One Man's Opinion on Pelleted Diets for Parrots

[spiritbird]

This article is from the newsletter of Worlds Parrot Trust. Thought others may be interested in reading.

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[Honesty]

Thank you for this Di. I have bookmarked it :)

[aliray]

Thanks for sharing the article. Very interesting reading

[JadeC]

He makes sense. I like it; thank you. :)

[Blancaej]

Another great link! Thanks!

[Pablola]

That was really good article , very interesting makes you think about feeding pellets all the time , ha ha ha especially the one coloured ones .


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[Pinkbirdy]

I do agree with this guy [IMO I think pellets are a marketing thing]. I became good friends with these Macaw breeders. They want the healthiest birds possible [and would rather do natural than pellets]. I do a chopmix ,some seed ,some pellets and fruits and vegs.

[coltfire]

that's a good read, im glad my birds are on fresh fruit and veg and meat daily and not on pellets.

[Minamommy]

Great article

[Turquoise]

This is a very good article you found Dianne. I did read it someplace else previously and I do agree with the author on many things he points out. I hope that all pet parrots are getting a good variety of foods at least weekly to better achieve a more balanced diet for them.

I give my flock a wide variety of foods. They get fresh fruits and veggies in some form everyday. Every other day I add the cooked noodle/rice/bean/whatever else might be in it to the veggies. I also use a fair amount of fresh frozen veggies thawed that I mix with the cooked batches of noodles/rice etc. I keep pelleted and seed mix foods in their bowls at all times to give them the choice to pick through it as they wish. Every other day they get a small cup of mixed nut meats and nuts in shells. Plus they get dried noodles and other fun snack foods to give them enjoyable things to crunch up at least 3 times a week.

I have 5 food bowls in each of my larger kids enclosures. I feel they toss less to the floor if they don't have to dig through the pellets to get to their favorite foods like the nuts. My Green Wing Ruby Jewel and my Ekkie Leyla Belle are my 'piddlers'. They both toss their pelleted foods and their nuts in their water bowls before eating them. My 2 Catalina boys rarely put anything in their water.

None of mine eat much in way of the pelleted foods in their bowls, but I have never worried about it as I have felt all along that it was more of a sales hype how much better it was for our feathered kids. I read early on that mostly what made up the pellets was ground up seeds, so why not allow them the chance to eat them in natural form as long as that is not their only foods. I do keep sunflower seeds to a minimum or not offered at all only because mine have a tendency to get hooked on them and not want to eat much else. I am sure I could do a much better job of feeding my flock, but so far they are healthy and happy with what I offer them daily.:th_biggrin:

[Feathers First Aviary]

Very nice article, we feed pellets to our birds but they also get a variety of healthy seeds and plenty of fresh food. I have had people ask me to wean their babies onto an all pelleted diet and I flat out refuse every time. I don't believe there will ever be a pelleted diet that offers 100% complete nutrition and even if at some point this magical pellet descends from the heavens, how boring would that be to eat nothing but hard pellets your whole life?

[spiritbird]

That is good Sara. I have been taking fresh food to the birds that are for sale at Petco on the two days I work. You should see how they devour it! They do not get pellets at all.