Marianna

Hi ZivaDiva, According to my research all birds, but greys in particular are perhaps a little more sensitive to the low level of V-D3, which is produced by sunlight. So if you are in an area where you can offer natural sunlight year around then I recommend to take your grey(s)out for at least 15 minutes every day, if this is possible. V-D3 is necessary for calcium assimilation. If it is not possible to take your grey outsite and/or during the winter months, you can offer Stonyfield (organic) low fat plain yogurt, which is fortified with V-D3, about 3 times a week, the amount is small, like 1/2 of a teaspoon. Also, you can supplement your grey's diet either with flax seed oil, or unrefined red palm oil, about 1/4 teaspoons everyday. I personally prefer fresh palm nuts, which I buy from a Florida orchard. I give my greys, 1-2 every day. You can also supplement his/her diet with Alfalfa powder, which you can purchase in any health food store. The recommended amount is about 1/4 capsule, a dash on the tip of a knife, daily. Mix this into the food. Alfalfa contains lots of minerals, vitamins and phytonutrients. The above suggestions are for parrots who eat only fresh foods and seeds, not pellets! Pellets are already fortified with all these supplements! Warm regards, Marianna http://www.juliascountrypantry.com

Hi, I see this post a bit older and since then you might have already changed her diet or at least have some good progress. You've gotten much good advice, but my experience may still be helpful to you or others who will read this tread. Julia, my first grey was wild caught and before I adopted her, she lived in a dark basement in a nesting box (not even a cage for them!)with another grey for at least couple of years and had nothing but seeds and dirty water...I wonder sometimes how they survived on that! When she came to live with me I fed her the veggies and fruits by hand and at the table while I was eating, so she got use to it. She gets fresh veggies at least 3 times a week, on a skew wrapped up with brown sandwich bag, so she has to work a little to get it:) She likes to chew, so this seemed to be an obvious solution. Breakfast is the best time to introduce new food, assuming there is no food in her cage overnight to fill her up. This is the time when you should offer sprouted grains and legume mix with fresh vegetables and a little fruit (berries are very good), making a breakfast mash. In the beginning you can mix seeds into this mash, you can do half & half. She will go for it and start picking out the seeds and meanvile also ingest some good food too. Then you can start withdrawing the seeds gradually and eventually she will eat the whole mash without the seeds. This is how I did it with Julia....but of course her favorite is still the seeds which she and the others get early evening for snacking on while getting ready for sleep. When they are done I take out the food bowls. I hope this helps. Just be patient and keep trying, don't give up! Good luck, Marianna http://www.juliascountrypantry.com<br><br>Post edited by: Marianna, at: 2009/10/28 22:34

Hi all, Yes you are right, sprouting and food preparation in general can be daunting and also frustrating, especially when after all the hard work, our parrots hardly touch it. After a few tries, most people give up on sprouting and even on preparing a large variety of fresh veggies daily, which parrots need so badly for their health. That is why, to help parrot owners and their parrots, I opened my small home based business, named after my grey Julia, where I/we make 100% organic readily spouted grains, legumes and seeds mixed with a large variety of veggies (the ones which parrots usually don't touch), dehydrate them at a very low temperature to preserve their living state, e.g with the enzymes intact and all the nutrients in a concentrated state. Truly, our product can change your life without compromising your parrots' health! For more info, here is the link to my website: http://www.juliascountrypantry.com If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask Warm regards Marianna

Thank you all for the warm welcome! I hope soon I can contribute to the forum with pictures and perhaps some videos and interesting stories about my birds. I'm an advocate of a healthy diet and yes, have green thumbs for all, both parrots and people, I hope my posts on this subject will be helpful for some of you. Warm regards, Marianna http://www.juliascountrypantry.com<br><br>Post edited by: Marianna, at: 2009/10/22 22:40

Hello everybody, I'm Marianna from Ohio, where I share my life with 6 parrots, a dog and three cats. Four of the parrots, Julia an African Grey, Quincy the little Quaker, Punka a mini macaw and Coco the beautiful little Senegal are my own and right now I'm fostering 2 more, who will most likely end up staying with me forever. The fostered birds are another grey, a Timneh, his name is Zazoo who says many bad words and a Catalina Macaw, P.J. who is very old, around 60, as well as half blind, but sweet and gentle despite what he has been through most of his life. I have a small home based business, named after Julia, Julia's Country Pantry (http://www.juliascountrypantry.com/), where we make human grade organic living food and treats for parrots. I'm looking forward to reading the forum! Kind regards, Marianna