're all natural, and no synthetic anything. My tiels also gets fresh veggies, spirulina, sprouted grains, paprika, and some other Goldenfeast blends. He doesn't like fruit very much, but I'm still trying.

I may not be doing everything right, but I try. I think pellets have their place. They're also especially convenient if you have to board you parrot.

I also think that feeding a 100% pellet diet kind of takes the fun out of it for the bird, as tiels and other parrots enjoy foraging for food, and pellets are rather a boring shape. I like to stick greens through his cage bars, and twigs of thyme, as well, as the occasional spray millet I make him forage for. He really enjoys picking at those things, and they're healthy too.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Maria, I completely agree with you.

I'm one of those 'conscious' shoppers. You cannot weed out all additives/preservatives etc from all food. You might as well not eat, lol

But there are many dangerous additives that have been proven to be unhealthy and science has shown they can cause a number of things. For example, there are foods that have been linked to causing cancer - saccharin, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate.

Partially hydrogenated oils are high in trans fat which has been linked to increased bad cholesterol, decreased good cholesterol, and increased trigylcerides.

What I do, is try to balance them out with healthier foods. For example, I love pepperoni pizza - but it has sodium nitrite in it. So I drink a lot of green tea and eat a lot of broccoli and blueberries. Which are all high in anti-oxidants which help prevent cancer. IMO, they cancel each other out.

I agree that life expectancy is much higher than it used to be, but I think a lot of that is due more to scientific advances and modern technology than it is due to diet. Even things like malnutrition. We know a lot more about our food than we used too.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

@tielfan

True, there are many alternatives out there. My vet & Harrisons have not told me to only feed my birds those pellets. They just told me what I should and shouldn't feed in addition. For example, no chips, nothing high in salt/sugar etc.

They did tell me I could give them popcorn if it was from a homepopper (not from a bag). They did tell me a list of fruits and veggies that are beneficial.

I'm not gonna lie, on the RARE occasion I do give Skittles a bit of pizza crust, but it's not a 'regular' thing. I occasionally eat a chocolate bar, but it's not a regular thing. I'm sure you get the idea.

If I had to live on the same food each and every day I'd get so sick of it. Variety is the spice of life - it's what that variety is that matters.

 

[Maria_Metropolis]

Yes, there are a lot of dangerous things in the American diet. The strange thing is that many of these ingredients are banned and illegal to use in Europe and other countries, but they're used widely here, like trans fat.

Long ago, people used to die young of infections, and these days, we die of diseases that are often linked to diet, like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

Anyways getting too off topic now.

 

[Maria_Metropolis]

@tielfan

True, there are many alternatives out there. My vet & Harrisons have not told me to only feed my birds those pellets. They just told me what I should and shouldn't feed in addition. For example, no chips, nothing high in salt/sugar etc.

I sometimes wonder if vets push pellets so much because many owners just give their parrots all kinds of junk food, seed only, and/or dangerous foods like chocolate. I mean they're not all conscientious like many of the people on this forum. It's just safer since they're used to seeing diet related deaths a bit I would imagine. I know the pellet companies would love nothing more than if you fed your parrot an all pellet diet.

 

[Maria_Metropolis]

Our food is full of crap these days.

It's all in the selection process. There's definitely some bad stuff out there (really delicious things too like MacDonald's cheeseburgers) but if you choose wisely overall a little bit isn't likely to kill you.

The food production system is obviously imperfect and there's lots of room for improvement. There are serious environmental issues with mass-production farming that need to be addressed, among other things. But as a species, we're better fed now than we've ever been before.

I also think that feeding a 100% pellet diet kind of takes the fun out of it for the bird

This is another reason that I don't like forcing a bird to eat a high percentage of pellets. A monotonous diet isn't psychologically healthy for them IMO, and that applies equally to an all-natural diet consisting of the same finely-chopped mash every day. When pellets are free fed along with other healthy foods they actually become a source of variety. I offer multiple brands of pellets to my flock to (a) provide more variety and (b) make sure there will still be pellets they're willing to eat if one brand goes off the market.

I think we're more gluttons than better fed, but that's a matter of opinion. LOL!

In any case, I'm an avid reader of ingredient labels, for myself, and my tiel. I avoid 90% of the food out there, and only tend to shop around the perimeter of the grocery store. I rarely buy highly processed food.

 

[jenphilly]

Funny thing with this, I think most people agree on the topic even if there are specifics that are debated... Think everyone agrees that variety is essential for any bird (any creature for that matter)....

As for life expectancy... I agree with comments about food today. There are so many additives, preservatives and just 'crap' in most processed foods, even natural foods with the chemicals used to help grow fruits and veggies. While we are living longer, not sure we are really living healthier... the rate of asthma and diabetes for example, compare to years ago... There are more health problems today, but yep we are living longer, but think that has more to do with modern medicine then modern food! But again, just my two cents...

I also agree with the comment that there are so many options today to feed the birds in our families, that its all about choice and what works for you and your bird.