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[Mockinbirdiva]

I made a mixed veggie mash for my birds last night with butternut squash, sweet potato, baby carrots and one pink lady apple. Two cups of the squash, two cups of the sweet potato, two cups of the carrots.... all very finely chopped in my mini food processor Sunbeam Oskar. The last two cups of the carrots are when I added my apple to the oskar to chop together since the apples tend to stick to the sides of the processor because of the moisture content. Place all in a large bowl and add ceylon cinnamon and stir thoroughly, cover and microwave for 16 minutes and then let sit. Once it has cooled a bit I stir once more and then put enough in sandwich bags for storing in the freezer. I break off pieces to thaw and warm a bit to add to their cooked grains.... like half a small spoon on the side of their cup. It's very much enjoyed by the birds. If I fed those ingredients individually none would eat the squash. I think the cinnamon is what makes it more palatable for them. It's a very nice soft addition to my cooked meals. You might try it in smaller portions and you will also be able to crush some pellets- soften that and mix in. A hearty meal!

I took pictures before I cooked it so I'll share those later when I have time.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

Here's a photo of the mash. I've used Birdseye frozen spiral cut butternut squash in previous mixes but decided to go fresh with all my ingredients this time. This is before I cooked it or added the ceylon cinnamon. You can add other ingredients as you wish that will blend in if you have a picky eater. Quinoa would be a good item to add as well, just precook it and add to this mix. I haven't tried that but will one day. It's hard enough to get my zons to eat orange foods but they really love this!

 

[sunnysmom]

Poor Pip. I hope she feels better soon. My cockatiel always liked the Higgins Worldly Cuisine mixes.

 

[Pip's Owner]

Thank you! I'll be sure to try that soon. Pip has starated eating on her own again (so far she will only eat scrambled eggs, boiled rice, and chopped/powdered pellets and hemp and sunflower seeds). I've been trying to give her her favorite vegetables but she can't seem to bite off pieces of spinach and carrots with her beak and she won't touch boiled carrots or any soft/wet foods. She still can't eat her normal diet because one of the small protruding parts of her lower beak on her left has come off and she can't get any seeds or pellets between her beak. I'm not sure how long it will take to grow back or if it will grow back the same way but for now I need to give her a different diet until it heals. Does anyone know how long this might take to heal from their experience and what a healthy soft everyday diet would be for a recovering bird?

 

[Ripshod]

I'm not sure how long it will take to grow back or if it will grow back the same way but for now I need to give her a different diet until it heals. Does anyone know how long this might take to heal from their experience and what a healthy soft everyday diet would be for a recovering bird?

The bottom beak grows relatively fast. It certainly won't take so long that you need to worry about providing a balanced diet. She'll be cracking seed soon enough. Just keep feeding her whatever she will eat.

 

[12345678910112]

Hope Pip gets better soon it must be painful to eat with a broken beak.

 

[tka]

How's Pip today? Have you managed to get more food into her?

 

[Monica]

Have you tried sprouted seeds with her? Or perhaps cooked grains and healthy legumes? If she loves millet, then sprinkle any food you want her to eat with it.

It'll likely grow out normally like it never happened before. It may or may not require some trimming in the beginning but unlikely to cause issues long term. My mitred conure is missing half of his lower beak and he eats pellets and some seeds just fine. I hardly give him seeds since it does take him longer to consume them, but he still enjoys them. When I first got him over 12 years ago, he did have difficulty eating bigger foods. He could still do it, just took him a little more time. This was, of course, within the same year he had lost half of his beak and required two surgeries... but it was healing! He had too much damage though so it never grew back.

 

[janicedyh]

You could give Harrisons mash mixed with pureed fruit instead of water. I got this for Doby while he was ill and pureed papaya including seeds.

 

[Pip's Owner]

Hi! Pip is doing and feeling much better and has been able to crack millet seeds for a few days now (but nothing bigger than that). Ever since she was able to eat millet, she's been having it a lot. She's back to her normal weight now and acting fine but I don't know if it's healthy for her to be having only millet? She still occasionally tries to go back to eating her normal food (which I still provide along with soft foods she won't touch) but the food drops from her mouth everytime she picks it up. She can eat hard foods now but I don't know what to give her that's not too big besides millet.

 

[finchly]

That's not very healthy . I mean I understand the reasoning but since you asked. Did you try some sweet potato (cooked)? What about scrambled eggs? I guess there are other seeds close to the size of millet that you could use, canary grass seed, hemp seed, and sesame seeds. You can find most of those at a health food store in bulk. plus bits of almonds, cashews, or walnuts.

 

[Pip's Owner]

Thank you for the suggestions. I didn't want to keep giving her millet since I usually only give it as a treat but I don't want her to stop eating altogether.

 

[finchly]

Thank you for the suggestions. I didn't want to keep giving her millet since I usually only give it as a treat but I don't want her to stop eating altogether.

Of course not! That's the last thing you need. You know - even if you can't work it out and you keep giving her millet, it's only for a short time.

 

[Pip's Owner]

Thank you! I'll keep trying different things.

 

[iamwhoiam]

It's good to read that she is doing better. Let her keep eating the millet and do offer foods suggested by Tanya.

 

[Pip's Owner]

She just had some scrambled eggs and crushed sunflower seeds for dinner, well prepare some crushed nuts and vegetables for her in the morning.

 

[finchly]

She just had some scrambled eggs and crushed sunflower seeds for dinner, well prepare some crushed nuts and vegetables for her in the morning.

Great!

 

[Monica]

Sprouts are an easy way to provide more variety and they soak up water making them softer... seriously, give them a try!

Either buy some sprouts for birds, or go to a store and buy some seeds for sprouting. You can easily look at sprout mixes for birds to get an idea of what seeds are good for sprouting and go from there.

 

[SandraK]

Would Pip eat something like steamed/microwaved broccoli florets?