Whats YOUR Grey's Diet?

[Guest Lidia]

Makena,

What a wonderful offer! I am awarding you a large dose of karma for that kind analysis offer which I am certain we will make use of!

[judygram]

Lidia, bear meat is a lot like beef, with a hint of deer meat, and very good. His bear, a black bear he got in New Hampshire, was not full of fat like most are. It was and is, we have a little left, very tasty and I used it like I would any similar cut of beef.

 

Josey has enjoyed a lot of different meats as my hubby is a hunter and we eat whatever he gets for the most part. Josey has had pheasant, dove, wild turkey, duck, goose, deer and bear meat and she has enjoyed all of it, of course it is in moderation, not too much at one time. But sometimes she is really enjoying some and I have to take it away so she does not fill up on it to the exclusion of anything else.

[Makena]

Aww... thanks Lidia!

 

Just let me know if/when you have any recipes! It is pretty easy... you just have to have the "very overpriced" program to do it. Luckily I have it as I need it for my job!

 

I have had bear meat before too. The trick is cooking the heck out of it for many hours. Bears are very muscular creating some VERY tough meat. Once you cook it thoroughly it is close to beef but a little bit more gamy. I tried it in a cooking class one time...

[Guest Lidia]

Oh, yum yum yum, I'd love to try some. I heard alligator and crocodile meat is good too. Either of you ever try that?

[judygram]

Since those animals are not game animals, my hubby does not hunt them, no I have never tried those. I don't think I would care for them anyways, I'll just stick with the ones I already tried.:lol:

 

Makena, most bear meat is greasy, full of fat, but the bear my hubby shot was a lean one, hardly any fat on it and it is not tough at all, I use it like I would beef, very tender and tasty. I will have to send him back to New Hampshire for another one, this one is almost gone.

[Talon]

BEAR Meat? I never new people ate bear. I have had Ostrich meat though, it's supposed to be healthier than beef from a cow. It was a steak and did taste okay, I just didn't like the thought of that poor ostrich that had lived down the street from my house at an ostrich farm.

 

Judy, New Hampshire is so close to where I live. You should come with him and stop by for a visit!<br><br>Post edited by: Talon, at: 2007/08/06 04:25

[judygram]

Maybe I will just do that Talon, and share a piece of bear meat too.{Feel-good-000200BB}

[RobertsKitty]

{Emotions-00020070} Wow I haven't been on this in awhile. I am still pretty much at a loss for knowledge of a good Grey diet. I do have a few questions:

 

Kitchen Creations and Birdy Banquet? Any good? I'm off to research more on Grey diet and I'll be back when I have an idea of what I need to know! lol

[danmcq]

I have been reviewing what the contents are of various pellet foods versus what a Parrot in the wild would eat and also what seed diets contain.

 

Since Harrison's seems to be what some advocate, I am posting it's contents.

 

Harrison's ingredients:

 

*Ground Shelled Sunflower Seeds, *Ground Hulless Barley, *Ground Soybeans, *Ground Shelled Peanuts, *Ground Green Peas, *Ground Lentils, *Ground Yellow Corn, *Ground Rice, *Ground Toasted Oat Groats, Psyllium, *Ground Alfalfa, Calcium Carbonate, Spirulina, Montmorillonite Clay, Ground Dried Sea Kelp, Vitamin E Supplement, Sea Salt, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, d-Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Sodium Selenite.

 

Personally, I prefer feeding "Natural" foods in their natural state that makes that Parrot "Work" for it's food in hulling and cracking open seeds, shredding leafy veggies etc.

 

But, if you look at the ingredients, they have done nothing but ground up the seeds for your Parrots and "Shocker" PEANUTS are ground up n the Harrison's....

 

I personally give my Parrots peanuts, human grade only and check them before hand.

 

Just some food for thought. :-)

[Guest Lidia]

I have karma'd you, Dan, for that very useful research. Thanks for doing that.

[judygram]

Thanks, Dan, for that research on the pellets and food available in the wild, very useful information.

 

We got some good people here don't we. :) :)

[danmcq]

:blush:

 

Thanks ! But, it was nothing, really....

 

As all here, I just want the most natural and best for my new Baby :-)

[judygram]

Hey don't sell yourself short, we like to praise those who do a little more than is expected of them. It's what makes this place so special, the people here, and I for one do appreciate you very much.

 

Aw shucks, thats enough of that mushy stuff, now lets get down to business. Our greys are why we are here and we want the best for them, because nothing less will do.

[Tari]

You know this gets asked a lot maybe it should be sticked?

Que still is on mixed viggies, some fruit, some seed with a dab of zupreem for between meals.

Once a day.

[judygram]

Sounds like a good idea, Tari, a must have for grey owners, what they should be eating.

[danmcq]

Judy - Your right!

 

There is nothing we won't do or buy for our Greys :-)

[judygram]

Within reason, of course.{Feel-good-000200BB}

[loviechick]

Red's main staple is pellets. She was raised solely on sunflower seeds the first 12 years of her life until she came to live with me. so getting her transitioned into eating pellets was a big enough chore. She will try oatmeal and will eat carrots and most nuts so I pretty much feed her what she will eat. The rest of my flock gets pellets, nuts, and fresh stuff grapes, raspberries, melon, apples, pears, mine go BONKERS for pears, and any other in season fruit. As far as veggies its mostly peas, carrots potatoes and corn. They will occasionally eat tomatoes, jalepenos, and bell peppers I give them!

[Makena]

I have a diet question for you guys... What is the deal with salt? Is a little bit ok or essential? Or is it really bad?

 

I know that humans need a certain amount of salt to keep the body functioning properly as it helps to maintain the concentration of body fluids at correct levels.

 

Is it the same for birds? Obviously I don't know much about the way a bird's body works... I would assume that too much salt can cause dehydration, but how much is too much?

 

Which leads me to another question.. Does anybody know if any scientific research has been done on grey's and their diet? I have searched many websites trying to determine the best/worst foods to give greys and some sites will say you should completely ban a certain type of food. Well that is fine, but has research actually been done to prove this or it just hearsay? I forget what the food was, but someone's reasoning on not feeding this particular food to a bird was because it could make dogs sick. Seems like apples and oranges to me!

 

It seems like there is a lot of hearsay... I want some cold hard facts! I would never want to harm Makena by feeding him a food that is bad for him, but at the same time I don't want to leave something out of his diet that may be essential...

 

Are there recommended daily allowances (RDA's) for birds like there are for humans?

 

Sorry for the long post... but I would be really interested in reading some scientific publications on grey's and there diets, if they exist! Thanks!

[judygram]

Well for the reasons why, I don't really know, but I do know that salt is bad for birds, I guess what occurs naturally is ok, but no added salt or salty kinds of foods are to be given to them.

 

We have another thread that goes into detail what foods to avoid, but maybe someone else has some scientific information that might answer your questions.

[Guest Lidia]

Parrots can't digest salt like us and as a result too much is dangerous, and enough of it can kill them (it can be lethal to us too). The occasional snack, such as a crisp or a chip, or a pretzel, etc, isn't going to do them any harm, but it is best to avoid the danger where possible by avoiding salt where possible along with other potentially harmful things like fatty or highly sugared foods.<br><br>Post edited by: Lidia, at: 2007/08/10 17:31

[judygram]

Thank you Lidia, I knew salt was bad for them but not why, now we all know.

[lovemyGreys]

A interesting topic, i see that many of you feed Harrison's pellets, I wonder why a pelleted diet seems more common with you guys than it does here in the UK ?

I know all the positive sides to feeding pellets & admit i have never tried my 3 greys.Their diet consits of a human grade seed mix with very little sunflower content,they have fresh vegetables & fruit everday,Soaked pulses,sprouted seeds & a little of what we have, pasta, wholemeal toast etc..

[Guest Lidia]

Or here in Ireland. Joshua's staple is a very good quality seed mix plus fresh fruit, vegetables and other human food. And he does extremely well on it.

 

I do think pellets are a failsafe and make it very difficult to get the nutritional balance wrong. But as long as our AGs get the right balance of foods, either seeds or pellets work equally well.

[CeasarsDad]

PROs and CONS of Pellets.

 

PROS:

Balanced perfectly. The bird gets what it needs.

Easy to feed. There are no empty shells to pick through.

Add Veggies and Fruit and you're done.

 

 

CONs:

Expensive.

Boring.

Boring.

Boring.