The reason vets recommend pellets is for a couple of reasons ….
A lot of vets are authorised to sell pellets and in doing so actually do get a fee paid to them for selling them, the other reason which kind of joins with the first is …. most owners do not go in depth in to what to feed their birds ie nutrition wise and thereby it kind of stops the owner making a complete hash of things for the bird.
Pellets when you look at the ingredients are not that different to seed … they are seed just mushed together so a pellet is a little bit of everything rather than selective.
Owners tend to go and buy things they like rather than what the bird needs .... hmmm example … I flipping hate broccoli with vengeance its the plant of the devil but I buy it fresh every week (the tender stem stuff) and my flock eat it as part of their fruit and veggie side of life. Very nutritious but makes me feel sick just the smell of it. Most owners buy what they like rather than what the bird should have.
I'm in my 50's I have had parrots more years than I care to remember …. I feed seed a really good quality one that I know is a fresh mix (test it by slinging some on a bit of soil (indoors) and making sure it sprouts within a couple of days, making sure it has a long shelf life and I am not buying at the end of its shelf life, buying in proper sealed paper sacks (plastic makes it sweat and prone to fungus etc) I never buy loose (never know who has had their hands in it or if their birds are healthy etc) I give my birds a tiny pinch of Nutrobal multivitamins and minerals every week and every year my lot go for a health check with the vet and have bloods done to ensure that their blood is within normal parameters for their species. Mine get fresh fruit and veggies in a balanced way they may love grapes BUT that doesn't mean they get them everyday their fruit and veg intake is different each day to ensure they get what they need and for those that are selective eaters the nutrobal makes sure they are not missing out on anything.
For me although my vet recommends people to feed pellets to a lot of his patients he doesn't with me as my birds see him regularly just for health checks not just when they are ill and also as I do have the bloods done regularly and they come back correct for the birds species he knows they are getting all they need.
Things like fresh dandelions in the spring and summer (never when they have had frost nor week killer nor dog wee on them obviously!) dandelions will blow you away when you see the amount of nutrition in them. But how keen are you to learn would be the question
If you don't want to feed pellets then nobody can make you BUT what you do need to do is make sure your bird gets a really good quality seed a complete spectrum vitamin and mineral addition (not one of this one of that something in the water a bit of this and two of them kind of thing!) has access to a really good variety of fruit and veggies and even if they don't like them you keep trying them with your bird and help them learn that a lot of things are healthy. I had to ask the breeder of two of my birds to help by asking that they were weaned to like broccoli because more than likely I would have been throwing up for ever more had I had to eat it in front of them to show them its good for them lol
@gemma bradbury
So if you wish to do it without pellets or its very expensive or your struggling with conversion … join in we'll help you but remember the health of your bird depends on you rather than the depth of your pocket