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HomeMade Lorikeet Dry Mix....

Niall O'Fualairg

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Niall O'Fualairg
Hi guys I just want to gauge people opinions on the Dry mix i use. I got the recipe from the breeder i got my 2 Rainbows from. He said its popular in Australia.

1kg Rice Flour
1kg egg food
Box of wheat bix
Box of ready brek
250g skimmed Milk powder
500g Glucose powder
500g fructose powder
2 tea spoons of multi vit.

My Lorikeets seem to love it. Is this a good diet of can it be amended slightly?


Suggestions welcome guys!!

Thanks!!!:)
 

JAM

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Hi Niall,

We prefer to stick to the commercial diet which we are fortunately able to supplement with floura and fauna from their natural environment. Personally if I were to mix up my own, I would research lots of different ones and try to find an alternative to the skimmed milk powder. Birds can't digest the proteins or lactose in milk/dairy so I don't really see the benefit of using it or whether the powder is different to normal milk. That's something you'll need to take into consideration. As I am not making up my own mix, I haven't researched whether or not it is good to use, so I am open to more information on that. :)

I've listed a few links which have some good make your own recipes:

Lory and Lorikeet Diet
Breeding & Caring for Lorikeets - Hunter Valley Avicultural Society
How to Make Your Own Lorikeet Food Nectar | eHow
And a link from our very own Lorikeet Lane :) http://forums.avianavenue.com/lorikeet-lane/4363-homemade-foods.html

I think any diet can be amended and it's a case of see what your lorikeets like. If you amend it and their beaks are buried deeper in the mix and they're squeaking with delight, you must be doing something right. ;)
 

Niall O'Fualairg

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Niall O'Fualairg
Thanks for the input JAM. ive no idea why the milk powder is added. My Rainbows seem to love the mix though.
Do you think i should stop adding the milk powder then?

I also feed then ALL kinds of fruits, veggies and dandilions. what other flowers can be fed?
 

JAM

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If it is working for you then no need to stop, but just me personally I would check out the links to see if there is an alternative that can eventually be used. :)
 

Niall O'Fualairg

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Niall O'Fualairg
the second link down has skimmed milk powder in the mix? dont know what to make of it now? lol
Im keen to use a little bit of pollen also, where would i find pollen sold? :confused:
 

JAM

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That's what I mean, it seems that even aviculture groups are ok with using it so maybe the proteins that are the problem are defined in some way or subdued so it isn't a problem.

As for plants, you're in beautiful Ireland (somewhere I regret not visiting) so I am not sure whether the climate can have the local food grown over here, flourish over there.

Oir lories go mad over bottlebrush, grevillea, banksia and eucalyptus. The eucalyptus is great in branches because the love perching, hiding in and nibbling the leaves. They also use the Euc as a natural mite deterrent as they rub themselves in it after bathing. It's a daily thing for ours now! :)

Dandelions are great for them, I keep meaning to find some for ours! :) I will search out a link for you.
What fruit and veggies do you feed? You need to be careful that the iron content isn't too high in the daily supplies.

As for pollen, there is one Aussie brand called Attraction that uses real pollen in their dry/wet mix and also does loritreat which is banksia and bottlebrush replicas. If you search on the net you might find a distributor or someone who could send to Ireland? :)
 

Niall O'Fualairg

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Niall O'Fualairg
think i'll keep with the current mix i have until i find an alternative to the milk. not sure what to do about it.
JAM if you every decide to visit Ireland you are more than welcome to stay with us! we would be happy to have you :)

My Rainbows LOVE the flowers of the dandilions but also the leaves and root too! Ive always fed my birds it. Also chickweed and Red Shank.

I give them raspberrys, blackberries, peach and plum (no stone) apple, pear, orange to nibble on. Celery, corn on cob, peas. basically anything thats not dangerous for them.
Any suggestions????
 

CheekyBeaks

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I agree with jam, I wouldn't recommend the powdered milk, they don't eat milk products in the wild at any stage in their life so I can't see why it is put in so many Lori foods (even some commercial foods) and most are unable to digest the lactose.
i am always worried at animal proteins such as egg food especially with non breeding birds, lories also don't need a diet high in proteins.
then the Weetbix from what I believe is high in iron, many lories can suffer from iron storage disease so I would watch out on giving Weetbix in the diet as well. I have seen it added to wet mix preparations but never dry as it would swell up in the digestive tract.
Glucose and fructose are fine, it's best to steer clear of using highly refined sugarssuch as castor or raw sugars, loris eat complex natural sugars, so you can even eliminate the sugars from the mix if they will eat it plain but ensure they are getting plenty of fresh fruit to replace the natural sugars.

I prepare my own wet mix and have been feeding it for over 18 months and my birds look the better for it and have been breeding well and producing gorgeous bubs while being fed on it. I also feed a commercial dry feed for convenience.
My wet mix has several different flours (rice, spelt, soy) millet meal, polenta, oats, super greens, bee pollen, quinoa, flax meal, kelp I will also add a small box of fructose but if I add puréed fruit I really don't need to add it. For birds that are used to eating very sweet wet mix it can take time to convert them to this food. I also add a little bird multi vitamin once per week and some trace min once per week to ensure they aren't missing anything. And of course a wide selection of fresh foods and sprouts.
 

Cathy. Jeynes

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10/5/16
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Hi guys I just want to gauge people opinions on the Dry mix i use. I got the recipe from the breeder i got my 2 Rainbows from. He said its popular in Australia.

1kg Rice Flour
1kg egg food
Box of wheat bix
Box of ready brek
250g skimmed Milk powder
500g Glucose powder
500g fructose powder
2 tea spoons of multi
My Lorikeets seem to love it. Is this a good diet of can it be amended slightly?

Hi just want to know about the egg food is that egg and biscuit food or just egg carnt seem to get that here how big of box wheat bid. So I am going to use your mix. Thanks. Very. Much. Cathy
Suggestions welcome guys!!

Thanks!!!:)
 

Cathy. Jeynes

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10/5/16
Messages
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Hi sorry about that I am not very good at doing this just wanted to know about the egg food is that egg and biscuit or is it just a power egg mix can not find that over here we have a egg and biscuit mix and how big is the box of wheat bix. Thanks very much for your help decades I want to use your mix. Thanks again. Cathy
 

JAM

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If I were you I'd stick to commercial mix. Cereals have fortified iron in them and added salt. Lorikeets have iron storage issues and it can make them very sick without symptoms until it's too late.
 
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