Formula advice

[Chrilia]

Hi there, I’ve been raising birds for decades and I’ve been pretty faithful to Roudybush formula, but lately I’ve been having issues with it. I had a red rump that didn’t get any calories from it and had to switch because of rapid weight loss. We did fine but it was scary. I’ve had a handful of cockatiels that also seemed to not gain weight or grow well, and screamed for food constantly no matter how full they were for weeks after they should have weaned. I also have had many bird who were just fine, so I’m confused by the mixed results. I’ve heard rumors the company was sold and wonder if this is due to changes in the formulation, or if it’s just weird coincidences. That being said I’d like to get advice from others on what is working best for them. Recently we had a supply chain issue and I used kaytee high fat macaw, because that’s what I could get, and had good results. I may be biased but I’m not a fan of the regular kaytee, though it may prove to be a better choice now. Thanks for your advice and experience!

 

[Zara]

Roudybush formula, [......] I also have had many bird who were just fine, so I’m confused by the mixed results. I’ve heard rumors the company was sold and wonder if this is due to changes in the formulation, or if it’s just weird coincidences.

@Mizzely might know abou that.

. I may be biased but I’m not a fan of the regular kaytee

I have read others also not liking it/having poor results.

I am loyal to Nutribird for lovebird chicks. Never had any issues, always had good results. It is available in many countries.

 

[Mizzely]

I haven't heard anything about it being sold. They did have a recipe change for their pellets but that was several years ago at this point. You could email and ask if the formula has been changed at all.

I'm not usually a fan of the Kaytee company either, but I know a lot of people swear by their formula (especially the high fat).

I don't have advice about what formula to use though. @BrianB might?

 

[BrianB]

I am not a fan of Kaytee either, but the high-fat formula is highly recommended for bigger birds. Over the years, I've used Mazuri, Psittacus, and Hagan Tripucan. Each one has had positives and negatives, and for a while, I kept a bag of each in the freezer just in case.

I used Mazuri for all of my conures and cockatiels, and I never had any issues with it. You can now purchase Mazuri online in 4-pound bags at a comparable price to Kaytee. I switched to Hagan Tropican because I was purchasing Mazuri in 20lb buckets, and the price went up rapidly over the course of a year and a half.

Tropican is suitable for all of the smaller birds and macaws that don't need a high-fat diet. I haven't had an issue with it, and the price is comparable in the 4 lb bag.

Psittacus is good, but I think more of a specialized product. I used it for a hyacinth, and I could rave about how well the bird did on it, but when I used their formula for an African Grey, the chick refused to eat it from the first hand feeding. Luckily, I had a bag of Tropican on hand, and the AG chick would eat that. Psitttacus makes food specifically for African Greys, and my greys would not eat it. It's a good product, but I'm not sure what to say about using their formula for smaller birds.

It's not a bad idea to have a few bags of different brands on hand just in case you have a situation where a bird won't eat one or the other. Check with the manufacturer, but it should be good in the freezer for up to a year. In that case, if you have an issue with a bird that won't eat one or isn't thriving on one formula, you have something else on hand to try.

 

[Chrilia]

I used Hagen years ago (a couple of decades) and I remember really liking it, and I think the reason I stopped using it was that I couldnt find it out here anymore (I’m in the US, in California). It looks like it’s not hard to find online, but I haven’t seen it with any of my wholesalers. Might be worth getting a bag to try.
I was wondering about the Mazuri, I know that some of their products are absolutely amazing for more exotic species, and I like the things I’ve used. I think these are the top two contenders.
I forgot to add one of the other issues I had with the roudybush; for quite awhile now ALL of the conures I’ve raised have done fine on it until they are feathered out and then they start to refuse or regurgitate all of it, around 2 weeks before weaning. I’ve had a couple I had to move entirely to monkey chow to get them to eat anything. The last year has been rough.

 

[Matto]

I've never liked the roudybush formula, and I don't know any professional breeders who use it. In my experience:

• Psittacus is overall the best. Their specialized formulas were developed over decades of trials on their own breeding flock and nursery. I always try to have their crop milk and neonate formulas on hand for emergencies.
• Tropican is very good for most parrot species, though it may require added peanut butter for cockatoos and macaws. I've had mixed results using it for newly hatched chicks.
• Kaytee high-fat is good if one cannot get the more specialized high-fat formulas for cockatoos and macaws from Psittacus. It may still require peanut butter.
• Regular Kaytee is better than nothing, and often the only thing local pet stores carry. For many small birds it will work fine.

These are the only ones I've tried.

 

[Chrilia]

Thanks everyone. I ordered mazuri and Hagen, and some more Kaytee macaw. I’ll be using them for different species. I’ll continue to do some more research too. I appreciate it.

 

[T. gillii]

Right now I am using psittacus parrot (I breed conures) and it is working well. I also liked Kaytee High Fat for conures. I did get an email from psittacus that the price will be increasing, though. It is very affordable currently if you have a breeder account, but I'm not sure once they raise the price. I also used Higgin's originally but the babies just didn't like it very much and there were issues getting it shipped consistently. The only thing to watch for with Psittacus is that you are feeding the right formula.

 

[Chrilia]

I did get an email from psittacus that the price will be increasing, though. It is very affordable currently if you have a breeder account, but I'm not sure once they raise the price.

I signed up for a shop account, but waiting for approval to see what the prices are. Hopefully they’ll still be fairly reasonable.