Seeds Or Pellets Advice For A Newbie Pls

2. From personal experience, mine doesn't want day old pellets. I dont know if they lose the crunch or what it is, she spits them out! As for the 10% fresh fruit, I don't go with that, first because it's a miserable diet and second because it doesn't sit well with me that a processed food is better than fresh. I feed enough pellets that I know she's not deficient in anything then she can enjoy the rest.
 
I put pellets in the dry food bowl 6-8 at a time, as I feed my Harrisons along side TOPS and some selected seeds. They will get eaten during the day, and then I can top up as necessary. If I am going our for a whole day I will leave more, but I find birds snooze more and only eat a little bit until I get back in. The pellets do pick up. Oisture from the air after a day, which is why I don’t out a whole bowl full...there’s no pint in my opinion, plus you would have no idea of how much your bird is actually consuming. I keep dry food portions small also to encourage consumption of the veg, fruit, sprouted, etc. Better for them to eat fresh.
 
Hello, i believe another example of what I do, will be nice for you to see and perhaps find your way!
I got a Galah Cockatoo about 11/12 years old, she was used to seed diet before i got her, but with time, she adapted to what i believe in my case was perfect, as I believe it's not only up to us what to feed, is about what the parrot will aproach and get satisfied with too!
So it was a struggle to get her eat pellets, i started with Harrison's adult lifetime, the one for medium and large sized parrots and she didn't like it, she would chew it rarely and thats it! So i went to use the fine version of it and luckily she showed interest. Whit time she start eating pellets. In my case pellets are good idea as my bird needs a specific diet (especially with the fat contain as most birds) and i believe the pellets do control that to some point! She won't eat only pellets so i mix 1 part seed mix (no sunflower) and 2 parts pellets! And i chip in there few pinches of dry fruids and nuts, or i put them in diferent toys to make it more interactive too!
The fresh fruits and veggies I give in a separate bowl at the same time as the dry feed! I try to give her always diferent selection, so she doesn't get borred of eating the same! 2 times a week I give her a selection of soaked or lightly boiled grains or i just sprinkle few with the veggies...
Obviously all of this needs to be supervised, i make sure she eats her balanced diet and so far im happy, she eats all trough the day, her veggies are done (i believe she prefers them over anything) and she takes her seeds and pellets, treats are given as well and she gets as much exsarcise as she can!
I tryed getting her on chop, but no success, so yeah, so far im glad with her diet and she is in a good health!
Enjoy the forum!!! ;)
 
Great to hear your experiences @Nik...as you say not all birds like chop some prefer their veg and fruit in larger pieces...it’s what works for your individual bird :thumbsup:
 
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Hi Stinkie
So glad you said that after trying the little pellets for myself today I thought how on earth could the derive happiness from those alone so I gave seeds this morning first then removed them for pellets and I made him a lovely chop at lunch time. He seems very content to go between the chop and the pellets thankfully
 
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Hi Nik
I think it sounds perfect to me and similar to what I am going to do for Obi.
Obi is now having seeds in the morning and I remove the sunflower seeds until I can order a different brand. Then I will give the Harrison's HighPotency Fine pellets through the day with something nice and veggie like pepper and at around midday or when I am home a mix of chopped veg or fruit, nexti will add some cooked grains and pulses but prob not every day.
He seems quite happy I am only on day two of this set up so fingers crossed.
 
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Sounds like your doing all the right things for your birdie. I love how you showed him it was ok to eat by eating it yourself. That's exactly what I do with mine. And the talky chirpy sounds are the sound of a happy conure saying 'hey look there's food!' I make it to mine when I put there fruit and veg in their cage if they need extra persuasion to go in and they come flying over :)
 
It seems to work he always wants to eat what we eat so now I pretend to want to eat what he eats. If only I could fly like he does
 
Just to say that I give about a tsp of seeds in the girls night cages, this is an inducement to go, a little treat at the end of the day, won't fill them up during the day replacing the good stuff. :)

Did you suss the Palm Oil, have heard some giving some on a small piece of wholemeal toast 1-2 times per week?
 
Hello and welcome you have been given some great advice I have a few conures but none of them are on a pellet diet although I do put pellets in there seed mix. mine love fresh foods best and a variety of food and tastes I also believe is important for a healthy and happy bird and one other point I will make is that a bird that is reliant on pellet's if escapes from your home (we all hope this will never happen) will have a great difficulty in surviving. I use Johnson and Jeff lean and fit. have you tried Red Bull to help you fly Ha ha
 
Very funny Red Bull definitely doesn't do what it says on the tin
 
Hi I didn't work out the Palm oil issue yet namely how much, how often etc
 
I give this to my birds as a treat once a week but only to the bigger Conures and birds from ringneck size my green cheek, Jandaya, sun and nanday will not touch it. its like marmite they either like it or hate it and I spread it on wholemeal toast.
 
What does it do? I ordered some when I ordered the Harrison's it seemed to be self together
 
I use Parrot palm and fruit extracts (Ruth Harvey Specialist feeds) I found this was more acceptable than the plain palm oil types available. it helps feather condition and colour giving better results in breeding and forms part of a varied diet. I have found since using it that the females do not get egg bound I have even spread a little on millet that I give to the budgies and tiels. being from African fruits that the wild birds seek it is one way of them getting natural oils that have dried up from seed mixes.
 
I will give Obi a little bit and see what happens I notice since getting him that he has little white flakes that come off his feathers when he cleans himself almost like dandruff would the palm oil help this do you think.
 
That is normal, not dandruff :biggrin:, birds feathers come through in a skin sheath and to expose the feather they need to be broken and preened off. My birds are all moulting atm.

Some blurb on it for you. I don't doubt it is a good product but have reservations with my birds with high cholesterol levels and then the fact that to produce this product natural species such as Oranguatans are suffering.

A rich resource of Vitamin E, Omega 3, Omega 6, Antioxidants, Beta Carotene and Carotenes (Vitamin A precursors), your bird would have to consume overwhelming amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables to receive the benefits found in just ¼ teaspoon of Red Palm Oil.
 
It isn't dandruff phew what a relief the palm oil is in a small jar and I thought v expensive I am not happy to read about natural forest habitat being destroyed causing a threat to wildlife habitation. I definitely won't buy it again.
 
I think there may be sources that are OK, they need to be tracked down and of course it is all in the wording isn't it?
Spraying fine mists of warm water (who likes a cold shower?) or actual showers can help with those skin sheaths.
 
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