Short cuts to food prep for parrots

[mrstweet]

Sorry I've been kind of absent today. For the most part I've been feeling like poop. I think I have a stomach bug or something.

Anyway, now that Monty is going to be a permanent member of the family I want to do extra right by him and make sure he gets the nutrition he needs. I've been trying to get everyone else to eat fresh food, but since most of it gets wasted I don't try overly hard. The greenies and Cuppy will eat it occasionally; Monty is the only one who really dives in. Twink won't touch anything and Skittles won't either.

I was told by our Eclectus coordinator with Mickaboo that the Zupreem Naturals are a good pellet, and Monty does like them. I've read a lot about ekkies and pellets and how they need more fresh fruit than the average parrot, and how pellets can cause problems. (Some thanks goes out to rikkitikki with that.)

I know I'm bad at spending a lot of time to prepare fresh food for my fids. For the most part they get their pellets, bountiful harvest 1x/week, and some kind of human food every day (apples, bananas, grapes, eggs...vegs are harder since they don't seem to like them). I want to get some kind of routine set up where I prep food at the beginning of the week or weekend so I don't have to do it every day. AKA, I want short cuts.

Our commissary here also is notorious for selling fruits and vegs that are about to go bad. It seems like every time I buy them the shelf life is about 3 days, even for stuff like broccoli or bananas. I can manage to keep the apples fresh but that is all. The last couple times I tried to sprout I failed miserably, but I'll try that again, too.

I ordered some panandus and palm nuts from CN, and I'll be introducing those to the birds when they arrive.

 

[Greytfeather]

I'm sorry you're feeling under the weather.

The best thing I've found in my kitchen is my little one cup food chopper. Zip zip zip and the food is chopped. I find that the birds will pick at smaller bits than bigger, so this works for me. It's also good for chopping up 'glop' that is added to the corn meal mix for birdie bread.

It works for me.

 

[Meatball]

A food processor is a must for me. I just throw a bunch of veggies in there and a few seconds later I have mash. I also prep once every couple weeks and do a lot of freezing in ice cube trays for portions. I can't get to the store for fresh veggies every week so I stop up and pre make the mash. Birds don't mind and it is only an hour or two every few weeks.

 

[yvette]

Hope you feel better soon!

I also chop and place in baggies in the fridge. I bake batches of bird bread or muffins and freeze. I have also cooked beans, and added steamed chopped veggies. Place it in ice cube trays in the freezer. Pop them out and place in baggies. Each day I thaw 3 cubes. Enough to feed my flock. Some members dont like to freeze but I do it because it saves me a lot of time!

 

[mrstweet]

Thank you all! I am really going to have to try this birdie bread everyone always talks about!

 

[jasminlana]

yes I freeze birdie bread leftover veggies in ziploks the higgins foods r good mine love it i do brown rice boil in bag

 

[BirdyBooty]

We usually have our grains/beans/fruit/veggie mixes made in monthly batches and stored in the freezer, but we also occasionally make the seven layer salad you can read about here Seven Layer Salad

Rice cookers and food processors are great time savers!

A really simple birdy bread recipe we put in a handout for the sanctuary is -

4 c flour (use a variety of flours, whole wheat, buckwheat, garbanzo bean, rye,
oat, almond meal, corn meal etc. White flour is not recommended)

Sprinkles : Oats, millet, pumpkin seeds, safflower seeds, sesame seeds etc.

1 - 2 c water
1 c apple sauce
1 T aluminum free baking soda
1 c greens
1 carrot
1 c mixed berries fresh or frozen (or whatever you have on hand)
vegetable oil
1 egg (optional)

Place fruit, veggies and wet ingredients in a blender or food processor and
puree. Mix this in with the dry ingredients. If it is too stiff, you can add a little
fruit juice or soy/rice milk. You want a fairly stiff consistency. Grease a bread
pan or muffin tins and add bread mixture. Sprinkle tops with any variety of
the “sprinkles” above. Bake for about 20 minutes (will vary depending on
consistency) at 350 degrees.


This isn't my recipe, but it's a nice base for one. I usually have double the amount of dark leafy greens & tons of other veggies, a can of pumpkin or sweet potato & really whatever else I can get in there that is good for them. I tend to use no oil in the mix as I find the applesauce does fine. If I grease the pan I use coconut oil or sunflower oil.
My birds also really enjoy red pepper flakes, coconut shreds & cinnamon in theirs
You can play around with the recipe quite a bit. My birds aren't very picky eaters anymore so they are very forgiving when it doesn't come out perfectly