Harrison's Pellets Seem Questionable

[Teddscau]

Man, I can only hide the pellets so well when it comes to the budgies. They'll only eat raw veggies, seeds, and sprouts. And said veggies have to be in decent sized pieces. I've just been mixing pellets and ground pellets into their sprouts, since that's about as sneaky as we can get with the budgies. And they get so upset if I try to put fruits or veggies in their dishes. It is impossible to clip blueberries to mesh and branches.

Oh! But I witnessed something exciting a few minutes ago! Ju and Alice went over to this yellow plastic dish that I decided to fill with just Goldn'obles a couple of days ago, and they were eating the pellets! Or maybe they were just rolling them around in their beaks. Either way, they deliberately put pellets in their mouths with the intention of eating them! I think the trick was that I measured out only 15 grams or so of sprouts, and put maybe 15 grams of pellets in with the sprouts. Budgies typically eat 7 grams of food each, meaning they had to get the other two thirds of their meal from elsewhere (veggies, birdie bread, and pellets).

Call me a cheat again, Jennifer, I dare ya . I actually only started giving them pellets two months ago. The thing I like about the Goldenfeast pellets is that it has a bunch of different ingredients. I don't just mean seeds and grains, but fruits and veggies, too. A lot of fruits and veggies. And no added vitamins or minerals, either. They also taste good (you don't want to know how many I ate in front of the budgies). They also soften up nicely when you mix in a little water. It basically has all the variety you'd want in a diet, but in a pellet.

Man, boy do they push the Harrison's and Hills, eh? Our vet told us to buy the Hills dental kibble because Teddy and Abby's teeth suck (the shapes of their mouths promote tartar). Well, there were nasty little feathers sticking out of it. And, yeah, I know dry food doesn't actually help their teeth, but my parents insist.

Anyways, I'm actually going to be taking wildlife rehabilitation courses online which include enrichment, behaviour, and nutrition. I also want to take some courses in avian nutrition, biology, etc. It ticks me off that avian vets who know virtually nothing about diet and nutrition act like they do. It's definitely questionable that everything the average vet knows about diet is taught by the brands they sell.

I've actually been slacking when it comes to giving Noah fruits and veggies. I'm actually thinking of making baby food for him and mixing it in with his pellets. Except, unlike most baby foods, I'm going to have more than two ingredients in it. I'm sorry, but how is two-ingredient baby food a balanced diet for human infants? I mean, at least put half a dozen different fruits or veggies in the stuff. Okay, I guess I'm getting a little off topic.

Luckily for me, Noah will try new foods, even when I'm clearly faking it. I could probably just pretend to eat the pellets in front of the budgies, but I actually sort of like the pellets :x. I couldn't imagine eating Nutriberries, though. I have enough trouble keeping it together when I test their sprouts for freshness. Honestly I'd never even heard of Patagonians before I saw a picture of your boy. They're definitely huge! Not to mention that thing they have going on with their foreheads.

But yeah, I'm basically just going to treat pellets like protein shakes or an Ensure (those nutrition drinks for seniors). I'll use baked foods like that super nutritious birdie bread I made to make sure they're getting proper nutrition, and the sprouts and veggies will be partially for nutrition, but mainly for foraging, variety, and happy tummies.

So, you're one of the crazies who also eats their birds' food, eh CherylCali? I also spray some water in my mouth before misting them just to make sure it's water and not bleach or something. Better us than them, eh? With stuff like sprouts, I like to smell and taste to see if they're safe for the kids. I think I may have given the budgies food poisoning more than once (oops). Either that, or individual budgies vomit once in a while for no reason. Seriously, I've caught Ju, Charlie, and Samantha vomiting (not at the same time or even the same month) for no apparent reason. And no, they didn't have an impacted crop, bacterial infections, viruses, or anything else. And only a single individual would be affected. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that they'd just been regurgitating (it definitely wasn't regurgitation. It was completely involuntary and they were upset from the experience). It just looked like hulled, odorless, slightly moist seed. I think their poop was fine too.

 

[jenphilly]

Call me a cheat again, Jennifer, I dare ya . I actually only started giving them pellets two months ago. The thing I like about the Goldenfeast pellets is that it has a bunch of different ingredients. I don't just mean seeds and grains, but fruits and veggies, too. A lot of fruits and veggies. And no added vitamins or minerals, either. They also taste good (you don't want to know how many I ate in front of the budgies). They also soften up nicely when you mix in a little water. It basically has all the variety you'd want in a diet, but in a pellet.

QUOTE]


Jennifer me? Did I call you a cheat? I know I babble a lot, but did I miss that? I like Goldenfeast, we used Golden O'bles til the birds stopped eating them, the pellet cycle... I actually live about an hour from their location in Phoenixville and know Ed, Anne and Kelly I drive out to pick up orders for our shelter. Had many a conversation with Ed about thoughts for a mix for pluckers due to the blue and gold they had, Basil

Goldenfeast was just sold, not sure if word has made the rounds yet. Ed is phasing out his part in the business over the next two years. Have a contact for the new east coast rep if you would like it. I was at Goldenfeast this past Monday and they had new lines displayed, trying to remember the name of the company..... it was an Australian company, know couple of the lines were Prestige, had parrot and small critter foods.

I do say I cheat and put pellets thru the nutribullet to mix into foods my pain in the butt Ivory eats, but that's my cheat! Totally claim that cheat!

 

[Teddscau]

Yeah, I read in their newsletter that they became a part of Versele-Laga. I hope it stays a good brand. Oftentimes, the quality goes right down when a bigger corporation, umm, dang, forget the word. I think it starts with an "a" and it means that they've bought another business and has it become part of its family. Man, I should know this, I took accounting for two years!

Anyways, I hope Versele-Laga will maintain the same standards. If not, I'm going to be so ticked off. Oh, and thanks for offering the contact info. I guess I'll take it .

The budgies are actually intentionally eating the Goldn'obles! Alice, Ju, and Ziggy have all intentionally gone over to the dish that only has pellets in it, and they were eating! I'm actually going to be ordering half a dozen different Goldenfeast foods soon. I've been listening to some podcasts over at the World Parrot Trust, and they've inspired me. I want to order some Australian Blend, Conure Gourmet Blend, Gardenflora Blend, Petite Hookbill Legume, and Tropic Fruit IV 'Bits & Pieces'. Okay, so those mixes are mainly for Noah since he'll actually eat them, but I'll also mix a bit of them into the budgies' dry food. I've actually started measuring the amount of sprouts, pellets, and dry seed I've been giving them, and they're actually eating it all (okay, maybe not the pellets, but some pellets).

 

[macawluv]

I like to think of pellets like this: I don't eat a pellet or kibble made for humans. While I do use tops and goldenobles, honestly it is more for convenience. I feed many other things as well(fruit vegetables nuts sprouts grains). I agree an all pellet diet is better than all seed. I did feed Harrison's, I just doesn't work for my B and G.

 

[Teddscau]

I definitely agree with you on that, macawluv. My little Noah enjoys his TOPs and Goldn'obles, but I also give him some sprouted grains and pulses, plus this nutritious birdie bread I made up. Also, the Goldenfeast blends I ordered finally came in yesterday, and he's been enjoying them a lot (Conure Blend, Tropic Fruit, and Petite Hookbill). I've been really slacking when it comes to giving Noah fresh fruits and veggies (not sure why), but I'm definitely going to make up some baby food for him today. Since he's eating Goldenfeast products, he is getting a ton of variety in his diet.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Gus was been eating Roudybush at the rescue, no problem, very happy with it. But we didn't have a good supply here - we live an hour from the pet store - so added in some Zupreem and Vitamix from the stock in the freezer. He ate the Zupreems, then started picking them out preferentially and now if I give him a roudybush pellet he drops it. I tasted them, and the pellet tastes ok but the zupreem is very sweet. Parrots are like little kids, they don't understand nutrition. J's already given Gus a corn chip, potato chip, and pizza over my protests. He wants to make him happy but I say it's not a good idea. Make him happy with a new toy, a song, a ride around the room, a head scratch, but let him go on eating the boring food that's good for him and don't turn him into a picky eater.

 

[Kentuckienne]

I feel like pellets are a good staple for me. I live in a small town and lack a variety of accesible fresh foods, there is no high end grocer here at all. I buy green bananas only one at a time and it spoils before Early can finish it. I have one petite green cheek conure and I simply can't afford to re-up a completely nutrionally balanced supply of produce every three days.

CherylCali

We live way out of town also. One trick we learned was to get bags of frozen mixed veggies to keep in the freezer. There are corn/carrot/green bean mixtures and sometimes we could find one with baby Lima beans, if not we'd gat a bag of those too. Try to get organic ones, they cost a little more but the supply lasts a long time. Then every couple days take some out, cook them in the microwave - especially Lima beans are toxic unless cooked - let cool, then feed some and refrigerate the rest. Oliver the BF loved these, so he had that for breakfast every day along with some halved grapes and cut up apple. Those fruits also store very well. If I have mango or peach or some other seasonal fruit in the house it's a big hit. Take the fresh food away after a while so it doesn't get germy. I thought I'd do the same thing with the new B&G - morning fruit and veggies, then pellets the rest of the day.

 

[GaleriaGila]

I have had confidence in Harrison's for 30 years, plus fresh supplements. You're so right about those salty, fatty foods... there are all sorts of hazards in them... maybe if you could suggest this thread as reading or private the parts of it and leave it out in an attention-getting spot.
Good luck!

 

[SailBoat]

Gus was been eating Roudybush at the rescue, no problem, very happy with it. But we didn't have a good supply here - we live an hour from the pet store - so added in some Zupreem and Vitamix from the stock in the freezer. He ate the Zupreems, then started picking them out preferentially and now if I give him a roudybush pellet he drops it. I tasted them, and the pellet tastes ok but the zupreem is very sweet. Parrots are like little kids, they don't understand nutrition. J's already given Gus a corn chip, potato chip, and pizza over my protests. He wants to make him happy but I say it's not a good idea. Make him happy with a new toy, a song, a ride around the room, a head scratch, but let him go on eating the boring food that's good for him and don't turn him into a picky eater.

Well said, Parrot and Kid have lots in common when it comes to food. Nearly all Pellet manufactures have come a long ways in the 'general' quality of their product. As with everything, its our responsibility to be very selective regarding what we provide. A few of my goals when it comes to pellets are as follows:

No to minimal colouring and avoid RED colouring as it could result in a stool that is dark to red in colour. This could result in a rush to the Avian Vet's office since that color group commonly indicates internal bleeding.

Human grade processing facility (in the USA that would be a USDA approved facility), results in a higher overall quality of the food.

Low to no sugar or salt additives. With a diet that is balanced at a minimum of 50% or more Fresh Foods, there is no reason to provide added amounts of sugar or salt. NOTE: Low or no salt pellets must be keep in the freezer to maintain its freshness. IMHO all dry foods for Parrots should be kept in the freezer until just before use.

 

[GaleriaGila]

What Sailboat said! Thanks.

Also, Harrison's tastes really good. Not salty or sweet, just very hearty, like homemade oat/nut bars. Just sayin'.