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I deliberately titled this page as Food rather then Diet since diet is still one of the most controversial subjects in relation to our pet birds. PLEASE NOTE: THIS PAGE IS MY FEEDING PRACTICES AND MY OPINIONS. I AM NOT A VET, NOT A NUTRITIONIST. IT WORKS FOR ME!
Years ago, pet birds were fed an all seed diet with some just being fed sunflower seeds, not even a variety of seeds. This was often supplemented with corn. While some birds did seem to live quite well on this diet, many others had far too many medical problems. At this time, a few interest groups, looked at how we had formulated diets for dogs and cats and set to work coming up with one for our birds. We call these inventions "pellets" While I see the progression that pellets have made and will admit that pellets have to be more nutritionally sound then an *all* seed diet, I'm still unsure if they are the total answer. We have so little information on what most species eat in the wild, how do we come up with protein requirements, fat requirements, vitamin requirements etc.? I also look at all the different regions of the world our pet birds come from and wonder how one diet can do any bird. There would have to be a difference based on availability, climate needs etc. I do use some pellets, especially when weaning babies, but I doubt they make up much more then 20% of total adult diet. What I do feed.
I like to use more of home cooked foods. A very important part of
my birds diet is a cooked Another food I use that I believe is very nutritious is sprouts. Sprouts are called a living food. The sprout mix I use consists of Hulled/Unhulled Sunflower, Mung beans, Triticale, wheat, Adzuki beans, Buckwheat, Whole Oat, Safflower, Brown Rice, Garbanzo beans, Whole green peas, Lentils, Alfalfa Seed, Pumpkin seed, Radish seed, Red Clover seed, Fenugreek, Spelt, Kamut, Broccoli seed, Amaranth, Mustard seed, Flax seed, Quinoa and Sesame seed. Because I am motivationally challenged, I order this sprout mix from BlueSkyAviary in Alberta. My birds get sprouts about every second day. I also bake a birdie bread which is used more as a snack material and they also get boiled popcorn kernels. That all said, my birds also get some seed. I feel that seed is important to their mental well being as well as providing some needed fat. If you are interested
in learning more about feeding your bird with whole foods I would
like to suggest the book "Feeding Your Pet Bird" by Petra
Burgmann (ISBN 0-8120-1521-5). This is just a small Barron's book
jam packed with good and interesting information explaining all
the nutrients required for health and their relationship with each
other.
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beans/rice/grains/veggie
mix. There is leeway with this allowing you to do changes, make
it a bit different every time. I will just tell you about my batch
today for some ideas. I started with a 10 bean soup mix (no spices
just beans and lentils) To this I added more Lima beans, Pinto beans,
Black Eyed beans. I cook these *al dente* but make sure they boil
for at least 30 minutes to ensure any bad enzymes in the beans have
been neutralized. Today I cooked the beans with several handfuls
of dried chili peppers. I rinse my bean mix after it is cooked even
at the risk of loosing a few nutrients as it makes the mix look
cleaner, crisper, brighter and more colorful, which my birds appear
to like. To this I added frozen mixed veggies (corn, carrots, peas,
beans) and more frozen corn. I then set about cooking some grains.
I cooked some wheat and some oats, and also some 