I've been reading Russ Shade's book, The Practical Pionus, which I love. I do have some questions though about some of the things he talks about in his book, and wonder what y'all think about these:
1) He feeds 2 T. per day of seed (excluding sunflower seeds) at their night meal. (isn't that a lot?)
2) When he talks about calcium needs, he talks about yogurt and cottage cheese being good sources of calcium. I thought birds weren't supposed to have dairy products.
3) When he talks about bean mixtures that he sprouts, he includes navy beans, pinto beans, white beans with black eyes, kidney beans and many more. I thought some of those beans were only supposed be served if cooked first. Thoughts?
4) He avoids soybean products as protein because he said when maxi pi's were studied in the wild, even though there was a huge soybean field right near where they were feeding, the birds were never seen eating any of the soybeans. I see soy products in tons of bird food products.
5) He only feeds a bean/pasta type mash once every 2-3 weeks. I thought most people who serve mash serve it much more frequently. Any ideas as to why he would limit that?
6) He doesn't serve more than 2 t. per day of pellets because he said when he and a lot of other pi breeders fed more, they saw a lot of birds with gout, but when they decreased the pellets, the problem went away. I thought a lot of people left pellets in the cage for the birds all the time.
He does say the bulk of his feed consists of fresh veggies and fruit. Now he is very clear to say that no one can say for sure exactly what parrots need to eat to stay their healthiest, and he is stating what he is using, and why, but isn't telling others what to do. I'm just wondering what you think of some of his practices.
Thanks.
1) He feeds 2 T. per day of seed (excluding sunflower seeds) at their night meal. (isn't that a lot?)
2) When he talks about calcium needs, he talks about yogurt and cottage cheese being good sources of calcium. I thought birds weren't supposed to have dairy products.
3) When he talks about bean mixtures that he sprouts, he includes navy beans, pinto beans, white beans with black eyes, kidney beans and many more. I thought some of those beans were only supposed be served if cooked first. Thoughts?
4) He avoids soybean products as protein because he said when maxi pi's were studied in the wild, even though there was a huge soybean field right near where they were feeding, the birds were never seen eating any of the soybeans. I see soy products in tons of bird food products.
5) He only feeds a bean/pasta type mash once every 2-3 weeks. I thought most people who serve mash serve it much more frequently. Any ideas as to why he would limit that?
6) He doesn't serve more than 2 t. per day of pellets because he said when he and a lot of other pi breeders fed more, they saw a lot of birds with gout, but when they decreased the pellets, the problem went away. I thought a lot of people left pellets in the cage for the birds all the time.
He does say the bulk of his feed consists of fresh veggies and fruit. Now he is very clear to say that no one can say for sure exactly what parrots need to eat to stay their healthiest, and he is stating what he is using, and why, but isn't telling others what to do. I'm just wondering what you think of some of his practices.
Thanks.
