Information Printed on Parrot Food Bags

[spiritbird]

I am thinking most of us read the printing on bird food bags. Wondering why the expiration dates and storage information are printed so small and often hard to find. The foods I have now say "to maintain freshness store in refrigerator" Do you understand what the ingredients are and know any possible sensitivities you bird may have to them? Do you pay attention to the expiration dates? I know Harrisons directions say to store in original bag. Some food bags are made so that there is no way to do that, especially if purchased in bulk. Anyway it is a subject for conversation on the forum.


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[spiritbird]

Here is a page with some shelf life guides. [Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

They've only just legislated for larger allergy information on human food packaging in the UK. I expect it will be some time before you can read the ingedients on bird food packaging without using the magnifying glass.
I used to work on packaging design for Kellogg's breakfast cereals sold in the middle east. It was a nightmare getting all the required information on in both Arabic which reads right to left and English which doesn't.

[Minamommy]

I feed Mina Harrison's that bag is a pain in the butt to reclose. I keep it in the freezer because I worry the frig is too moist, since the food is organic I worry about bacteria growing in the frig. I do know they now make a rice based food for birds with allergies. Not sure of the brand though.

[Lady]

I'm pretty sure Roudybush makes a rice diet. It's under there careline. Here's a link with more information.

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[jtbirds]

I always read and research and try to understand the bird foods best. All of my guys are so picky with pellets thing is most of them came on horrible seed diets through rescue this is common. So most of the time to start the transition a colored pellet is much easier to us and get them eating a balanced diet. I have one huge problem though with most of my birds, they are having the worst time switching over to natural pellets. I have tried for years with most of my birds and recently did again. No matter how I portion it how I try to wean and heck almost starve them it seems they just don't want natural pellets:/. I have never had such an issue before honestly then getting birds to eat non colored pellets.. Just thought I would bring that up in this discussion:).

[coltfire]

I don't have that problem, as mine only eat fresh fruit and vegetables.

[jtbirds]

Well as that is most of my birds diet I do try to allow them to have pellets as certain nutrition requirements are not fulfilled on a fresh diet that isn't down to a science. By a science and mean the birds taking full advantage of the raw food as well as making sure humans give proper dietary requirements. I personally pursue a rather raw plant based diet my self so I do understand the benefits, but I also understand the risks if food is not consumed that is needed. Same can easily happen with these birds and this is why pellets are often used to supplement a raw diet not take control of all dietary aspects.

[spiritbird]

If one feeds a variety of healthy foods on a regular basis, pellets are not needed. At least this is what I learned at Phoenix Landing seminars on avian nutrition.

[94lt1]

Yep.. Pellets are ideal for supplementing a birds diet if they don't get plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.. Our birds won't eat em.. Another thing we do is we juice alot. For ourselves... But we have our birdy blends.. That we make and share with our birds.. To make sure they're getting all the nutrients they need...

Believe it or not.. My Weight-loss and now fitness training has taught me alot about nutrition.. Like I never knew an obese person could quite possibly be malnourished (suffer from malnutrition). And with a birds metabolism being so fast.. If they become dependant on a seed diet..it "could" be very quick to cause problems... Other birds like our Amazon.. She went 17 years on a seed diet and doesn't show any signs of fatty liver disease.. But.. She gets plenty of broccoli and pepper juice(her favorite) now ...

Then birds like Rain.. Because of her breeding.. She has heart and liver issues.. So she's getting to like broccoli juice.. Lol.. Strange get how things work with birds..

Then there's Starburst.. And Monte.. They eat anything.. And fast.. Lol

[jtbirds]

Yes with my diet transition I feed all of my birds plenty of fresh foods, tonight they all have collard greens hanging waiting for them to tear it up. A good friend of mine is really encouraging I go all raw with my birds as well. I really want to, she gives her mainly fresh raw veggies/fruits and they each get some seeds daily she says she has never seen a pellet tree in the wild and that is why she does not feed them pellets. I mean She is kinda right in this fact.

So with this said what does your birds diet consist of along with raw fruits and veggies? Do you supplement with seed/pellets or how do you feel the proper way to have this type of diet for your bird is?

Brandon I as well juice a lot and it is great! glad you are learning sooo much that there is to learn about diet and nutrition. Have you gotten into proper hydration yet?