New items I was thinking of trying to make into a birdy mash!

[palmetto941]

I could use everyone's best opinions here! I'm a birdy mash newby....
Here's the list I purchased/have:

Steel cut oats/oatmeal
millet sprays
green & red pepper
orange
home canned apples
dried cranberries
dried prunes
dried raisins
dried apricots
mixed veggies of corn, carrot, lima beans, gr. beans, peas
broccoli and cauliflower

red mill 10 grain hot cereal: whole grain wheat, whole grain rye, corn grits, whole grain trificale(wheat), whole grain oats, soy beans, whole grain millet, barley, whole grain brown rice, oat bran and flaxeed meal.

red mill muesli: whole grain wheat, date crumbles, sunflower seeds, raisins, whole grain rye, whole grain barle, whole grain oats, whole grain trificale(wheat), flaxseed, allmonds anad walnuts.

hodgsonmill multigrain with quinoa & flax hot cereal: oat bran, unprocessed wheat bran, quinoa flakes, milled flaxseed, untoasted wheat germ, cked whole wheat.

Any suggestions on cooking? Additional ingredients? Anything bad in this list? Fruit & veggies in same mash?

 

[LoriP]

I am a great believer in mash. I make up rather large batches (so I can use a lot of different ingredients) in the food processor and freeze in ice cube trays. Store in zip freezer bags with as much of the air as possible squeezed out. This is breakfast every day and Snoopy loves it. Here are a few thoughts from the research I have done.

The greater the number of ingredients the better, so as to cover all the bases nutritionally.

Include plenty of green leafy vegetables (e.g.mustard, kale,etc. I also use celery leaves as that is a favorite of Snoopy's)

Also bright colored veggies like pumpkin, winter squash (e.g. butternut) carrot, beet, sweet potatoe) in addition to your colored peppers.

Fresh raw veggies are best but I do steam some of the hard ones (like carrot, squash etc) to give the mash a softer consistency.

I am sure you know to cook all beans and grains.

It seems to me that your recipe might be a little long on fruit. Especially in using the dried fruits you are building up a lot of sugar. You might need to do this at first to get your bird to eat it but maybe pull back later. I personally don't use any fruit in my mash. Snoopy is not really very fond of fruit (weird for a parrot I know) plus especially in my hot and humid climate fruit goes "yukky" and draws insects faster.

At some point you might want to experiment with doing some sprouting to include.

From what I have seen the general recommendations re portions seem to be: at least 50% veggies, with beans and grains in a ratio of no more than 1 part beans to 2 parts whole grain, plus small amounts of fruit, nuts,and seeds if you wish.

This is just me but I mix in a tiny bit of live culture yogurt just before serving. Sometimes also some kind of "seasoning" (e.g. hot sauce, dried herb, a TINY bit of powered garlic etc) just for variety. If this makes the mash too soupy I stir in a few dried whole wheat bread crumbs

Be patient -- many birds are leery of strange foods so you may end up throwing some (or a lot) away before your fid gets around to trying it. (this post is getting long but some day I should tell you the story of how I finally got Snoopy to eat it.) In the beginning you might want to use a preponderance of foods you know your bird likes even if it does not exactly conform with the proportions I listed above.

 

[tlfisher]

I cannot get my parakeet or baby cockatiel to eat veggies and fruits.

I want to try making a mash. You say you freeze it. Do you heat it or thaw it in the microwave? Do you serve it room tempature or warm?

 

[LoriP]

I cannot get my parakeet or baby cockatiel to eat veggies and fruits.

I want to try making a mash. You say you freeze it. Do you heat it or thaw it in the microwave? Do you serve it room tempature or warm?

Sorry to be so long answering your question. Life got a bit hectic. I am a very slow typist and make lots of mistakes so it takes quite a while to do a post.
Generally I put a frozen cube in the fridge to thaw overnight and feed it more-or-less cold. I avoid heating or microwaving as cooking destroys some of the vitamin content. That said however, at the beginning do whatever you have to to get your bird to try it. Warm, cold, still frozen (Snoopy actually likes frozen food)...also at the beginning load it up with things you know your bird likes without worrying too much about the nutritional balance -- you can gradually change the "formula" once your bird has accepted the general idea. Bird mash can be a great way to get your bird to eat things that are good for him/her but he/she won't eat if you serve them alone.