My Dry Mixes

[allison]

Kei's has Dr.Harvey's Collosol Cockatiel; Higgins Mayan Harvest; Avian Organics Cazuela, Pura Vida, Calypso Carrot, & Mini Baja Bites; Phoenix Forage Roll's the Unpellet mix; Totally Organic Pellets; Harrison's Pepper Lifetime Coarse Pellets; Hagen Tropican.
Kei doesn't get very many pellets. I give him 1 tbls of dry food a day and he only has a few pellets in it. Pionus are prone to kidney and liver issues and most pellets have way too much protein for them if fed as a main part of their diet.
The little guys get Dr. Harvey's Parakeet; Higgins Mayan Harvest; Avian Organics Cazuela & Pura Vida; Phoenix Forage Roll's the Unpellet mix
The little guys don't get any pellets because mutation parrotlets seem to have issues with them and my vet does not recomend feeding them to small birds due to the high liklihood of gout and liver disease if fed a diet high in protein.
All of my birds get mostly fresh food (about 75% of their diet) and just get a little bit of dry food at night before bed.
I'm very happy with this mix.
Pic #1: Kei's Mix
Pic #2: The little guys' mix

 

[birdlover82]

Thanks for sharing. I'm always interested to see what other peoples choices are in their Parrotlets diet. I also don't feed pellets to Gwen. So does your vet even say not to feed budgies the pellets?

 

[Babybreau]

Sounds like an awesome mix...

i'm slowly trying new things and seeing what I can incorporate into a dry mix for my fids as well.

 

[GRANNYKAT50]

That stuff really does look good.
The vet I take my guys to told me to feed pellets but I don't really like to. My vet is listed as an Avian Vet now on a site but when I was there last she wasn't. Having a yellow mutation really scares me with the pellets I will have to try out those things Thanks

 

[allison]

Thanks for sharing. I'm always interested to see what other peoples choices are in their Parrotlets diet. I also don't feed pellets to Gwen. So does your vet even say not to feed budgies the pellets?

When Miracle (my old budgie) got liver disease and gout, my vet said the most likely candidate was actually a diet high in pellets rather than seeds as she knew that I fed a lot of fresh food. She said she does not recomend feeding any pellets to small birds. At the rescue, the small birds are fed a 50-50 pellet to seed and also get fresh food but some choose not to eat it. When I got her for the first year and a half, I continued the high pellet content. I had been brain washed into thinking pellets were good and seeds were bad. Pellets can be good in moderation, but really all birds need a lot of fresh food. In a perfect world, all small birds would eat only fresh food; sprouted grains and seeds, leafy greens, vegetables, and a small amount of berries, not much fruit. In the wild most parrots do not eat very many seeds with the exception of ground feeders (budgies and cockatiels, etc). Canopy feeders eat almost all vegetation. Some of the larger species will eat nuts because they require more protein. Parrotlets are more active and require a bit more protein than my pionus (though he is 6x's their size). I use sprouted beans for this extra protein, but still not too much of them.
Pionus actually only require around 2-4% protein in their diets, most pellets and seed mixes have close to 12-18% protein. That is why they are prone to obesiety, gout, and liver disease; even on pelleted diets.
I would suggest you check out Holistic Bird to see their food pyramid.

That stuff really does look good.
The vet I take my guys to told me to feed pellets but I don't really like to. My vet is listed as an Avian Vet now on a site but when I was there last she wasn't. Having a yellow mutation really scares me with the pellets I will have to try out those things Thanks

Do not feed pellets. Many vets do not do species specific research on what your specific bird requires. It is kind of the old way of view that is slowly being found wrong. "All birds must have pellets to be healthy". Really, all birds must have FRESH FOOD daily (or several times a week) to be healthy.

 

[Deejo]

When Miracle (my old budgie) got liver disease and gout, my vet said the most likely candidate was actually a diet high in pellets rather than seeds as she knew that I fed a lot of fresh food. She said she does not recomend feeding any pellets to small birds. At the rescue, the small birds are fed a 50-50 pellet to seed and also get fresh food but some choose not to eat it. When I got her for the first year and a half, I continued the high pellet content. I had been brain washed into thinking pellets were good and seeds were bad. Pellets can be good in moderation, but really all birds need a lot of fresh food. In a perfect world, all small birds would eat only fresh food; sprouted grains and seeds, leafy greens, vegetables, and a small amount of berries, not much fruit. In the wild most parrots do not eat very many seeds with the exception of ground feeders (budgies and cockatiels, etc). Canopy feeders eat almost all vegetation. Some of the larger species will eat nuts because they require more protein. Parrotlets are more active and require a bit more protein than my pionus (though he is 6x's their size). I use sprouted beans for this extra protein, but still not too much of them.
Pionus actually only require around 2-4% protein in their diets, most pellets and seed mixes have close to 12-18% protein. That is why they are prone to obesiety, gout, and liver disease; even on pelleted diets.
I would suggest you check out Holistic Bird to see their food pyramid.

Do not feed pellets. Many vets do not do species specific research on what your specific bird requires. It is kind of the old way of view that is slowly being found wrong. "All birds must have pellets to be healthy". Really, all birds must have FRESH FOOD daily (or several times a week) to be healthy.

Excellent post.

Doris

 

[southernbirds]

Very interesting. I love to mix up different seed sources. I also give pellets and fresh vegs.

 

[birdlover82]

Thank you Allison for taking the time and explaining all of that. It's very motivating for me.

 

[Gen120]

oo, that looks like an awesome mix!

 

[allison]

Thank you Allison for taking the time and explaining all of that. It's very motivating for me.

No problem, it took a lot of research and the personal experiences of other people, as well as my experiences with Miracle, that finally got me to this point. I used to feed pellets religiously.