Make bird muffins. Great toy and gets them tasting vegetables and pellets.
[ame="https://youtu.be/0OuKiWJS7kQ"]Cockatiel parrot treat bird muffin on skewer - YouTube[/ame]
More ideas to get your pet eating healthier:
Ideas to convert pet bird to healthy diet:
Make sure the seed mix is near the lowest perch. Always put healthy foods higher.
Pellets:
Some birds will prefer small pellets, some will prefer cockatiel sized pellets, be prepared to try more then one size / brand if the first one doesn't work. Zupreem natural (small/ parakeet/ budgie size) and roudybush crumbles are more seed size and might be easier for the seed junkie . Some birds prefer variety and zupreem fruitblend are more tastier but have sugar in them, but can be very helpful to get them interested in pellets at first. I mix different size pellets for my tiel because she enjoys variety. ( cockatiel and budgie size)
1. Grind pellets and sprinkle pellet dust on fresh or cooked veges. This only works if your bird likes vegetables. Slowly grind them less and less, then just add pellets sprinkled on top of veges. Once u see them eating pellets put in its own bowl, near the top perch.
2. Mix pellets with seed mix, 2 tablespoons of seed with 1 teaspoon of pellet for 1 week. Week two add 2 teaspoons of pellet with the seed. Week three add 2 tablespoons. Week 4 , just put pellets in a dish near the birds favourite perch. Don't expect the bird to eat them right away. Most should try within 3 days. If the bird won't eat any after two weeks then try another method.
3. Hide pellets in cactus wood perch.(it's a perch with holes) Hide pellets in paper toys. Stuff pellets in balsa wood , yucca wood toys. Put a pellet dish near their favourite perch, and hide them with crinkled paper on top, small plastic toys, crinkled cardboard strips.
4. Try cooking birdie bread/muffins and hanging it on a skewer or put in food dish. This bread will have grinded pellets in the recipe. Once the bird starts eating the bread, place pellet dish in cage. Bird bread recipe below.
5. Place pellets on a mirror.
Vegetables (Always remove after 3 hours)
You don't have to try all of these things all at once. Start with one specific vege meal then add a new meal next week or so. Tiels take awhile to become familiar with new foods.
1. Hang kale / spinach / leafy greens (no lettuce) or clip it to the cage bars. Clip or stuff brocolli florettes between cage bars. Clip carrot slice/stick.
2. Finely chop up veges and mix them together. If the bird isn't interested, add 1 teaspoon of seed (or pellet if bird likes them) for 1 -2 weeks.
3. Buy a dehydrator. Dehydrate veges. If the bird won't eat them after a few days, mix dehydrated vegetables with pellets and seed for 1 week, then slowly remove the seed.
4. Try a cooked birdie mash and warm it a little before serving. (5-10 seconds in microwave. Be careful of hot spots.) This works especially well for young tiels. Cooked mash recipe below.
5. Try cooking birdie bread/muffins and hanging it on a skewer or put in food dish. The bird will probably see the muffin paper and start attacking it for fun, then tasting the muffin. This bread will have shredded veges in the recipe. Bird bread recipe below.
6. Sprout/soak seeds. Sprouted seeds are just as nutritious as vegetables. Use a plastic or stainless steel strainer. Most sprout mixes only require 8-12 hours of soaking, then rinse every 6 hours, sooner is always better especially in hot temperatures. Rinse your seeds in a strainer to remove any dust. Then onto the soak. When you do your first soak, you can add a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar to reduce chances of spoilage. This kills bacteria. You can feed the sprouts to your bird after the second rinse, because soaking starts the germination process. On day two you can spray some apple cider vinegar or soak them in some diluted ACV for two minutes then rinse. Smell your sprouts before giving them. They should smell earthly or no smell. If sour grow away. Flax seed doesn't sprout well. I use brand TOPs- all in one mix.(thingsforwings.ca) . Hagen brand mix for tiels seem to sprout too. All seeds that can be soaked together 8-12 hours: All organic: Kamut, spelt, pumpkin, barley, buckwheat, millet , sunflower, safflower, alfalfa, brocolli seed. You can also sprout some other seeds but most of these seeds are usually in seed mixes, so the bird is familiar with them already. If the bird doesn't eat them for the first few days, try mixing dry seed with it for a couple of weeks, slowly removing dry seed.
7. If your bird is bonded to you, try offering some veges you are eating or pretending to eat. ( just not the exact piece you are biting on, human saliva is not good for birds).
Birdie Bread Recipe
1 cup cornmeal- (no jiffy brand or additives) (can substitute bird safe flour-see below)
1 cup almond flour( can substitute for whole wheat flour/corn meal/ whole oat flour)
1 -2 egg
1 cup shredded veges( carrot , kale, or anything your bird won't eat normally)
1/4 cup ground natural pellets (roudybush or zupreem I use)
3 banana ( or 2-3 cup applesauce)
Water (til soft and wet)
Optional bird bread additions:
1/2 cup cooked / mashed strawberries/raspberries
1 teaspoon sesame seed / chia seed/ hemp seed
1 teaspoon organic pumpkin seed
2-4 tablespoons of seed mix if this bird is a fussy seed junkie
Coconut oil is safe for light greasing for birds or use muffin papers.
I cook at low temperature for 30-40 minutes , 275 Fahrenheit, but I watch and check every 5-10 minutes as it can vary per oven.
Once toothpick comes out clean it is cooked! You may freeze left overs, or use less flour and only 1 egg if you want less bread ��
*note: some whole wheat flour brands have addictives. Do not use if it has anything added, unless you make sure it is birrd safe. Cornmeal should be easy to find with no addictives
Cooked Mash/Chop Recipe
The monthly chop I cook then store into zip bags and freeze and unthaw daily:
Everything cooked:
Cooked quinoa , buckwheat (1 cup each)
Green beans
Cooked sweet potato
Carrot
Brocolli
Cauliflower
Corn
Peas
Asparagus or boy choy
Sprinkle sesame seeds on top for a couple of weeks.
*You can use frozen veges and cook them for 5 minutes too. Be wary of Lima beans or certain beans in frozen packaging, they need to be soaked and cooked for a long time. Green beans are safe and cook fast.
*You don't need to have all of the listed vegetables, just remember variety is better.
Note: If your cockatiel is older and less trusting then a socialized /young tiel, it can take months for the bird to accept a new food . Just getting them to taste it is the first step. Bird bread with seeds help with this slow process. Sprouts help a bird get adjusted to wet food (veges) . Don't give up trying , it took me three months to get my old rehome eating sprouts, by tricking him to try them mixed with his dry seed for 2 months. (Soaked/sprout seed look very similar to dry seed). He would shake his head when he picked a sprout and throw them across the room for 2 months ! It was because he didn't trust wet food. But in time he accepted the sprouts because he became familiar with their wet texture, and was not scared of them no more. Sprouts also are pretty tasty!
