Whats YOUR Grey's Diet?

[Guest briansmum]

boring yes, thats why i mix them into things that i make for him, like his birdie omlette and pasta etc. however if theyre getting all the fruits and veggies they need they wont get bored because a healthy grey is a happy grey

[DayosMom]

We feed Dayo a 7 bean mixture the breeder showed me how to make. We only use white beans. After soaking overnight, I cook them for only 20 minutes. Then drain and rinse off. I add oatmeal, split peas, brown rice, barley, sunflower seeds, carrots, and some seed blend we buy for Dayo.

I put this into a container and freeze it to keep it fresh. It lasts about 2 weeks. Of course, we feed Dayo other natural foods like veggies, fruit, soy nuts, etc.

 

Dayo likes this bean mixture, and it isn't mushy. By the time you add the other ingredients after cooking the beans, it's more like a bird seed consistency.

 

He gets a wide variety of all natural foods.

Kim<br><br>Post edited by: DayosMom, at: 2007/09/05 14:40

[lovemyGreys]

Dayo sounds a well fed bird Kim, do you feed the bean mixture in addition to his main diet ? eg pellets or seed mix ?

[Laurie]

Wow, some of you guys are really going to town feeding your birds! Klaus gets Kaytee Forti-Diet, also some Nutri-berries & Nutri-Puffs. Favorite snacks are peanuts, walnuts, grapes, and apple. I haven't had him that long to figure out what he really likes. He is typical though in that he really wants what you're having. For example, I offered him a piece of Life cereal when I wasn't having any, and he couldn't be more disinterested. Then one day I was having a bowl and offered him a piece from there, and he ate it up. Funny, I do the foraging thing by wrapping treats in a coffee filter and tying the top with a rubber band (fabric coated, and I don't let him get too carried away chewing on the rubber band, I wouldn't want him to choke or anything). Anyway, I put a walnut, a Nutri-berry, and a Nutri-puff in it and let him forage away. He actually gets the walnut out (his favorite) and leaves the rest. Sheesh!

[DayosMom]

We feed Dayo many foods. I also make the oatmeal and baby food mixture like Judy mentioned earlier. Baby food such as carrots, sweet peas, squash is a big hit. I use the first stage of baby food because it is pureed. He also gets a great tropical seed blend made by Browns. He gets fresh fruit and fresh veggies. There is a wide variety we feed Dayo.

Kim<br><br>Post edited by: DayosMom, at: 2007/09/06 03:16

[daviddogma]

All organic nuts, berries, veggies. Otis eats what I get at the Farmer's Market. I live in southern CA so we have that luxury.

[lovemyGreys]

I think we have the healthiest greys here on this forum, they are all so lucky that they have wonderful owners who feed them a varied & nutritional diet.Well done to all our members

[Guest]

I'm so glad you let it cool off, because you don't want his crop to get burnt! That could cause him so big problems or death. So your doing a great thing by letting it cool off~!! ;)

[Rambo]

I feed rambo, veggies, and fruits and his kaytee fruit pellets. he loves to eat what we eat, i don't use a lot of salt on my food cause i know it's bad for him. He sometimes is so picky it drives me crazy that he waste stuff, like he only eats the red pelets and throws the rest. I have a little trick to get him to eat what's good for him, I mix a little orange juice or grape juice in with his veggies and he loves it, and does'nt waste as much, but he won't eat anything new, unless he see's us eat it first. just like a child! he also tells me if he wants an apple or a pretzel. so funny!

[lovemyGreys]

A very good tip Rambo for birds who wont eat certain foods, a little bit of their favourite juice on top of the food may just encourage them

 

Yes i agree they are just like kids ! they want what we have

[Tee]

I feed our grey a mash that I make.

drain & rinse:

1 can red kidney beans

1 can pork n beans (remove pork)

1 can regular corn

 

1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables

1/2 bag of frozen cut broccoli

3 steamed sweet potatoes (peeled and chopped)

shredded cabbage (stinks, but they love it!)

fresh chopped vegetables that are in season

 

cook 3 cups macaroni (drain)

cook 1 1/2 cups brown rice

1 1/2 cups of dry oatmeal

 

Mix all in one bowl. This can be frozen in small sandwich bags or containers. Remove from freezer and let thaw.

This will last our grey for at least two months.

 

I thaw about 1/3 cup, add a small handfull of dry cherrios, and an oyster cracker. Add one piece of fresh fruit(about the size of a large grape). Once a week she gets a small amount of peanut butter on her cracker, wheat toast, egg, or a bit of cheese. I still give her some things from our regular dinners, which will make the mash go even farther.

 

The mash should be removed from the cage within 12 hours. (Its a tug-of-war each evening with her bowl!) I replace it with pellet food to hold her over until the next morning. She always has a bowl of the Zupreem fruit blend in her cage. A friend of mine that owns an avian resuce gave me this receipe. She said that she has never had a bird that will refuse to eat it, regardless of the size.

[Guest]

Lots of good ideas here. Thanks everyone for sharing.

[lovemyGreys]

Glad this topic was useful to you

[TinyTimneh]

Jacko eats just plain old hagen tropican pellets, no muss no fuss. i do this becuase i'm a student and much as i'd like to, don't have the time to feed a fresh food diet. these pellets are quick, convienent, and have no artificial colours etc. (he's a plucker). he gets as much as he'll eat in one day daily in the morning.

 

also, i will, if i have any, supplement his diet with seeds and nuts that i buy for myself (great for his foraging toys) and he gets the occaisional grape or carrot or spinach etc if i happen to have any handy and am munching on some myself. and yes lol, very rarely he will get something as a treat, (chips, bits of pastry, apple bits from apple pie, things like that but nothing that's an absolute no-no).

and as much as i HATE admitting this, because I KNOW better, if i'm short on cash and time i will run out and get the old-fashioned 'parrot' seed mix (i try to make sure it's as good as it could possibly be tho)

[birdgranna]

I feed my greys Zupreem fruit pellets along with a diet I described in another post called "OK I think I've got this right" I believe.

[kiwibarb12]

Beckette gets fed twice a day - in the morning I have very little time so she gets microwaved scrambled egg with red palm oil (about 1/4 teaspoon), and chopped up frozen veggies in it. I also give her birdie bread with apple juice or apple sauce over it(birdie bread is frozen), and baby food (organic) and sesame seeds over the top since the little horror won't eat it unless there is a treat on it. I also have frozen cooked oatmeal with honey, red palm oil, apple sauce and apple juice in it. I make a lot of this stuff on the weekend and freeze it in ice trays, and it lasts for weeks before i have to cook again.

 

the birdie bread was 2 cups of flour - i used organic quirnoa flour, brown rice flour and whole wheat flour, 3 eggs, can of pumpkin, organic dried fruit, flax seed, millet, wild rice, bone meal - human grade for the calcium, dried cranberries, apple juice to moisten, and red palm oil - mixed it all to moisten, put in a large baking dish and cooked until a skewer came out clean. I cut it up into about 1" squares and froze it. I thaw it in the microwave, and put baby food over it as a sauce and sesame seeds for a garnish. Bird eats better than me!

 

the red palm oil is because that is what they eat in the wild, and I got some at the organic store here. It was expensive at 14 dollars but I only use a little at a time, so expect it to go far.

 

I also bought a mash mix at Parrotsonthepoarch that is great that I cooked and froze, so Beckette cant complain about being bored with her food. She also gets what we eat - last night we had chinese delivered so she got some beef, broccoli, baby corn and bamboo shoots with the sauce rinsed off. I don't know how much she ate, but she got it.

 

Its actually a lot of fun figuring out things to feed her, she does enjoy it, and it is more rewarding than feeding the kids who usually turned their noses up at anything different.:woohoo:

[lovemyGreys]

Thanks for posting you guys,

kiwibarb12 some great tips there i know what you mean about feeding the kids !!

 

Just a reminder that fruit & veg should be offered daily to your greys alongside their pellet or seed diet

[Sterling]

I feed my Grey a diet of Roudybush Sm pellets and mini Harrisons. She doesn't like large pellets. In the evenings when she is out of her cage I give he a mixture of fruits and veggies and then some birdy bread. She will get seeds as a treat a few times a week. I have to watch her diet as she will have a 30 gram weight range if I feed her evening foods prior to her eating her pellets

[Jazz]

Obi's stable diet is Harrisons High Potency Course pellet.

 

I have other smaller birds that have Harisons as main diet together with fresh veg and fruit on daily basis and the transformation / appearance / general health is much improved once they have been converted to this diet.

 

As with most, from my own experience(s), I tend to stick with what appears to work and be good for my flock. It may be expensive, but if you take on the responsibility of owning a bird, in my humble opinion, cost of his/her health shouldn't be an issue.

 

Very interested to hear peoples view of pellet versus seed etc...

 

[jujubechan]

My birds stays in separate cages, so each one has its own food bowls, in the morning I give them seeds mix with nuts and pellet that already came with the birds food, at lunch time, I give them cooked mix veggies and colorful pasta, some fruits and their seeds mix get refilled too, at 6, I take them out for some fruits and bread meals, cleans everything in the fresh food bowls and then put them in the cages for the night :laugh:

[battle]

Hi Lidia

why the hot water?

[ccilia5767]

I feed churchill a regular seed mix for parrots (which he doesnt really go for) then he gets a bowl with veggies, depends on what I have at home. Tomatoes, cauliflour, carrots, cucumber, bell peppper and lettuce. And a bowl with fruits: apple, kiwi, mandarine and grapes. Today I added some pellets in again a seperate bowl. Thats what I gave him today.

 

Any suggestions, since I am still very new at this.

[lovemyGreys]

Hi,my three greys have a varied diet,seed fruit veg etc.. additional foods you can give are,mashed potato no butter or milk ! wholemeal toast with a spread of peanut butter or honey,hard boiled egg, scrambled egg,pasta,wholemeal rice,cereals like shreddies etc.. the list is endless really.Have a read through all the topics in the birdfood room, you will pick up loads of advice.Any foods you are not sure of just ask.

[danmcq]

Hi ccilia5767 - It's odd he doesn't go for the seed mix, that's usually what they eat right out of the starting gate after weaning with no coaxing at all.

 

I have a hard time getting Dayo to eat even small amounts of pellets and I have tried several different brands including Harrison's and their palm oil treats.

 

Even if I just place pellets only in his cage, he will not touch them the entire day. So I have to put seeds, nuts, fruits veggies and a 7 bean mix with flax seed, carrots , peas etc. and he will eat ALL of them.

 

From the exhaustive reading I have done on the topic of food and switching them over to pellet diets, in some cases they will starve and lose weight before excepting them in some cases.

 

I still offer pellets everyday and sometimes, he will eat "One" pellet :ohmy:

 

So, my stategy is just ABUNDANCE feeding of every fruit, veggie, legume, pellet and seed mixture everyday....B)

[siobha9]

Why do breeders start birds on seed mixes?

 

Liath and Oisin are on seed and I CANNOT get them onto pellets. I have tried everything, like mixing with seeds. The pellets are just left behind. Only giving pellets, they dont eat, grinding the pellets and mixing with juice. I have tried EVERYTHING that I have read here and elsewhere, and my birds wont eat them. I have 3 bags of pellets in the cupboard (different brands). But they do eat veggies, and fruit, and birdy bread, and lots of other things. Hasnt done us humans any harm so I hope they will be ok without the pellets!

 

But I feel guilty that maybe they are not having the best diet they could have.

 

Siobhan