Fruit and veg talk

Tonifrax

Guest
Hi :wave:

So I was wondering what everyone does for their fruit and veg for their birds. Do you buy at your local supermarket? Green grocer? Do you go organic? Non organic? Do you wash with water? Do you add anything to the water like apple cider vinegar? Fresh? Frozen? Bit of both?

I always try to buy organic produce. I wash all of it regardless. I never buy frozen vegetables for my birds but have heard some people do. I wash just with plain water. I usually peel all the veg that id peel for myself. Most of mine I buy from the local supermarkets but the variation isnt always the best especially in regard to organic fruit and veg. We grow some in our polytunnel and greenhouse too which is all organic and im hoping to start growing more this way. I ask because I contacted my local green grocers yesterday. They sell veg boxes that you can order. I was hoping that they would have a selection of organic veg and that id be able to get stuff like carrots, beetroot etc with the tops still on. I was surprised that none of their fruit and veg is organic. Apparently this is because they researched and found that even organic veg has fertilisers and pesticides but they are of an organic nature rather than synthetic that is used on the non organic veg. They also said the final straw was that most of it was imported rather than being sourced locally. I wanted to support a local business but I was hoping to find local organic produce. I continued my search and found an organic farm nearby that not only grows its own organic seasonal produce but also employs a lot of local people to work on the farm. Everything is kept local. They have quite an extensive list of produce that changes depending on availability. I actually found quite a few local places, one of which I had come across before as a place I worked at ordered their edible flowers and micro herbs from them but I did not realise that they also sold fruit and veg aswell.

Was just interested in what everyone else does for theirs? Because Im nosey 😝
 
We buy from a local supermarket, not necessarily organic, then wash in water with a little ACV. Portion up and freeze. Ours also prefer to eat their food as close to nature as possible......warm with a sprinkling of herbs, oats, and avian tea. You know, just like they'd get in the wild jungles of South America! :lol: We do have backup frozen veg also when the chop is running low.
 
We buy from a local supermarket, not necessarily organic, then wash in water with a little ACV. Portion up and freeze. Ours also prefer to eat their food as close to nature as possible......warm with a sprinkling of herbs, oats, and avian tea. You know, just like they'd get in the wild jungles of South America! :lol: We do have backup frozen veg also when the chop is running low.
Yeah I buy from the supermarket, i try get organic but they dont have much variety so not always organic. I wash, portion and freeze my chop. My freezer is mostly chop 🤣 usually have a couple batches to alternate and i have fresh stuff in the fridge so i can add so its not the same all the time. I usually use oats but going to add stuff like avian tea as well. Ollie is fussy. My parrotlets are the cleanup crew... They eat most things including his leftovers :risas3:
 
I use fresh frozen organic and shop bought and it depends on the time of year and availability and storage time of the foods i use, always wash fresh foods but it will depend on the species or even the individual bird on how it is served. i cannot guarantee how well i will be to go out shopping so i keep frozen foods as an emergency. i some times get local farmers drop off foods for the flock plus i have a variety of veg and fruit that is grown on the farm
 
We eat loads of fresh veg and fruit and buy organic if I can, broad beans and peas are frozen. Choice here is much more seasonal so less variety, but Dora is offered as much as possible raw (peeled or rinsed in tap water), and will only eat cooked beans or peas when they are warm (unless by magic l find some sugarsnap peas)!
 
I mainly buy my produce from the supermarket, I try feeding around 20 different vegetables a week, and two to three types of fruits. I like to give my bird 60% minimum organic vegetables and fruits each week, if I can't get organic then I use non organic fruits and vegetables. I wash all produce in normal tap water and sometimes a good scrub of root vegetables with a brush if needed. On occasions when the produce is of poor quality in supermarkets, which I find is around autumn time for a couple of weeks, then I switch to frozen vegetables and very lightly steam, but for the most part of the year all fruits and vegetables are feed raw.
 
Our birds are lucky in that we are stir fry addicts - the benefits of a wife that comes from Thailand and she has taught me well. She now says that I am the Wok master but perhaps that's a ploy that makes me do most of the cooking! Seriously, she is at work all day, I am the house husband, so it makes sense for me to do the cooking - which always tastes nicer if you didn't cook it yourself ;) When I go shopping, I am used to grabbing this, that and those - a wide selection - and I am always on the lookout for anything new that I can use.

We have two fridges. One is always packed full of veg. I just grab a selection for the birds (or us) and chop and/or blend as required. Wok (single pot) cooking is all about the preparation - no knife required at the dinner table. Preparing food for the birds isn't very different to our food, although I chop it a bit more finely for them, using a good quality knife - it makes a huge difference.

We use fresh all the time, no frozen, but that's not a problem as our turnover is quite high. Bird food and our food prep is always done separately - different chopping boards and knives, different storage boxes/bags, etc. We don't use organic much.
 
I buy what looks good, sometimes organic. I do a balanced chop so that it ticks every box. The pink ones prefer this as did Benji the conure. My thoughts, worries with grabbing random foods although still good and still nutritious is, are all the boxes ticked? They all get some fresh bits added and I sprout. Possibly because I believe in belt and braces I also give a good quality organic pellet, probably don't need it? It's there if they want some. Everything is washed.

I don't think frozen veggie choices should be sniffed at, they are still good quality.
 
I think it's almost impossible to tick all the boxes in nutrition on birds in our care. Their is just to much we don't even know about these birds diets in nature.

Your so right about just grabbing random foods, we really do need to put some thought into the fresh produce that we feed our animals in general.
 
Just out of interest, how do you all feed your fresh produce? Seasonal feeding plan, or just plan meals for that week?
 
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