ravvlet
Well-known member
- Jun 25, 2019
- 2,354
- 7,111
- Parrots
- Kirby - OWA, 33yrs old (2019-)
Broccoli - Dusky Conure - 3?mo old (July 2023 -)
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(Rehomed) Sammy - YNA, 45 yrs old (2022-2023)
(RIP) Cricket - Cockatiel (2019-2022)
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.
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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