Chop Mix Do's and Dont's?

[BoomBoom]

Hello! My once 'anything goes' conure is slowly becoming a picky eater. He avoids his broccoli and carrots and holds out for the apple and boiled rice. So I have to start doing chop mixes now. I used to just always chop his fruits and veggies for each meal, so I'm new to this chop mixing.

I have a few questions for those who have experience in this:

1. Is there anything I should avoid putting in the mix (besides the foods that are toxic of course)? For example, should I avoid mixing in highly acidic foods like tomatoes and oranges?

2. Does it spoil faster once it's served, compared to produce that is not 'mixed?'

3. Did your bird like it immediately or was there a period of transition?

 

[Kalidasa]

Little pieces of orange are good because the citric acid will keep the mold down longer. Have you tried sprouting? It's extremely easy, and once you get a system going, you'll always have them ready to serve. Takes up hardly any space also, just a few jars is all you need.

 

[BoomBoom]

Good to know about the oranges! Hopefully the orange will mask the awful taste of broccoli too.

I haven't tried sprouting though I've read about it before. It seems intimidating lol. I might look into it again if The chop mix goes well with Boomer.

 

[Nocturnal]

....broccoli doesn't taste aweful -_-

I would be cautious with the orange. vitamin C increases the ability to store iron which can lead to issues. Kiwi too, kiwi has more vitamin c than an orange the same size.




I honestly don't fret too much about spoilage. I give it in the morning and wash and replace the /next/ morning. I have never seen mold during that 24 hours and my birds have never fallen ill.

Other things that do inhibit spoilage, however, are peppers and cinnamon! Sometimes I make my chop a bit more interesting by sprinkling on cinnamon or chilli pepper flakes before serving that morning.

 

[coral3]

I cook up a big batch of chop every couple weeks and freeze in single meal portions (using a muffin tray lined with glad wrap so they're easy to remove). Our chop varies a lot but the base mix is brown rice, beans/lentils, spelt grain, quinoa, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, peas, corn, spinach, silverbeet (all cooked) then I throw in a couple handfuls of pepitas, and a good amount of pellets (which he won't eat otherwise). If there's a food being avoided, put that through the blender/food processor until almost smooth before mixing it through.

We don't leave it in the cage for any more than about 8 hours.

Ringo loved chop right from the get-go & still loves it (& he loves 'fresh chop day' ie first day of each new batch...because I make it bit different every batch). No transition period required.

Sprouting is really easy, we do that also - not all the time though, just to change up the diet every so often.

 

[JerseyWendy]

I personally never leave "fresh" or "cooked & thawed" food out longer than 4 hours max. because of fruit flies.

Just the other week, when I was away for 1/2 day, my son forgot to take out the fresh food mix. To my horror all dishes were covered with fruit flies the next morning.

 

[Kalidasa]

I personally never leave "fresh" or "cooked & thawed" food out longer than 4 hours max. because of fruit flies.

Just the other week, when I was away for 1/2 day, my son forgot to take out the fresh food mix. To my horror all dishes were covered with fruit flies the next morning.

Same here, actually I just remove it when they stop eating and toss to the wild birds. The fresh chop mixes (and thawed) seem to work best at the 2 crop filling feeding times, and then discarded. Within a few hours it begins teeming with bacteria, even if you can't smell it its there.

 

[BoomBoom]

Thanks I will take a note of that.

One more question if I may! So I will put the mix in small baggies and toss in freezer. When its time to feed him, do I just dump the frozen mix on his food bowl or do I need to let it thaw in my refrigerator overnight first?

 

[Kalidasa]

Thanks I will take a note of that.

One more question if I may! So I will put the mix in small baggies and toss in freezer. When its time to feed him, do I just dump the frozen mix on his food bowl or do I need to let it thaw in my refrigerator overnight first?

Thaw first unless boomer likes ice.

 

[BoomBoom]

Lol cool. Can't wait to shop for ingredients. I have so many ideas to try! Maybe ill even throw in chopped almonds and bee pollen for the crunch factor, to entice him

 

[SparkkiSparkS]

Do you cook the sweet potato or give it to them raw?

 

[BoomBoom]

Do you cook the sweet potato or give it to them raw?

I've never served him sweet potato, sorry couldn't help there. I'd imagine you may want to offer it cooked, problem is it may not be as nutritious.

Also, I wanted to update this thread for those who might be considering chop mixes in the future. I didn't think it would be, but it was a success! Boomer actually likes eating it, broccoli, carrots and all. We'll see if he gets bored with it eventually. It's only been a week but so far he eats it with gusto.

I also love how easy and convenient it is to serve him the chop mix. It cut down my prep time considerably. I still cut fresh veg and fruits for his daily kabob. But I'm glad that there's always something in the freezer that I can rely on for his daily yum-yums. All I have to do is thaw it. Wanted to thank everyone for the advice!

 

[Chenetaqwa]

Do you cook the sweet potato or give it to them raw?

I personally give my green cheek conure chop but I don't put in anything but vegetables all kinds of vegetables cut up fine ... I then freeze enough for about 3 or 4 days in each zip lock bag and overnight I thaw one bag at a time as needed... I usually manage to pack 4 or 5 bags each time I make chop ...
I also sprout seeds but I avoid doing it during hot weather...they go bad ... smell nasty... it's actually easy to do