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UK based pellet brands?

Tapew0rrm

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Okay, so,,I'm looking for a bit of advice here. I know that all birds have different preferences in pellets and there's no "one size fits all" situation with them, but I'm wanting to do my best for Aro's health. I was advised to use tops with him as it's the best for birds apparently, but, since it's a US brand, it's...very hard to find here. No matter where I look, it's out of stock. It seems completely infeasible to find on a regular basis. So, he's currently on Harrison's as a changover from seeds. Buuut...I've equally heard thats TERRIBLE for birds and actually very unhealthy. And, since his main favourite treats are staples of the pellet (sunflower seeds), I don't think long term it'll work for him, and I don't want to risk it.

So, uk Conure owners..What pellets do you give your b0rds? Aro is the least picky bird ever so far, the only thing he's outright refused to eat is pine nut & eggs, he even seems completely happy eating pellets, so he's not a fussy eater really. I just want to find something thats easily accessible and not unhealthy. :(
 

Tapew0rrm

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Oh!! Also, while I'm asking this..Semi related. When making chop, is it safe to freeze batches to make it last longer since Aro is my only bird? Or is that less beneficial to him since it messes with the nutrients of the veggies?
 

Shezbug

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Okay, so,,I'm looking for a bit of advice here. I know that all birds have different preferences in pellets and there's no "one size fits all" situation with them, but I'm wanting to do my best for Aro's health. I was advised to use tops with him as it's the best for birds apparently, but, since it's a US brand, it's...very hard to find here. No matter where I look, it's out of stock. It seems completely infeasible to find on a regular basis. So, he's currently on Harrison's as a changover from seeds. Buuut...I've equally heard thats TERRIBLE for birds and actually very unhealthy. And, since his main favourite treats are staples of the pellet (sunflower seeds), I don't think long term it'll work for him, and I don't want to risk it.

So, uk Conure owners..What pellets do you give your b0rds? Aro is the least picky bird ever so far, the only thing he's outright refused to eat is pine nut & eggs, he even seems completely happy eating pellets, so he's not a fussy eater really. I just want to find something thats easily accessible and not unhealthy. :(
Can you share what you have heard that is so bad about Harrison's pellets?
Harrison's is generally regarded as the best brand of choice, or at least, one of the best brands out there from everything I have read and heard.
I personally wont feed tops pellets/ I have no interest in it- my bird does not get enough natural daily unfiltered sunlight for tops to be a smart option for us (plus he hated it as much as I did when we tried it lol), if Roudybush was still available here I would happily use that as Burt loved it when he was little. Burt (and now Birdie as well) is not fussy with pellets and neither am I even if I am not very keen on many of the ingredients in them- I honestly do not know nearly enough about bird nutrition to make any claims of one pellet being better than another and my vets have not had a preference of one pellet brand over another other than to suggest that fortified is best in most pet parrot cases.

I think you will find most of the pellet brands available are from the US, Vetafarm pellets are Aus made and I am pretty sure they are available in the UK but I am not certain.

You can freeze your chop, you will want to remove as much water as possible (pour chop onto a clean teatowel or paper towel before sectioning and freezing) so it freezes and defrosts nicely and you will want to freeze it in either small ice cube trays or as flat as you can so it can be easily separated for single serves. You will find many tips and recipes for chop if you do a search.
I do use some frozen veg (peas, green or butter beans, corn and a mix of riced broccoli, carrot, cauliflower are the main froz veg we use) but I no longer make or freeze batches of chop.
All my birds prefer most of their veg fresh and they actually eat more veg with huge lumps and chunks of it to interact with, they are overall much happier at breaky time with a little less variety each day (they get a few different things on offer each day to make sure they get a good variety over the week) but more food to tear apart. I find it easier and more cost effective now to just make/chop up extra of what we are having for tea each night and put it aside as a raw veg chunks for the birds, they will also usually get a small dish of whatever cooked veg and grains we are having for tea at night too.
 

Mizzely

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The best pellet is the one they will eat, do well on, and that fits your budget.

Harrison's is one of the most research backed pellets available. Roudybush is also really well studied.

I alternate between Harrison's and Psittacus because my bird is a jerk and randomly stops eating pellets :shake: He was on Zupreem Fruity for a couple years and did very well on it.

You definitely can freeze, or do "not chop" Chop or Whole Food?
 

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Wardy

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I found Harrisons pepper was the first pellets both of my conures ate it was very quick transitioning them from seeds. They now eat Roudybush mini occasionally getting Harrisons and Pretty bird pellets they will both eat all the roudybush before touching the others.
The only pellet they wouldnt touch was higgins they also both get a few nutriberries a day.
 

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Oh!! Also, while I'm asking this..Semi related. When making chop, is it safe to freeze batches to make it last longer since Aro is my only bird? Or is that less beneficial to him since it messes with the nutrients of the veggies?
I make huge amounts of chop to last about a month, and put into the ziplock bags, and freeze. I take one out each day or two for him and it stays in the fridge. I've never had an issue with doing so either.
 

Tapew0rrm

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Can you share what you have heard that is so bad about Harrison's pellets?
Harrison's is generally regarded as the best brand of choice, or at least, one of the best brands out there from everything I have read and heard.
I personally wont feed tops pellets/ I have no interest in it- my bird does not get enough natural daily unfiltered sunlight for tops to be a smart option for us (plus he hated it as much as I did when we tried it lol), if Roudybush was still available here I would happily use that as Burt loved it when he was little. Burt (and now Birdie as well) is not fussy with pellets and neither am I even if I am not very keen on many of the ingredients in them- I honestly do not know nearly enough about bird nutrition to make any claims of one pellet being better than another and my vets have not had a preference of one pellet brand over another other than to suggest that fortified is best in most pet parrot cases.

I think you will find most of the pellet brands available are from the US, Vetafarm pellets are Aus made and I am pretty sure they are available in the UK but I am not certain.

You can freeze your chop, you will want to remove as much water as possible (pour chop onto a clean teatowel or paper towel before sectioning and freezing) so it freezes and defrosts nicely and you will want to freeze it in either small ice cube trays or as flat as you can so it can be easily separated for single serves. You will find many tips and recipes for chop if you do a search.
I do use some frozen veg (peas, green or butter beans, corn and a mix of riced broccoli, carrot, cauliflower are the main froz veg we use) but I no longer make or freeze batches of chop.
All my birds prefer most of their veg fresh and they actually eat more veg with huge lumps and chunks of it to interact with, they are overall much happier at breaky time with a little less variety each day (they get a few different things on offer each day to make sure they get a good variety over the week) but more food to tear apart. I find it easier and more cost effective now to just make/chop up extra of what we are having for tea each night and put it aside as a raw veg chunks for the birds, they will also usually get a small dish of whatever cooked veg and grains we are having for tea at night too.

Typically the first line of ingredients is the most included one. When I was looking at the pellets that I'm feeding Aro, I noticed that the top ingredients are typically used as filler, and not great for nutritional benefit (Corn especially, given its the top of the list.) Along with that, peanuts are a pretty main ingredient for a lot of their pellets too (can't confirm for all of them, just a few), which is noted by multiple people to sometimes be very dangerous for birds because some can have allergic reactions to it. I don't personally feellike the risk is worth what they're getting out of eating them. :(

I'm currently feeding fresh right now, but given some days I have pretty bad motivation issues where I don't feel physically up to preparing them, having a backup like chop sounds like a good option so tthat I know even when I'm not feeling 100%, Aro isn't suffering because of that, which is why I wanted to try out making it to see if it works for him and if he'll enjoy it.
 

CrazyKozmo

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I have two green cheeks. One I've had for 20 years since babyhood, the other I've had for almost 16 years (don't know her age, she's a rescue). They've been eating Harrison's pellets since arriving at my house. They also get fresh sprouts and veggies (and a little fruit) daily. They are doing well. My two caiques didn't like Harrison's pellets, so I have them on Caitec Oven Fresh Bites...and they are doing well. Prior to this flock, I did try to get my birds on Tops (I think I had one of my green cheeks at this time), and nobody liked it..so I went back to Harrisons. I agree with @Mizzely...the best pellet is one they will eat, do well on, fits your budget, and is available to you (no matter which county you live in).
 

Mizzely

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I've never heard of a peanut allergy for parrots.

Usually the issue with peanuts is that they have a risk of aspergillus spores, but Harrison's tests all of their ingredients coming in, and the final product, for mycotoxins (which aspergillus is one of) and has the lowest acceptable number in the industry of 0 ppm. Others I asked were around 5 ppm, which is still very low but not 0.

I hate the term filler. Filler implies the ingredient has no function, which is simply not true.

Corn is an easily accessible grain that provides essential amino acids and nutrients.

Its naturally tasty, so they are more likely to eat it.

It costs less, so people can more easily afford it.

I'm passionate about pellets because it is one of the easiest ways to avoid nutritional deficiency, which my parrot almost died from. Pellets literally saved his life.
 

Tapew0rrm

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Hmm :/ Maybe I was wrong about it? From most videos I watched and such they seemed to make it out to be this huge deal and how its sooo unhealthy for birds. Little confused there :/

But, since Aro has shown absolutely no issues from eating it, and seems happy to, I'll keep him on it for now and just keep a close eye to make sure he's okay? (Especially since its the ONLY pellet food that I can actually find where I live and don't have to pay shipping for)
It's better for him to be on pellets and used to eating them then sticking to seeds at the very least, I think?
 

Mizzely

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Seeds are lacking many vital nutrients. My bird was on a seed only diet before I got him. He had respiratory issues and heart issues because he was seriously lacking calcium, D3, and Vitamin A. These have all resolved with pellets. In fact, the only pellet I could get him to eat was corn based, had sugar, and dyes. But still saved his life.

Unfortunately a lot of the Internet is more concerned with clicks and watches than they are about actual information. The more sensational the headline or topic, the more money they make. Dog and cat food and people have been vilifying corn for years and people erroneously just copy and paste that information to birds. My dog food also has corn in it, because unfortunately, grain free and alternative grains foods give him the runs.

Again it comes down to what works for you and your pet. What "experts" on the internet say is usually just white noise that causes confusion.

There's a flock of orange winged Amazon's at University of California-Davis that have been only fed Roudybush since the 1980s, and they are still thriving and healthy. As far as I know, it's the longest running food trial on a parrot food. And yeah, Roudybush is corn based.
 

April

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I've had a total of 6 parrots of various species on it for a mix of years and months(depending how long I had them) and every single one showed improvement in feather quality after being on it vs the other pellets they were on. It's what my general practice exotics vets have recommended(as well as Roudybush or Lafabers(sp) and my Board Certified Avian Vet with 30 plus years as such recommends most of all and sells it at her practice.

I'm not saying it's the greatest pellet ever since unlike @Mizzely or others I personally haven't done indepth search but it's the one that I will always use and recommend to others based on my personal experience with it and how my parrots noticeably improved health wise since switching to it. If I couldn't get Harrisons anymore I'd switch to Roudybush because that's what I fed before Harrisons and it was also loved by several and I had no issues with it and trusted it was a healthy and good choice of pellet to feed I just preferred to have them on Harrisons after it was recommended by multiple vets.

Harrisons has long been said to not be easy to switch to(I've had it vary from 3 weeks or less by some miracle lol) so the fact that Aro will happily eat it is a huge deal if you continue to feed it.
 
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Wardy

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Its worth trying other pellets so you can find another pellet as a backup if your birds favoured pellet becomes unavailable.
Roudybush was unavailable in the UK for months last year but both my girls took other pellets.

Zupreem is another they have both enjoyed..
 

MommyBird

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I think it is a good idea to have them used to at least 2 brands of pellets.
There have been times when one brand or another is not available or has a recipe change and you need to rely on something else.
 

AussieBird

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I think if you ever watch bird related videos you need to take everything with a grain of salt. Even some of the popular creators promote incorrect information (off the top of my head it really bugs me the one who still thinks cuttlebones are necessary and a source of calcium :grumpy:)
I try to always double check anything and everything by those here on AA, here is the best and biggest collection of bird knowledge!
After all my reading and watching on things related to bird diet, I've decided I don't think any one diet should be pushed. Every bird is different. Every person has access to different things. If you can do fresh and your birds are healthy, good job! If you're in a difficult situation and all you have access to is cheap pellets, good job for trying your best!! IMO it's a complex thing, we really don't actually know much about caring for birds in captivity.
 

Icey

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Dolly gets zupreem fruit blend, and so does Frankie, as well as Zupreem natural.
Now that I have given Frankie Harrison's he acts like it's his favorite treat next to pine nuts lol.
You can't always go by ratings online. If you listen to the people who use them for their birds and are happy with them, that's what you should judge your opinion on.
If you can get small bags of a few different ones, Aro will let you know what he likes ;)
 
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