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What to feed a bird

Jisoo

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Hi, what are you supposed to feed a bird? What type of pellet brand do you use? What types of seeds and grains do you give to your bird? What ingredients do you use in chop?
 

Mizzely

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Hi there! Your question seems easy to answer, but if you ask 100 people, you will get 100 responses ;)

I am a pellet feeder...I prefer pellets that are vitamin fortified, with no artificial color and no sugar, but sometimes birds are really stubborn! So I recommend:

1. A pellet your bird will eat
2. That they do well on
3. That you can afford.

I really like Hagen Tropican and Harrison's, but currently feeding Zupreem as that's what my picky Jardine's will consume right now ;) Lots of options though! Many will send samples if you contact them, or have a money back guarantee.

Pellets for Parrots

I give very little seeds. Volkman and Higgins both have clean mixes though.

As for chop, it's always changing for me!

 

DoubleTake

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If you are feeding seeds to a lovebird than the majority should be plain grass canary seed. I do 50% plain canary seed, 20% of a local small bird premium mix(no sun flower seed), 15% cockatiel mix(no sun flower seed), the other 15% is a mix of buckwheat, oat groats, hemp seed, millet pieces that fall off the sprays(the bird store I go to just throws these away so I take them) and alfalfa. I also have a small bowl of small hookbill tops pellet. These two are always available to my lovebird all day. She gets apple and chop 4-5 times a week and the other days she gets sprouted seeds.
 
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mythic55

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Pellets:
I feed Roudybush to everyone but my Ekkies because they sent me a bunch of free bags of it :rolleyes:
I give My Ekkie Tops (in very limited quantities as ekkies require 80% moitsure so pellets are a 'no no').
I generally like Hagens- It doesnt have all the corn and soy.

Chop is this (I copied from a post I made yesterday- today is changed slightly)
Bok choy, vitamins C, A, K, and folate
• Swiss chard, potassium, magnesium
• Butternut, Vit A, thiamin, niacin
• Zucchini, Vit A, protein
• Kohlrabi, Vit C
• Kale, Vit A, C, K, manganese
• Corn, lutein and zeaxanthin
• Collard greens, calcium
• Carrot, vit a antioxidants
• Beets, B vitamins
• Brussel sprouts, K C
• Celery, folate, fiber
• Spring greens, sulforaphane and indoles, potassium
• Peppers, C
• Broccoli, C, K
• Green beans, phosphorus, potassium
• Cauliflower, Vit C
• Parsley, Riboflavin, zinc
• Cilantro, choline
• Turnips, B-vitamins
• Sweet potato, Vit A, biotin
• Pumpkin, potassium and beta-carotene
• Kidney beans, omega
• Pear, B6
• Figs, copper, potassium, managanese
• Blueberries, A E

ADDITIVES
Bee Pollen, 250 types of nutrients, including vitamins and flavonoids
Egg yolk, vitamin D, biotin
Spirulina, antioxidant and inflammation-fighting
Cuddle bone and egg shell- calcium

SPROUTS:
To simplify sprouting, take 3 tablesppons of your regular old bird seed mix.
Place in in a cup or jar, and fill with water. Then drain the water off every 24 hours for 3 days. Then poor off the water and put the seeds on a plate- they should be engorged- and will have little tails.

Seed Mix, I mix my own- to ensure that there is the right combination of fat depending on season, etc
Red millet, nyger, white millet, canary grass, buckwheat, hemp, paddy rice, peeled oats, wild turnip, rolled oats, sorghum, safflower, wheat, linseed, sesame, lettuce, flax, chia and hemp.
 

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Zara

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For seeds I make my own mix in a large tub;
1 kilo budgie/lovebird mix (it´s quite millet based with other seeds mixed in; safflower, flax, oats etc but no sunflower).
2 kilo of canary grass seed,
3-4 cups of buckwheat and
200g+- hemp seed.... I think that is all...

Pellets;
My birds got on well with Hagen Tropican. I recently tried Psittacus mini, but my birds don´t seem keen.

Veggies;
I just add in what I have. I keep some frozen veggies for when I don´t have many options on hand. I use Mizzelys Chop Recipe article to see which veggies are better than others and get ideas on how much of each to give. It´s a great read. There are also tips at the bottom of the page on how to introduce the foods :)
 

Jisoo

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Thanks guys! My birds LOVE Roudybush! The only problem is that with the pellet being crumbly, my birds love to make parrot soup with it. :wtf:They hated Zupreem Fruitblend and they're okay with Zupreem Natural. The aren't too picky though, it takes them 5mins to try a new food!!!:D
 
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