I want to make my own mix

[ortegah]

I normally order a mix for my birds from either Bird Paradise or My Safe Bird Store, but the price for 7 birds is just becoming too steep. And then you have the fact that the birds tend to completely throw out certain items making a lot of it a waste. So I'm considering making my own mix. I know I can get the nuts from the grocery store. I'm going to the thrift store this week to see if they have any food dehydrators available so I can dehydrate my own fruit and veggies that I know they like. Also, walmart sells large bags of dehydrated hot peppers that I know Raylan just adores, so if I do all of these things myself and then just mix it with their pellets, how is that any different?

Anyone else do this? Any tips?

 

[Katster]

Not me, but I am interested in tips too for the future, so I will keep an eye on this thread

 

[Annamacaw]

I make my own dry mix
I like to use as many organic items as possible
It costs much more to make my own on the front end but I find that I save money on the long run because there is so much less waste I also make a custom mix for my Kita since she likes to eat hard things like nut shells.... So it has been really nice making my own.
I do have a dehydrator and I love it....
A big fave for my crew is dehydrated watermelon.... Also Kiwi is popular....

Sent from my BlackBerry 9550 using Tapatalk

 

[ortegah]

I make my own dry mix
I like to use as many organic items as possible
It costs much more to make my own on the front end but I find that I save money on the long run because there is so much less waste I also make a custom mix for my Kita since she likes to eat hard things like nut shells.... So it has been really nice making my own.
I do have a dehydrator and I love it....
A big fave for my crew is dehydrated watermelon.... Also Kiwi is popular....

Sent from my BlackBerry 9550 using Tapatalk

Well with the dehydrated fruits and veggies, you can use frozen bags of fruits and veggies and I can get them super cheap. Most bags of frozen veggies at Aldi are 99 cents and fruits are like $2. I find that my guys completely ignore green beans, peas, strawberries and cinnamon sticks so I know I'd save just skipping those items. I'm gonna find a cheap dehydrator first and go from there. I'm sure it'll be trial and error, but I'm determined to find a cheaper way to do this

 

[Danita]

I have made my own mixes, I added cereals too. Or different pellets, ones they haven't tried. Just start collecting things now, it won't hit you so hard to purchase it all at once. Every time I am shopping somewhere different, I look for things for the mixes.
I was going to get a dehydrator but I thought, they can just eat the fresh stuff it saves time and buying another appliance.

 

[Annamacaw]

Oh, yes.....I do add the whole wheat Cheerios to mine too....

Pellets are a huge hit with Kita... the rest of them, not so much!

I am careful about the store bought prepared items to be sure there are no sugars, salts or sulfur dioxide added..... as well as artificial colors, flavors etc.....

 

[wonderb]

Try ordering things online from a place like Nuts.com or Honeyvillegrain.com. You can get all sorts of things from one place, and ordering online allows you to shop around for the best price and figure out how cost effective it is.

 

[jmfleish]

I've done it in the past but I've found that I end up spending more money...it's kind of six of one half dozen of another...it's frustrating any way you do it.

 

[Shyra]

I keep reinventing my own mixes. What I found is the birds prefer freeze dried over dehydrated when it comes to vegetables and dehydrated fruits over freeze dried fruits. Wild Rice, Dried Vegetables, Dried Fruits, & Survival Food has some of the best prices on freeze dried items. I also priced everything out and figured out the price per pound I was paying to dehydrate and make the mixes myself buying each individual item and found that the cost was quite a bit more and unless I was willing to make a separate mix for each one of my birds there was still waste because they don't all like the same things. I buy a couple different golden feast mixes from MSBS, mix them with the pellets they like and then just add a few extra ingredients when I dish it out to give a little variety. I think I tried every goldenfeast mix that didn't have hot peppers in it before I found the two they liked the best and that provided the least waste. I also buy the fruit and nut mix to add to it. All and all it's been a lot easier than trying to find the different ingredients in stores or dehydrating them myself. I'm not seeing any more waste than I was trying to make the mix from scratch. When you get your mix figured out, I'd love to see your ingredient list and find out if your birds like it better and if you have less waste. Maybe I didn't get my mixes just right or something. I totally agree with you that there has to be a better and easier way to please these birds without watching all the expense wind up on the cage floor.

 

[Jazzysmama]

My girls used to adore bountiful harvest, but lately more is getting wasted and tossed to the cage floor. I would love to find a mix that I can make and know that it won't be wasted. But I have a feeling the cost would not be any cheaper.