Bird Pellets... Who's best?

[Ernzzz]

I was reading about Harrison's and started wondering... who has the best?

 

20+ years ago I was in the pet supply industry and I became a fanatic on dog food qaulity and realized(based on AFCO definition - this is basicly a government body)that most dog food contained mostly wheat and by products(beaks, feet and feathers, etc. - this is a SMALL portion of info.!)... anyway, based on this information I set off on reading ingredients of bird food in the last 2 weeks not knowing if any corralation(SP?) exists between the 2 types of foods.

 

What I found was very suprising to me - the amount of wheat in bird food - I thought this was somewhat odd based on the fact of nutritional values seemed lacking with such high wheat content -

has anybody researched the break down of the top bird foods?

 

Sunday I was talking with the owner of the bird store I frequent and she mentioned she had just come back from a "bird convention" in Houston,TX and I mentioned this to her and she brought up a study that was mentioned regarding pellets - interesting... based on blood work, the best pellet was ZUPREEN and she proceeded to tell me about the first 3-5 brands. She happens to carry all of them - hopefully I can spend more time with her this week and discuss this topic more!

 

I weened my Nape on Dr. D's and switched over to Zupreen which I use today.

 

To change or not to change?? I was on the verge of switching to Harrisons but it came in 3rd or 4th... I will report back what I find out.

[Trustdace]

Yeah ernzzz let us know what's the real scoop on the food im curious to know. Thanks for the heads up.

[tanyab]

I would love to know more about the foods and treats. I give phoebe Zupreen already and Im glad to hear it a good food for her.Thanks

[rbpittman]

Dixie is on harrisons and Sterling is on zupreem, but that's because that's what I can get them to eat. All advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

--

Robin

[danmcq]

IMHO - The best pellet, is the one you bird will eat some of. My Grey and Conure will eat small quantities of Harrisons Coarse High Potency and Harrisons Spicy. They will not touch any other pellet.

 

I ensure they get all the vitamins and minerals they need from veggies, nuts, seeds, eggs, Red Palm Oil,a little fruit and direct sunlight and - or UV lighting.

 

I have a feeling a study as indicated, was based on some birds being fed a "Pellet Only" diet, which is not healthy at all for any Parrot, bird or other critter for that matter.

 

It would be interesting, if the study is available for reading on the Internet somewhere. Is it posted? The way it was performed, what species Parrot was used and for how long.

[Ernzzz]

A few things that are facts vs. a study -

1)The companies can't gaurantee their formula is 100% correct because that is not known with any animal(even domestic dogs!).

2)Not every food is best for every bird - they all have variance from bird to bird.

3)A study given by a given company can be biased toward their own product.

 

That being said (and written above), if a bird will only eat brand X pellet that's what I feed them! I'm a firm believer in pelleted diets, regardless of brand name. Regarding pellet list of ingredients - on dog foods the first 4 ingredients are the vast majority of the food and the remaining portion are only trace ingredients - I'm not sure if Bird pellets are the same, if I have time I will research to found out. My point about wheat was, can you imagine a bird landing in a wheat field and eating? Based on the fact wheat is low in nutritional values, to me it really doesn't make sense for that to happen. What I look for are the first 4 ingredients that I think are appropriate for my given animal.

 

I do think danmcq is right on target with the comments. I will try and find out if the study was/is published online...