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Chickie's diet stalled at 201 grams

saroj12

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She was 206 grams and the avian vet said she needs to lose 20% of her body weight in two months. That was a month ago.

Their diet is totally changed, only veggies, no carrots or sweet potatoes or fruits or juices, and Harrison's fine and pepper coarse (JoJo eats the coarse).

I leave free range pellets while i am gone and i see her eating them on the nestcam. When I get back, her weight is 206 grams after having a steamed zucchini coin. That's all I serve but pellets are again eat all you can. By bedtime her weight is 210 grams, so she is pigging out on Harrison's fine.

I'm thinking that in the evenings I'll serve more veggies like peas and steamed zucchini and sweet chili pepper rings, eat all you want, and take out the fine pellets from the cage. Her stomach will get full with the watery veggies and no dense pellets. I hope that will kickstart a downward trend.

I just wanted to see if this is a good plan. She might start eating JoJo's coarse, in which case I'll have to take all pellets out, and give them to JoJo separately. He is losing weight nicely.
 

Laurie

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Poor Chickie, maybe she needs to join a gym. LOL!
 

WendyN

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Is it possible to hide her pellets in bowls and foraging cups scattered around the cage. I have started doing that for Joey. I put a a small amount of pellets in each bowl and cover it up wth shredables, cardboard pieces, toys.
The kabobs have balsa and pinewood, chewables and shredding material, and foraging paper cup and a lid with some pellets in there. I also put some large plastic beads to cover the pellets. The cup with the lid are great as Joey has to work at getting the lid off.
A little more work for you but Chickie might burn some calories while she is foraging for food. She will eat some pellets, play with the toy or chew on something.
 

Stormcloud

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Hey my friend....long time, no message. :)

Not sure how practical it is to change their pellets, but it sounds like they're not too fussy about what you feed them. I wouldn't leave an "unlimited" supply of pellets available for her consumption as in the end this will lead to its own set of problems, such as never-ending moulting and skin irritations that may lead to plucking. Pellets have their place, but too much is as bad as none at all.

I'd speak to your vet about a couple of Roudybush products.

The first one is Roudybush Low Fat Maintenance.

Roudybush 3.jpg
I doubt that you'll find it readily available where you get your Harrison's from, but they may be able to order it for you. If not, the good news is that you can order it direct from Roudybush yourself.

Second up is the Gutbuster version, Roudybush Formula AR Reducing Care.

Roudybush 2.png
This version is from their Careline range which means you'll need your Avian Vet to order it for you.

"Formulated to provide nutritional support during a weight reduction period. This is a healthy alternative to feed restriction. This diet is a low energy, low fat, high fiber formulation to safely decrease caloric consumption." - Roudybush Website.

I'm assuming that you house Chickie & JoJo together which means they share the same food bowls. If you rapidly reduce the amount of food available it may cause them compete and this may not be a good thing as usually the bigger/heavier bird will win. It also means they may fight for the food, which is not an ideal scenario as it may lead to an injured bird. I'm guessing that you'd prefer to keep the birds housed together so I'd think the Formula AR Reducing Care might be the go.

Your AV probably only orders food/nutritional items once a month rather than when you require it. Bearing that in mind I'd contact Roudybush and find out what info they need from your AV to ship the food direct to you as required rather than having wait for your vet to order it.

Hope this helps. :)





 
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Laurie

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I like stormcloud's suggestion. My birds like Roudybush too. Mine like the medium sized pellet.
 

WendyN

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Chickie is plateau-ing.
Maybe time to change things around. Lo-cal Roudybush sounds like a good option.
Hoping she starts to lose some weight.
 

DQTimnehs

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2 months seems like a pretty short time to lose that much. Peas are fattening too. Tiki loves them, one of the few veggies she likes and she tends to be heavy. Quack also likes them and few other veggies. I don't think she is fat but her legs sure look a lot bigger than Darby's. :hilarious: She also doesn't fly nearly as much or as well as he does. In any case, the vet said to limit peas.
 

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Hey my friend....long time, no message. :)

Not sure how practical it is to change their pellets, but it sounds like they're not too fussy about what you feed them. I wouldn't leave an "unlimited" supply of pellets available for her consumption as in the end this will lead to its own set of problems, such as never-ending moulting and skin irritations that may lead to plucking. Pellets have their place, but too much is as bad as none at all.

I'd speak to your vet about a couple of Roudybush products.

The first one is Roudybush Low Fat Maintenance.

View attachment 248619
I doubt that you'll find it readily available where you get your Harrison's from, but they may be able to order it for you. If not, the good news is that you can order it direct from Roudybush yourself.

Second up is the Gutbuster version, Roudybush Formula AR Reducing Care.

View attachment 248620
This version is from their Careline range which means you'll need your Avian Vet to order it for you.

"Formulated to provide nutritional support during a weight reduction period. This is a healthy alternative to feed restriction. This diet is a low energy, low fat, high fiber formulation to safely decrease caloric consumption." - Roudybush Website.

I'm assuming that you house Chickie & JoJo together which means they share the same food bowls. If you rapidly reduce the amount of food available it may cause them compete and this may not be a good thing as usually the bigger/heavier bird will win. It also means they may fight for the food, which is not an ideal scenario as it may lead to an injured bird. I'm guessing that you'd prefer to keep the birds housed together so I'd think the Formula AR Reducing Care might be the go.

Your AV probably only orders food/nutritional items once a month rather than when you require it. Bearing that in mind I'd contact Roudybush and find out what info they need from your AV to ship the food direct to you as required rather than having wait for your vet to order it.

Hope this helps. :)




I can find Roudybush in my area pet storesso it shouldn't be that hard to find or order in the U.S. But if we're eating someone else's portion that is a problem.
 

Begone

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To be honest I don't know what to believe in anymore.
But I read from a very excellent bird keeper that it's not the fat that is dangerous, it is the carbohydrates that make them fat when they are not exercising. (and the same for us)

My advice is to make her fly more, (fly training her) then she also can eat how much she wants.
 

Hankmacaw

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@Eloy Carbohydrates in excess of immediate need, convert to fat and store as fat. We, nor birds can do without any carbohydrates (there is stuff in them that is needed), but we can sure cut down on them.

And yes exercise is the best for Chicky to lose weight, improve the cardio vascular and respiratory systems. But she needs her food restricted too - she is a chubby little rascal whose health has been affected by being overweight.
 

saroj12

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What is the average range for caiques? Are they overweight?
They can weigh 200 grams and be okay, but Chickie's keelbone cant be felt. JoJo's is flush with his chest and hers is embedded.
 

saroj12

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To be honest I don't know what to believe in anymore.
But I read from a very excellent bird keeper that it's not the fat that is dangerous, it is the carbohydrates that make them fat when they are not exercising. (and the same for us)

My advice is to make her fly more, (fly training her) then she also can eat how much she wants.

She gets overheated after two laps around the room bribed with walnuts which defeats the purpose! Also she can't maintain altitude so the flights have to be closely positioned. I'm going to get her to do one lap tonight.
 

saroj12

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Hey my friend....long time, no message. :)

Not sure how practical it is to change their pellets, but it sounds like they're not too fussy about what you feed them. I wouldn't leave an "unlimited" supply of pellets available for her consumption as in the end this will lead to its own set of problems, such as never-ending moulting and skin irritations that may lead to plucking. Pellets have their place, but too much is as bad as none at all.

I'd speak to your vet about a couple of Roudybush products.

The first one is Roudybush Low Fat Maintenance.

View attachment 248619
I doubt that you'll find it readily available where you get your Harrison's from, but they may be able to order it for you. If not, the good news is that you can order it direct from Roudybush yourself.

Second up is the Gutbuster version, Roudybush Formula AR Reducing Care.

View attachment 248620
This version is from their Careline range which means you'll need your Avian Vet to order it for you.
"Formulated to provide nutritional support during a weight reduction period. This is a healthy alternative to feed restriction. This diet is a low energy, low fat, high fiber formulation to safely decrease caloric consumption." - Roudybush Website.

I'm assuming that you house Chickie & JoJo together which means they share the same food bowls. If you rapidly reduce the amount of food available it may cause them compete and this may not be a good thing as usually the bigger/heavier bird will win. It also means they may fight for the food, which is not an ideal scenario as it may lead to an injured bird. I'm guessing that you'd prefer to keep the birds housed together so I'd think the Formula AR Reducing Care might be the go.


Your AV probably only orders food/nutritional items once a month rather than when you require it. Bearing that in mind I'd contact Roudybush and find out what info they need from your AV to ship the food direct to you as required rather than having wait for your vet to order it.

Hope this helps. :)




Thanks Gerard, I'll call them in the AM. That sounds excellent! And email them tonight
 

Bokkapooh

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She gets overheated after two laps around the room bribed with walnuts which defeats the purpose! Also she can't maintain altitude so the flights have to be closely positioned. I'm going to get her to do one lap tonight.
Perhaps do two laps a day. A lap In the morning. A lap in the evening.

Maybe limit Harrison's to just at night or morning feedings? Not an all day offering.

I feed my guys twice a day. And Harrisons only in the AM.
 

WendyN

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I :heart: Chickie.
 

saroj12

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Thanks all! The vet ordered the Roudybush. I'm trying tonight without pellets. So far so good! Usually by 8 pm she weighs 210 gm. Tonight she is 206. She still has some fresh foods in the cage when she goes in at bedtime. I hope to see the scales dip a little by the am.
 

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Lurch was very outa shape when he got here and luckily for me clipped. When his flights grew back and he finally accidentally did a panic flight he would be totally shagged out and sit and nap for a hour. He eventually started flying more and got his strength and stamina back. He got very good at flying and maneuvering around things and loved it. He was a big boy and weighed between 250 to 260 but was active and fine. Dobby has discovered treats and nutri berries and weighs about 275 to 280 last time I got him to hold still. He also flies like a fighter jet and knows how to fly down too. Nerd was a runt and weighed 214 to 225 after pigging out all day. His keel bone always was sharp and easy to feel but he was strong, happy, and active. He had missing flights on one wing so he made short hops and walked everywhere.
Sounds like she's on the outa shape side at least but I know you can slowly work with her to fix her up to whatever is the right spot for her. Vet was worried about Nerd at first but he always stayed the same and made it 31 years with me.
 
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