Changes I've noticed since Makana (TAG) stopped eating Harrison High Potency

[SunUp]

Ok all you nutrition gurus, I'd love your thoughts. Makana ate Harrison HP (with a little Pepper and Maintenance thrown in) for over 10 years. About a year ago she decided she was done with it. After much angst and attempts at other pellets (still ongoing) she ended up on Nutriberries as her primary diet. I wanted her to at least have something with pellet-type nutrition, and figured Nutriberries would do for awhile...well about 9 months now.

So the changes I've noticed are
1) her beak is so much smoother. She used to develop thick ridges of excess beak material that would eventually fall off, but another would start up right away again. I'm not talking about the usual flaking...this was much thicker. Now her beak is totally smooth.

2) I don't have to clip her nails nearly as often. I used to have to clip them all.the.time. I tried all different types and sizes of perches, but her nails got so long so fast. I think I've had to clip them twice in the last year, rather than clipping about every 8 weeks.

So any ideas? My thought is perhaps the protein level in the High Potency was actually too high for her. Maybe TAGs don't need that much protein? Or maybe just my particular TAG doesn't need it? Harrison recommends HP for greys.

Btw, she's just finishing a big molt, and her feathers look great. That, coupled with the other changes I've seen (which I think are positive changes), seems to indicate she's doing just fine. So I guess if she ends up staying on Nutriberries I won't sweat it too much. But I'll keep trying with other pellets.

 

[JLcribber]

She obviously doesn't need HP. Try the regular for a while.

 

[wonderb]

I think HP is recommended for greys due to the fat content, not necessarily the protein content. In the wild, African Greys eat the fruit of african palm trees which are higher in fat (this is where RPO comes from). It's certainly possible the HP was too high in protein for her. It will be interesting to see if these changes hold up over several more years on the nutriberries, if you decide to keep her on that diet.

 

[Danita]

Does she eat any fresh stuff at all?

My TAG has the LT for dinner, he has a flakey beak too. But it is only 1/5 of his diet.

 

[SunUp]

Oh yes, she eats fresh. But the Harrison's was the majority of her diet.

 

[GlassOnion]

So you think Nutriberries are doing good for her? I'm interested in those too but I worry due to their sugar content(?).

 

[SunUp]

So you think Nutriberries are doing good for her? I'm interested in those too but I worry due to their sugar content(?).

Well, so far she seems to be doing well on them. I haven't noticed anything re: the sugar, but maybe I'm just not sure what I'd see. I'm not trying to endorse Nutriberries per se, just wanted to share my observations. But yeah, as of this point I certainly don't have any complaints.

 

[Danita]

I give Nutriberries for variety, in the dried mixes. They like the flavored ones.

 

[sodakat]

It would be interesting to compare blood work. Do you have a good base line on her from when she ate Harrisons?

 

[SunUp]

Her bloodwork has always been within normal range for everything. What do you have in mind to look at specifically? Maybe I could ask about it next time.

 

[Stormcloud]

I think the Adult Lifetime is probably provides more than enough nutrition for most birds unless they're breeding. I used to switch them up to HP when they were moulting, but their blood panels showed it was probably just a tiny bit strong for them. They both have to go back in 3 weeks for another one, which will be interesting since they've been on Adult Lifetime since that test was taken. While the second set of results will be interesting, Hooded Parrots are only small so the results are probably more relevant to owners of littles than Greys.

 

[jmfleish]

I've never had any success in getting my greys to eat anything Harrison's makes so I can't really comment on that. They don't really care for Nutriberries either although I would only offer them up as treats. For the most part, they get Roudybush as a main diet, Goldenfeast Madagascar Delite as a treat, and raw fresh foods. I add sprouts when I'm not lazy. My TAG used to have a flaky beak but over the last year or so has learned to keep his beak looking nice and smooth by filing it himself on his pedicure perch which also takes care of his nails. I never have to do anything to his nails and his beak looks baby smooth now that he takes care of it. My two CAGs have always done this themselves and I think he just learned by watching them.

Personally, I look at Nutriberries as kind of junk food and would also be worried about the high amount of sugar in them. I would suggest some kind of a fortified pellet over Nutriberries, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Lady Jane]

My TAG has eaten Harrison's HP for 4 years since she was a babe. Avian vets X2 said to keep her on that diet for life. Her blood work was always normal also. The vet liked Harrison's HP for the calcium.

I remove all food from the cage at night. Next am I measure the pellets and put then in the food cup on cage. She usually eats about half of them then and the rest in the evening. For variety I put other foods in the second food cup such as nuts with a pre-cracked shell, hemp seeds. chia seeds, pumpkin seeds and other healthy seed and nut offerings.
Could it be a matter of timing with your bird? For variety you could soak the pellets in fresh organic juices such as carrot. Perhaps she is just board and needs some variety.

 

[Saemma]

I feel that all of my parrots do very well with Harrisons HP coarse. With that said, their diet consists of many many other healthy foods. Especially fresh organic produce, sprouts, nuts and lots of Avian Organics treats mashes, breads.

We do not purchase Nutriberries ever since I took a closer look at the ingredient list. This has been since 5 years ago.

 

[SunUp]

My TAG has eaten Harrison's HP for 4 years since she was a babe. Avian vets X2 said to keep her on that diet for life. Her blood work was always normal also. The vet liked Harrison's HP for the calcium.

I remove all food from the cage at night. Next am I measure the pellets and put then in the food cup on cage. She usually eats about half of them then and the rest in the evening. For variety I put other foods in the second food cup such as nuts with a pre-cracked shell, hemp seeds. chia seeds, pumpkin seeds and other healthy seed and nut offerings.
Could it be a matter of timing with your bird? For variety you could soak the pellets in fresh organic juices such as carrot. Perhaps she is just board and needs some variety.

Makana ate it for over 10 years and her bloodwork was always fine. It's not a matter of bloodwork but of what I observe. I'm sure whe was bored, that's why she quite eating it!

 

[SunUp]

I feel that all of my parrots do very well with Harrisons HP coarse. With that said, their diet consists of many many other healthy foods. Especially fresh organic produce, sprouts, nuts and lots of Avian Organics treats mashes, breads.

We do not purchase Nutriberries ever since I took a closer look at the ingredient list. This has been since 5 years
ago.

Makana has always been fed lots of fresh.

This has kind of gotten off track. What I was hoping for input on is ideas on why she used to have rapid nail growth and heavy beak layers, and now that she's been on "a different formulated diet" she no longer does. I shouldn't have mentioned what she's been on, as it's moved this topic away from what I was looking for.

I guess I'll just talk to my vet about next time we go in. I just find it interesting.

 

[Saemma]

Makana has always been fed lots of fresh.

This has kind of gotten off track. What I was hoping for input on is ideas on why she used to have rapid nail growth and heavy beak layers, and now that she's been on "a different formulated diet" she no longer does. I shouldn't have mentioned what she's been on, as it's moved this topic away from what I was looking for.

I guess I'll just talk to my vet about next time we go in. I just find it interesting.

I understand. I don't think that my response is *off track* either. I do believe your vet would be the best person to speak to when it comes to your own grey's health status etc. I shared to illustrate that my grey Emma uses the Harrisons HP diet, however doesn't seem to have the same physical conditions that Makana seems to have had. Hope that makes sense and helps you to understand my perspective.

 

[Saemma]

Just thought of something. Emma's half of Makana's age and quite active. Maybe your grey's level of activity and wood destruction had something to do with those changes at that particular time? Just thoughts.

 

[SunUp]

I think the Adult Lifetime is probably provides more than enough nutrition for most birds unless they're breeding. I used to switch them up to HP when they were moulting, but their blood panels showed it was probably just a tiny bit strong for them. They both have to go back in 3 weeks for another one, which will be interesting since they've been on Adult Lifetime since that test was taken. While the second set of results will be interesting, Hooded Parrots are only small so the results are probably more relevant to owners of littles than Greys.

Gerard, what in the blood panels indicated HP was "strong" for your birds?