Best Pellet Brand for Budgies?

[BirdBrained]

Yay for free samples! Good luck with the conversion. I've got my birds part way through converting to zupreem but I realize they aren't the greatest pellets with all that sugar. Does anyone know if they ship samples to Canada?

 

[Guardiavoir]

Yay for free samples! Good luck with the conversion. I've got my birds part way through converting to zupreem but I realize they aren't the greatest pellets with all that sugar. Does anyone know if they ship samples to Canada?

They probably do. Give them a call! Harrison's samples arrived today, too.

 

[Thugluvgrl187]

My tiels get a mix of Harrison's High Potency, Roudybush Crumbles, Zupreem natural, and Zupreem fruity.

 

[zuzanqa]

Mine get Harrison´s fine.

 

[Monica]

Bubbles is a gorgeous little hen!!!!!

It's ok if she doesn't eat very healthy right now, just keep trying! Also, try to be creative in the way you present food! Making it into a toy, chopping it fine, sprinkling it with seeds or whatever it takes to get them curious enough to nibble on it!

 

[SueA555]

Joey eats medium Roudybush, some seed and Nutriberries.

 

[Timmy&Crash]

My TAG yes lots bigger than your fid eats Harrisons High Potency coarse ...But I have read the smaller the pellet you can get them to eat the less waste and am sure that would be true but he wont touch the Harrisons HP Fine but Crash the quaker seems to like cleaning up Timmy's crumbs lol. They both get a Nutriberry a day. And I add a tablespoon of red palm oil to every pound of the Harrisons.

 

[SamandWilley]

I don't know if this thread is too old for anyone to see, but I have really been struggling with the pellet dilemma. Right now I use Zupreem and Harrison's High Potency. I am planning to try Roudybush after the Zupreem is mostly gone. I love the Harrison's, and both the lovebirds and budgie eat it! Not as a full diet, but they do eat some of each very day.

The budgies love veggies and I don't even have to chop them up! My lovebirds won't eat much in the way of veggies, but they will eat a mix of cooked grains with hot pepper and kelp meal and bit of red palm oil. I love how that conditions their feathers! They are also learning to love sprouted seeds, which I am planning to try to green up some of them. I am also planning on growing a greens garden for myself and the birds, thinking that the less mature plants may taste better.

My concerns are - Harrison's High Potency - it says to only feed that until they are 6 to 9 months old, and then switch to the maintenance. I don't like the ingredients as well in the maintenance, and many people say their birds won't eat it as well. Since it is not the only thing they eat every day, would it be so bad to continue with the high potency?? Especially for the budgies, who are notorious for not eating pellets!

Also, I hear people saying that they always feed a certain brand. My thought is that it might be more interesting for the birds if I switch things up. I have looked long and hard at Tops and I love their ingredients!! Would it be okay to just use that as a part of their diet?

Ugh. I don't know why I agonize over the little details like I do!!

 

[Grace]

I don't know if this thread is too old for anyone to see, but I have really been struggling with the pellet dilemma. Right now I use Zupreem and Harrison's High Potency. I am planning to try Roudybush after the Zupreem is mostly gone. I love the Harrison's, and both the lovebirds and budgie eat it! Not as a full diet, but they do eat some of each very day.

The budgies love veggies and I don't even have to chop them up! My lovebirds won't eat much in the way of veggies, but they will eat a mix of cooked grains with hot pepper and kelp meal and bit of red palm oil. I love how that conditions their feathers! They are also learning to love sprouted seeds, which I am planning to try to green up some of them. I am also planning on growing a greens garden for myself and the birds, thinking that the less mature plants may taste better.

My concerns are - Harrison's High Potency - it says to only feed that until they are 6 to 9 months old, and then switch to the maintenance. I don't like the ingredients as well in the maintenance, and many people say their birds won't eat it as well. Since it is not the only thing they eat every day, would it be so bad to continue with the high potency?? Especially for the budgies, who are notorious for not eating pellets!

Also, I hear people saying that they always feed a certain brand. My thought is that it might be more interesting for the birds if I switch things up. I have looked long and hard at Tops and I love their ingredients!! Would it be okay to just use that as a part of their diet?

Ugh. I don't know why I agonize over the little details like I do!!

Harrison's website says to feed high potency for first six to nine months and then most birds can be switched to maintenance but it is fine for most birds to stay on high potency. So if you like the ingredients better, I would say it is okay, especially since you are feeding it along with other things.

I think Tops does not have vitamin D3 so if you are depending on pellets for that it may not be the best choice.

I would love for my birds to try more than one type of pellet but so far they have refused everything but Roudybush nibles. Have you seen the Goldenfeast pellets? I am thinking about trying those.

If your lovies eat sprouts, have you tried mincing greens up really fine and mixing in with the sprouts? Maybe they would eat the greens that way.

And I sympathize - I drive myself crazy over my birds' diet too. And buy a lot of stuff that the little rascals just refuse to eat!

 

[SamandWilley]

I thought I would go more slowly with the greens. That is why I was thinking about growing micro greens, and then baby salad greens. So far, I have tried most everything that I can think of! Finely chopped, course, cooked, mixed with other food, hung in their cage, on my plate... And, I know they were eating greens while they were being weaned. Ugh. I have not tried Goldenfeast. I will take a look at their ingredients! Thank you!

 

[Lady Jane]

FYI on Harrisons high potency for budgies. The very experienced breeder for the budgies I have told me that Harrisons High Potency is not suitable for budgies. Reason being the enhanced ingredients will overwhelm the liver in such a tiny bird to the point of liver failure. I actually had a 3 pound bag of HHP extra fine for them but after learning this I gave it to a bird rescue. What he does is grind to a nibble size the regular pellets for them. When they are finished I will feed Roudybush Nibbles. They are fine enough for budgies.

I do realize what the web page of Harrisons says about feeding HP for the first 6 months but I would recommend you check with your avian vet before feeding the HP to a budgie.

 

[Grace]

FYI on Harrisons high potency for budgies. The very experienced breeder for the budgies I have told me that Harrisons High Potency is not suitable for budgies. Reason being the enhanced ingredients will overwhelm the liver in such a tiny bird to the point of liver failure. I actually had a 3 pound bag of HHP extra fine for them but after learning this I gave it to a bird rescue. What he does is grind to a nibble side the regular pellets for them. When they are finished I will feed Roudybush Nibbles. They are fine enough for budgies.

I do realize what the web page of Harrisons says about feeding HP for the first 6 months but I would recommend you check with your avian vet before feeding the HP to a budgie.

Glad you posted this! I could not get mine to eat the Harrison's anyway but good to know!

 

[Gddmsam]

Harrison's is what my Avet prescribed for Boba, but roudybush is also in my bird pantry. Boba loves Nutriberries (I get the 20% pellet type.) That along with a little seed mix and fresh veggies, some fresh fruits and an occasional a hard boiled chicken egg keeps him happy and healthy.

 

[Pipsqueak]

I have the Harrisons high potency on hand but my birds hardly eat any pellets, they always prefer the fresh mashes and cooked foods.

 

[Mizzely]

HP is actually recommended for birds with compromised livers. I asked about this several years ago because of Gizmo. This was the response:


It is the fat/protein ratio to consider between the two diets.
High Potency Coarse is 3 times as high in fat (or twice as high in HP Fine) as Adult Lifetime, but only 3% higher in protein.
Sick birds need extra energy. So via such a ratio a bird actually eats less protein per gram of fat on High Potency and the bird will eat less, by weight, thus less protein than ALObese, fatty liver, elevated cholesterol and birds with atherosclerosis are sick birds and are not able to metabolize/store fat but instead use muscle for energy. Thus it is a common presentation for a thin bird to still have areas of stored fat (liver, peritoneum). HP is also slightly higher in vitamins and precursors, fiber and minerals. HP will turn a sick bird around quicker.

As liver disease is considered invariably a result of improper nutrition Dr. Harrison's traditional approach to liver patients involves the recommendation to use High Potency - but feed smaller amounts and be very strict in regard to any other foods that are being fed. In addition to HP only offer leafy greens (seed, tablefood etc. home-made diet concoctions should be removed). This is a long established measure to primarily treat the nutritional deficiency used by Dr. Harrison with years of excellent result – the liver subsequently improves.

The protein content is perfect for a variety of needs, not limited to diet change, bird healing, molting, growing or recovering from an illness. More importantly, we have decades of outstanding results in feeding High Potency and no protein issues when fed as directed (ie limited supplementation).
However if the bird is currently is experiencing full organ failure your veterinarian will make specific diet recommendations.

These are decisions your veterinarian can help you with.
Please let us know if you have any other questions..

All the best,
Jean

 

[Mike Gentry]

Roudybush is what my guys get. But they also get a high quality seed mix in their diet. They seem to really do well on a mixture of pellets and seeds.

What kind of seed to pellet ratio do you use? Or do you put the pellets and seed out separately?

 

[Lady Jane]

I also feed Roudyibush nibble size which is perfect for their little mouth. I mix them with the seed blend. 2 tbsp of the seed blend with same for the nibbles. This is for 2 budgies.
I have very little waste.

 

[SamandWilley]

The Harrison's is more like a treat for the budgies. I sprinkle it on top of the seeds, and they eat some of them. If I offer them in a separate bowl, they ignore them completely! It is the one way I feel like I can get a more rounded nutrition in them! They have started liking the cooked grains that I offer.

I cook a mixture of quinoa, rice, oats, barley, etc. The grains vary according to what organic grain mixes I can find at the store. In the mix, I add red palm oil, hot pepper, carrots or sweet potatoes, and some dehydrated vegetable powder. It is the only way I can sneak veggies into my lovebirds! When I add the veggies to the grains, they won't eat the grains at all!

I continue to give them veggie chop, but it is normally thrown out. Sigh. The budgies will eat bok choy! It is about the only green they really like. I haven't been successful in getting anyone to eat the sprouts. I am thinking it is the seeds/plants themselves that they are reacting to. The mixes I have right now are "spicy". I plan to get a milder mix of seeds to try sprouting with them.

These guys can be so picky!!!! LOL!!

 

[Lady Jane]

Since I responded to this thread with Roudybush pellets I have changed. I came across a Goldenfeast product that has the best ingredients I have ever seen in a bird food, bar none. the Goldenfeast people are making the size specifically for tiny birds like Budgies. I have been feeding it for two weeks now and do mix it in with the seed mix.
Here I a link so you can read about it and read the listed ingredients. Small Beak – Goldn’obles III | Goldenfeast Direct

 

[SamandWilley]

Thank you Lady Jane!