Homemade Foods

[jamie]

Raizer has some recipes for homemade lorikeet food that he can share with you ... however, here are some that I have found.

The Lory Link

LORIKEETS OF AUSTRALIA, BirdsnWays - Lorikeets, Lories, loris. Species, Care, Diet, Cages - Pet Birds, Exotic Birds by Mike Owen

A commonly used recipe for a dry lorikeet mix used in Australia by Stan Sindel, a very experienced lorikeet breeder, is made as follows

2 cups rice baby cereal
2 cups rice flour
2 cups egg and biscuit mix
1 cup glucose powder
1 teaspoon vitamin-mineral powder
1 dessertspoon pollen (optional)
Ingredients mixed together dry and stored in air-tight containers preferably in a fridge.


A possible wet nectar mix is as follows:
1 litre water
1 tablespoons pollen
1 tablespoons of honey
0.5 litres of high protein baby cereal
half teaspoon of calcium carbonate
half teaspoon of multivitamins
0.1 litres of powdered skimmed milk
Mix together (it should be a fairly watery mix) and freeze into ice cube trays. give each bird a melted ice cube (about a dessert spoon in volume) each day.

I have not been making my own mixes, however, I have considered experimenting with them. One thing that concerns me is finding a source of complete proteins- one that has all of the essential amino acids that birds (and all other animals) need. Most of the commercial mixes use soy protein for this purpose. I have considered trying quinoa flour as an alternative. I'm trying to find some more information and hopefully will have something more to contribute soon.

 

[jamie]

Presently, I've gotten all 3 of my lorikeets onto the same diet. I mix 4 tablespoons of Goldenfeast's lorikeet powder with 1 4 ounce jar of baby food (some sort of vegetables or a fruit/vegetable blend- usually sweet potatoes) with 4 ounces of juice and enough extra water to make 2 cups of liquid. I stir everything up and give each bird 2/3 of a cup in the morning. At night they get the lorikeet powder mixed with plain water. Every other week or so, I use a mixture of apple cider vinegar in place of the extra water.

They all like this mixture- especially when I use apple juice and sweet potatoes.

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

thanks for the information Jamie I have always liked them

 

[jamie]

Also, when using babyfood, I try and stick with an organic brand or look for a product that has no added vitamins or preservatives. The ingredients should only contain fruits/vegetables and maybe water. Added Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) is ok.

 

[jamie]

Lately, I've stopped using babyfood and just cook and puree some sweet potatoes along with frozen fruit and sometimes some fresh fruit. Instead of water, I use fruit juice of some sort when making the puree. Sometimes I add some soybeans and I think that I'll add some cooked rice and other beans to the next batch.

 

[Raizer]

Raizer has some recipes for homemade lorikeet food that he can share with you

That I do

Dry mix:
Ingredients:
3 Cups of oats
6 Cups glucose powder
3 Cups rice flour
1 Packet Milk arrowroot biscuits
1 Packet plain malt biscuits
*You can also add a teaspoon or more of spirulina and other dry ingredients if wanted

Take all the ingredients and blend until you have a fine powder (I have to blend it in 3 or 4 lots and then mix it all together in a large bowl) and store in a airtight container or bag.
I always just do 1/2 batches as it does make a LOT of powder!

I do not use this as the main food for our Lorikeets, we always have a wet nectar mix and fruit/vegies out for them too, but that's just me lol


Wet Mix/Nectar:
This is a recipe that was handed down to me by a friend with 20 years of Lorikeet experience

1 packet of milk arrowroot biscuits
1 packet of plain malt biscuits
2 cups rice flower
1 cup wheat germ
2 cups corn meal
1 cup glucose
1 cup raw sugar
1 packet of baby rice cereal (Sold as Farex over here)
8 weetbix (Weetabix in the UK)

Blend to a fine powder and mix well (it will need to be blended in at least 4 lots with an average size kitchen blender, the rice flour and glucose are fine enough already)
Then store in an air tight container -we use a 10L food grade bucket.

You can also add dried banana and apple chips etc to the mix before blending, and a handful of honey puffs cereal blended into a fine powder is a huge hit with all of our lorikeets and our friends 30+

Mix up what you need with warm water like normal.

I was warned that while you can also add kelp powder or spirulina be prepared for dark green/black poops that stain everything!!

Our friend has used these recipes for the last 5 or so years and we have fed both mixes to our lorikeets with no ill effects, we used the wet mix for over 6 months straight at one point, but when we were offered cost price with no shipping on 10 and 20kg sacks of premade wet mix we kinda got lazy about making our own.

 

[jamie]

Shiloh, I've been adding a teaspoon of soy flour to the fruit & vegetable puree that I feed my lorikeets.

 

[jamie]

I wanted to add, that I've been using soy flour because it is a source of complete protein. There are a few ways you can make sure that lorikeets are getting all of the essential amino acids in their diet.

Soy and quinoa are complete proteins- they contain all of the essential amino acids. I've been considering using quinoa flour or cooking the grain and pureeing it along with the fruits and vegetables I use. You can also use a combination of rice and beans to get a complete protein. Off hand, I don't know the ratio, however, but I do not think that is too important. Egg whites are also good, and you can buy them in powdered form from some places that sell baking supplies.