- Joined
- 6/12/15
- Messages
- 16
Hey all, I see a lot of discussion about pellets and their efficacy as a staple diet item. I am here to make a gentle case for them along with some anecdotal and scientific evidence to back up my claims.
What spawned this post was 1) the general back and forth and confusion I see about parrot diets, which is understandable given how little research has been done, and 2) a recent visit I made to a reputable bird store where I live, where I had received some questionable advice from a person working there. She echoed something I've heard a few times about pellets (Harrisons in particular): "the first ingredent is corn" and "veterinarians all push it" (as if the latter is a BAD thing). The worker proceeded to show me a bag of a seed and dried veggie/herb mix that she feeds her birds, and then showed me her birds. While her feathered babies were certainly adorable and sweet, they didn't look especially healthy. This could have been due to numerous factors other than their diet, but my point stands that their appearance didn't make a strong case for that bag of mix.
When I rescued Meeko (GCC) a year ago, I did a lot of research and noticed that there was much back and forth about pellets and their legitimacy. It made deciding on her diet very confusing.
Now for the anecdotal evidence:
When I first rescued Meeko (2 years old at rescue), she had clear and visible liver stress bands (red pigmented) on her tail feathers, indicating poor health and diet. In addition, there were numerous other forms of stress bands on the feathers around her body, wings, and tail. She was malnourished, and the veterinarian found her to be underweight (64g); her keel bone was prominent. No blood work was taken, as the vet didn't feel comfortable taking blood at this time.
I put Meeko on the recommended-by-the-vet diet: Harrison's High Potency (size fine) + vegetables/fruits (about 10-20%) + safe people snacks with dinner (we just wanted to get the poor girl's weight up)
There was IMMEDIATE improvement. Her weight shot up to a healthy 70-72g in weeks. Her feathers began to molt in earnest, and her feathers grew in without stress lines, red liver bands, or other evidence of stress. Granted, over time due to the new environment, after her feathers grew in perfectly, her feathers became black on the edges from physical damage and overpreening (vet assured me this was normal for a rescue in a new home and that he'd seen it many times).
I followed up with the vet a few weeks ago and got bloodwork done. The vet took one look at her and knew she was healthier. Bloodwork came back flawless, which was hard to believe given the physical state we got her in. Tthe vet attributed this to her diet change.
Now fast forward to my recent visit to that bird store, having turned my bird around on that diet and hearing the worker's well-intentioned advice after these events. The older me might have believed her! But instead, I left realizing that there's a lot of potential misinformation floating around about the topic of a pelleted diet (and parrot diets in general). Hence this post.
Scientific evidence:
I went home and dug through the scientific literature on the topic, and while I would love to post a whole literature search, I'll just link the one paper that solidified my new position:
Longitudinal study. Captive Amazon parrots were fed various commonly recommended diet compositions. Those fed pellets with small fraction of produce had all nutritional metrics within good range, which contrasted other diets.
Nutritional Levels of Diets Fed to Captive Amazon Parrots: Does Mixing Seed, Produce, and Pellets Provide a Healthy Diet?
There were many papers that found numerous benefits of pellets, including increased fledging rates and foraging improvements, but that was the one that provided the most direct comparison.
This post is not to claim that if you provide your bird another diet that you're not a good bird parent or that your bird is necessarily unhealthy. There are other lifestyle factors that influence a bird's well-being, and in the wild, birds eat far more fruits, nuts, and seeds due to their energy expenditure. I just wanted to share what worked for me!
Thanks <3
What spawned this post was 1) the general back and forth and confusion I see about parrot diets, which is understandable given how little research has been done, and 2) a recent visit I made to a reputable bird store where I live, where I had received some questionable advice from a person working there. She echoed something I've heard a few times about pellets (Harrisons in particular): "the first ingredent is corn" and "veterinarians all push it" (as if the latter is a BAD thing). The worker proceeded to show me a bag of a seed and dried veggie/herb mix that she feeds her birds, and then showed me her birds. While her feathered babies were certainly adorable and sweet, they didn't look especially healthy. This could have been due to numerous factors other than their diet, but my point stands that their appearance didn't make a strong case for that bag of mix.
When I rescued Meeko (GCC) a year ago, I did a lot of research and noticed that there was much back and forth about pellets and their legitimacy. It made deciding on her diet very confusing.
Now for the anecdotal evidence:
When I first rescued Meeko (2 years old at rescue), she had clear and visible liver stress bands (red pigmented) on her tail feathers, indicating poor health and diet. In addition, there were numerous other forms of stress bands on the feathers around her body, wings, and tail. She was malnourished, and the veterinarian found her to be underweight (64g); her keel bone was prominent. No blood work was taken, as the vet didn't feel comfortable taking blood at this time.
I put Meeko on the recommended-by-the-vet diet: Harrison's High Potency (size fine) + vegetables/fruits (about 10-20%) + safe people snacks with dinner (we just wanted to get the poor girl's weight up)
There was IMMEDIATE improvement. Her weight shot up to a healthy 70-72g in weeks. Her feathers began to molt in earnest, and her feathers grew in without stress lines, red liver bands, or other evidence of stress. Granted, over time due to the new environment, after her feathers grew in perfectly, her feathers became black on the edges from physical damage and overpreening (vet assured me this was normal for a rescue in a new home and that he'd seen it many times).
I followed up with the vet a few weeks ago and got bloodwork done. The vet took one look at her and knew she was healthier. Bloodwork came back flawless, which was hard to believe given the physical state we got her in. Tthe vet attributed this to her diet change.
Now fast forward to my recent visit to that bird store, having turned my bird around on that diet and hearing the worker's well-intentioned advice after these events. The older me might have believed her! But instead, I left realizing that there's a lot of potential misinformation floating around about the topic of a pelleted diet (and parrot diets in general). Hence this post.
Scientific evidence:
I went home and dug through the scientific literature on the topic, and while I would love to post a whole literature search, I'll just link the one paper that solidified my new position:
Longitudinal study. Captive Amazon parrots were fed various commonly recommended diet compositions. Those fed pellets with small fraction of produce had all nutritional metrics within good range, which contrasted other diets.
Nutritional Levels of Diets Fed to Captive Amazon Parrots: Does Mixing Seed, Produce, and Pellets Provide a Healthy Diet?
There were many papers that found numerous benefits of pellets, including increased fledging rates and foraging improvements, but that was the one that provided the most direct comparison.
This post is not to claim that if you provide your bird another diet that you're not a good bird parent or that your bird is necessarily unhealthy. There are other lifestyle factors that influence a bird's well-being, and in the wild, birds eat far more fruits, nuts, and seeds due to their energy expenditure. I just wanted to share what worked for me!
Thanks <3
