Kirby’s Kitchen

ravvlet

Well-known member
Jun 25, 2019
2,349
7,081
Seattle WA
Parrots
Kirby - OWA, 33yrs old (2019-)
Broccoli - Dusky Conure - 3?mo old (July 2023 -)
~~~
(Rehomed) Sammy - YNA, 45 yrs old (2022-2023)
(RIP) Cricket - Cockatiel (2019-2022)
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Hey all, I am gonna start throwing the Kirb Birb’s chop recipes in here. I know for me personally I was really overwhelmed and spent the first few times I went out to buy ingredients frantically googling things like, “Can Parrot Eat Celery Stalk?” etc. I run what I like to joke is a small zoo here, so whatever the Birb doesn’t like doesn’t go to waste - our goggle of coturnix quail happily eat his leftovers. When deciding what to buy I use the ratios & refer to the lists in the I Love Amazons thread!

That having been said, we do see a lot of waste here - I give him two fairly full bowls of chop a day, and let him browse it for about an hour or so before I pick it up and either compost it or “donate it” to the Kwail Needz Carrot Not Crumble society.

I have prepared chop both for our ~460g OWA and our 80-90g cockatiel (who has sadly crossed the rainbow bridge), and the main difference was really just making sure the chop was fine enough for his liking. That being said, I have found that what lasts about two weeks for Kirby can last up to two months for a bird as small as a tiel, so a little goes a long way! I go to a variety of different stores; Safeway, Kroger, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and sometimes big box stores like Target (although typically their organic veg offering is small). So far for seasonal stuff my fav is our local farmer’s market, as there are quite a few certified-organic stalls; otherwise TJ’s has the best prices while Kroger and Whole Foods have been neck and neck for variety.

Anyway, this week’s chop will hopefully last us at least a month; I went a bit overboard lol. We freeze ours in large, freezer-safe containers and then cut out portions each day and reheat with hot water under the tap.

Ingredients: (this week I went to Trader Joe’s)
Organic Arugula
Organic Broccoli Slaw (Organic Shredded Broccoli, Organic Shredded Carrot)
Organic Beets (I washed them, removed the skin, and microwaved them in a shallow bowl of water for about 1 1/2 min so they were easier to cut.)
2 Bananas, Organic
2 containers of organic micro greens (mustard, broccoli, kale, tat soi, just the plants and no seeds so not “sprouts”)
2 Red Bell Pepper, Organic
2 Green Bell Pepper, Organic
Orange/Yellow/Red Bell Pepper Trio, Organic
Organic Radishes (washed and chopped into chunks)
Pomegranate Seeds, Organic
Baby Broccoli (He only likes the tops)
Organic Red & Green Cabbage Slaw (Red & Green Cabbage, Carrot) *
Red Quinoa (1 c raw, when cooked was about 2 cups)

Additionally I got organic Mini Sweet Peppers and Organic Sugar Snap Peas for treats - he has an easy time holding them with his feet in spite of his arthritis, and he likes tearing them apart!

*I know cabbage has oxalic acid, however, the amount of cabbage in this mix is much less than the amount of baby broccoli, broccoli slaw, mustard greens, and quinoa, which are all excellent sources of easily absorbed calcium. However, if your bird has problems with calcium levels, it is best to avoid foods with oxalic acid! In my case, I grabbed it not thinking at the time and when I got home and realized I’d grabbed the cabbage slaw as well as the broccoli slaw, I decided to run with it for the above reasons and see how he liked it.

The total for a month’s worth of veg chop was $49.35. Not too bad; I am pretty sure I spent more on dog food this month, haha.


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The end result! He seems pretty pleased this time around! Probably because beets are his faaavorite; when they’re reheated, the beet juice gets on everything and makes him much more adventurous about what he’s willing to try!
 
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ravvlet

ravvlet

Well-known member
Jun 25, 2019
2,349
7,081
Seattle WA
Parrots
Kirby - OWA, 33yrs old (2019-)
Broccoli - Dusky Conure - 3?mo old (July 2023 -)
~~~
(Rehomed) Sammy - YNA, 45 yrs old (2022-2023)
(RIP) Cricket - Cockatiel (2019-2022)
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02/13/22 Chop

(Cross posting these from my Kirby thread on the Amazon subforum)
Today is chop day; I never seem to remember to get beans but I assume that’s ok since he eats pellets!

Today we did:
Mini sweet peppers
Orange bell pepper
Anaheim pepper
Rainbow chard
Baby red/green Swiss chard
Tat soi
Arugula
Spinach
Broccoli & carrot slaw
Cooked beets
Raw yellow squash
Blackberries
Rolled oats (uncooked; they seem to get soft on their own when I reheat from frozen)

View attachment 35768
I always buy too much or not enough; today looks like it’s a too much day. I try to avoid single use plastics so I usually freeze it in bins and then “chop” out what I need each day.

Overall he seems a bit happier than yesterday; the antibiotics will hopefully really be kicking in this week.
 
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ravvlet

ravvlet

Well-known member
Jun 25, 2019
2,349
7,081
Seattle WA
Parrots
Kirby - OWA, 33yrs old (2019-)
Broccoli - Dusky Conure - 3?mo old (July 2023 -)
~~~
(Rehomed) Sammy - YNA, 45 yrs old (2022-2023)
(RIP) Cricket - Cockatiel (2019-2022)
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Chop 03/02

Chop day again!

View attachment 36513

This week it’s-
Zucchini squash
Cucumber
Julienne carrots
Broccoli
Japanese shishito peppers
Red, green, yellow bell pepper
Red dandelion greens
Baby red/green Swiss chard
Tat soi
Arugula
Spinach
Blueberries
Rolled oats

I actually had it all mixed up and put away before realizing I’d forgotten to add the blueberries, so I had to take it all out and remix it! Whoops.
 

Terry57

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This is an awesome idea and I'm so happy you are doing it! The chops all look and sound amazing, I love all the different ingredients.
I just added your thread to the Chop recipe sticky:)
 
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ravvlet

ravvlet

Well-known member
Jun 25, 2019
2,349
7,081
Seattle WA
Parrots
Kirby - OWA, 33yrs old (2019-)
Broccoli - Dusky Conure - 3?mo old (July 2023 -)
~~~
(Rehomed) Sammy - YNA, 45 yrs old (2022-2023)
(RIP) Cricket - Cockatiel (2019-2022)
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87519E1D-6551-4C42-9299-232F2C339257.jpeg


It’s that time again. This time it’s a mix of Whole Foods & Trader Joe’s.

Ingredients: (everything is organic, just got tired of typing it lol)
Organic red lentil sedanini pasta
Baby arugula
Tricolor bell peppers
Cubed butternut squash
Broccoli slaw
Broccoli florets
Riced cauliflower
Beet root, chopped
Raspberries
 
OP
ravvlet

ravvlet

Well-known member
Jun 25, 2019
2,349
7,081
Seattle WA
Parrots
Kirby - OWA, 33yrs old (2019-)
Broccoli - Dusky Conure - 3?mo old (July 2023 -)
~~~
(Rehomed) Sammy - YNA, 45 yrs old (2022-2023)
(RIP) Cricket - Cockatiel (2019-2022)
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I’ve made a few chops since my last posts, but I was reusing recipes I already put here so I didn’t post them!

This week I changed it up a bit though - went to Trader Joe’s.

3 green bell peppers
2 tricolor peppers
a handful of sweet mini peppers
TJ’s Herb Salad Mix (oak leaf lettuces, butter lettuce, arugula, cilantro, dill, parsley, etc)
Brussel sprouts
Broccoli Slaw (broccoli, juilienne carrot)
Cabbage slaw (red/white cabbage, carrot)
Baby carrot, multicolor
Beets, cubed
Pomegranate seeds
Blackberries
1/2c quinoa (all we had left, heh)
2c cooked red lentils (don’t reccomend these - it’s just what we had on hand! VERY MUSHY after cooking)

I’ll snap a pic of a bowl when I made him his afternoon chop; I was in a rush this AM to cut & cook everything and put it away!
 

kme3388

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Sep 17, 2021
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Parrots
Eclectus Parrot: Nico (male)
Jenday Conure: Kiwi (female)
I myself have spent a lot of time googling can my parrot have myself. I am right there with you. Your chops look amazing. I cheated, and bought the birdtricks recipe book. I failed too many times trying to make chop.
 

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