New Pellet Brand! Any Experience With This One?

[Reggie]

So as I said, I've been trying to get my birds off of anything KayTee brand because of the things some people on here said about their business practices. I wasn't able to order Harrison's or Roudybush pellets online, and will have to do that sometime after I move out. But when I went to the pet store I saw some natural colored pellets made for budgies/cockatiels. The brand is "Mazuri" and the three reasons I bought it were (1) I really want my birds on something "natural" colored and not artificially colored because I'm sick to death of "technicolor poops," (2) the pet store I went to normally doesn't stock this brand and I couldn't find any other bird brand foods for macaws, cockatoos, etc. that were this one, and (3) I've never seen this brand before in my life - nor have I heard of it.
I've attached some pictures of the packaging - ingredients, the "guaranteed analysis" of nutritional value, and the "back cover" (summary of the brand) on the back.
I'd love some input on whether or not I should keep buying this, though I did see someone say that anything not KayTee or Zupreem was pretty much good.
I want to be sure the ingredients and analysis are good for budgies, and that I'm not springing a young, unjust death on them!

 

[Mizzely]

Mazuri is a known brand They primarily sell to zoos I believe. I don't know much about them because it's not sold to a lot of consumers it seems, but I don't see anything immediately concerning. About on par with Zupreem (which is NOT a bad pellet, so not sure who told you it was!)

 

[Jaguar]

Mazuri usually supplies large breeding operations/farms/etc. I consider it just "passable". It's about on par with Zupreem/Kaytee/Tropican/etc. they are all really similar ingredient wise.

 

[iamwhoiam]

I'm familiar with Mazuri but I don't purchase the bird diet. I get the Insectivore diet for Spee, my sparrow. I did talk to them about the small bird diet but we felt it was best to keep Spee on the Insectivore. Did you purchase directly from Mazuri?

 

[Reggie]

Mazuri is a known brand They primarily sell to zoos I believe. I don't know much about them because it's not sold to a lot of consumers it seems, but I don't see anything immediately concerning. About on par with Zupreem (which is NOT a bad pellet, so not sure who told you it was!)

I don't quite remember either! I must've misread or something because I saw it being sold on the Dr Foster & Smith website! I guess I'll keep that one on the grocery list since it has your stamp of approval!

Mazuri usually supplies large breeding operations/farms/etc. I consider it just "passable". It's about on par with Zupreem/Kaytee/Tropican/etc. they are all really similar ingredient wise.

It's good that they're similar ingredient wise then, so it won't be too big of a change in their diets and cause problems. I just wanted the artificial coloring gone.

I'm familiar with Mazuri but I don't purchase the bird diet. I get the Insectivore diet for Spee, my sparrow. I did talk to them about the small bird diet but we felt it was best to keep Spee on the Insectivore. Did you purchase directly from Mazuri?

No I purchased this bag from a pet store in town. I always forget that it's possible to buy directly from manufacturers.

 

[iamwhoiam]

MAZURI® | Exotic Animal Food
generally free shipping and they send out 10% off coupons every now and then

 

[Jaguar]

My guys get the fruity Zupreem but I'm trying to switch them to Tropican. It's colored, but with vegetable extracts instead of artificial dyes. I'm slowly trying to sneak more Harrison's in too, but they are stubborn.

 

[Mizzely]

Are there better pellets than Zupreem? Yes. I don't think it's the top of the class. But it's still a GOOD pellet. It's the one I use for conversion, and long term if the bird is stubborn. The main "gripe" is that it has sugar. But, I encourage you to eat one and then eat a cheerio and tell me which is sweeter there is not much in there at all!

 

[Mizzely]

My guys get the fruity Zupreem but I'm trying to switch them to Tropican. It's colored, but with vegetable extracts instead of artificial dyes. I'm slowly trying to sneak more Harrison's in too, but they are stubborn.

Hagen intune is naturally colored one you can try, too!

 

[Reggie]

My guys get the fruity Zupreem but I'm trying to switch them to Tropican. It's colored, but with vegetable extracts instead of artificial dyes. I'm slowly trying to sneak more Harrison's in too, but they are stubborn.

Happy is my most stubborn eater. Jersey likes to nibble on the bigger chunks of pellet, and Manny doesn't care he's already eating the Mazuri pellets!

Are there better pellets than Zupreem? Yes. I don't think it's the top of the class. But it's still a GOOD pellet. It's the one I use for conversion, and long term if the bird is stubborn. The main "gripe" is that it has sugar. But, I encourage you to eat one and then eat a cheerio and tell me which is sweeter there is not much in there at all!

Eating bird food? My family will definitely think I've gone crazy! But I'll give it a try next time I can get my hands on some cheerios.

 

[finchly]

i thought Mazuri was a top food? I'm confused.

I have mine on Roudybush, and after some reading have been trying to switch them to Tropican. No one is interested in switching.

 

[camelotshadow]

Hagen intune is naturally colored one you can try, too!

Higgins Intune I use & it is naturally colored & has natural fruit.

Also has better ingredients than corn & wheat.

I think Rios former owner used Mazuri. I just looked at your ingredients & not impressed but Roudybush is also mostly corn.

Intune has some brown rice & alot of other good things to mix it up & Rio seems to like it. Still has sugar though but can't have everything & the bird has to eat it.\\
still has corn first but offers more...

Ingredients
Ground Yellow Corn, Brown Rice, Soybean Meal, Ground Wheat, Oatmeal, Cane Sugar, Canola Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dicalcium Phosphate, Dried Egg Product, Flaxseed, Calcium Carbonate, Alfalfa Nutrient Concentrate, Sea Salt, Cranberries, Apples, Blueberries, Celery, Beets, Parsley, Lettuce, Spinach, Watercress, Brewer's Dried Yeast, DL-Methionine, L-Lysine, Choline Chloride, Algae Meal, Mixed Tocopherols (a natural preservative), Rosemary Extract, Potassium Chloride, Yeast Extract, Iron Oxide, L-Carnitine, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Zinc Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K), Calcium Iodate, Sodium Seleni, Cobalt Carbonate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Turmeric, Natural Annatto Coloring, Beet Juice, Natural Citrus Flavor, Natural Banana Flavor, Natural Pineapple Flavor, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Casei Fermentation Product.

 

[Macawnutz]

We use mazuri at work, not for my birds but for our exotics. What I don't like is the inconsistency of the product. Same products looking completely different, color size and according to our animals.... taste.

They have tried multiple times to get us to switch my birds over, I'm not impressed enough to even try.

 

[alshgs]

Familiar with the brand...but per my vet all of mine are on Harrison's...which was a surprisingly easy conversion. I remember having fed mazuri to past animals...but never birds as I didn't know they made it for birds

 

[expressmailtome]

Mazuri is a popular pellet for softbills.

 

[Reggie]

@expressmailtome What do you mean softbills? I've never heard that term before.

 

[Mizzely]

@expressmailtome What do you mean softbills? I've never heard that term before.

Mousebirds, toucans, lorikeets, etc. Softbill comes from the type of food they eat: soft foods like fruit, nectar, bugs.

Softbill - Wikipedia

 

[Reggie]

Mousebirds, toucans, lorikeets, etc. Softbill comes from the type of food they eat: soft foods like fruit, nectar, bugs.

Softbill - Wikipedia

Ohh, that makes sense, thank you for the clarification! I probably could've just googled it, lol.

 

[Monica]

I'm not a big fan of Purina, and when I found out that Mazuri is owned by the same company as Purina, well, I wasn't exactly pleased....

I'm not a big fan of Zupreem, either, due to sugars and dyes... but sometimes a pellet is better than no pellet.