Changing over to another pelled food

[Janfromboone]

I've recently changed Tobies diet from Pretty Bird to Harrisons diet. I know you are not supposed to make sudden changes, but that is what happened. I carefully mixed a little Harrison diet into the pretty bird and immediately Tobie began to reject the Pretty Bird diet. He would eat his veggies and fruit and only the Harrison pelleted food. So I read on the bag to see what ingredients were so appealing to him. It was loaded with sunflower seeds and barley and other seeds more than the corn and wheat in the other one. I switched because I knew Harrison diet has no preservatives and no artificial flavors. Also the bag sais to feed 1.5 to 3 tablespoonfuls. Tobie would eat much more than that. I don't really have a question but all this worries me a bit. I guess I want to know that Harrison's diet is a good diet and its O.K. to just let him have that as a pelleted diet. Also 3 tablespoons doesn't seem like enough. I measured it out and I think I've been feeding Tobie more than that of pretty bird and Harrison's.

[Luvparrots]

I am a firm believer that just because it costs more doesn't make it better. I check out the ingredients in Harrison's when I got Ana Grey and I remember they didn't impress me. I feed Pretty Bird to my fids but to be honest they eat very little pellet. They enjoy fresh vegetables and fruits, pecan nuts and grains and seeds. I never give my fids sunflower seeds.

[Birdnut]

Boy, what a confusing issue these pelleted diets are!

 

I think Harrison's is supposed to be an excellent pellet. There have been some heated discussions here about problems with the presence of soy in the diet, and there is soy in the Harrison's. But I know there are some parrots on this board who are thriving on it.

 

Most of my birds are loose in a bird room during the day, and they are fully flighted. I have feeding stations around the room with a variety of pellets and also pans of fruit & veggies, or cooked mash. There is such a variety of birds in there (parrotlet to cockatoo) that I offer a variety of pellet types and sizes, including Pretty Bird, Roudybush, Harrisons, and Zupreem Natural. In a situation like this, there is no way I can control the amount of pellet that is consumed by each bird. I weigh each of the birds periodically to be sure they are getting enough to eat and maintaining a healthy weight.

 

I do think 1.5 to 3 tablespoons doesn't sound like much for a grey, even though we know Tobie is also eating other healthy foods along with the pellets. And we all know that not all the pellets are consumed; many are tossed or only partially eaten. I think you can probably just keep pellets available to Tobie to eat what he wants and just check his weight periodically to be sure he is maintaining a healthy weight.

 

I'd be interested in what others think about this.

Edited September 8, 2010 by Birdnut

[Jayd]

For discussion only,... Harrison's recommended feeding amount is based on fat/protein content, and how much a Grey needs to receive a daily requirement. Harrison's, Pretty bird, Kaytee etc are not my favorite. Harrison's because of cost and people think their birds need nothing else, Pretty bird because of corn etc and really bad preservatives [bHA]. I use Zupreem because of ingredients, but our fid's eat very little pellets. The best diet? A little seed/pellet's, A lot of fresh veggies, a dab of fruit, equal amounts of rice/legume, some nuts, a little hard boiled eggs and shells, a little chicken/turkey/fish and a lot of love, and toast for breakfast...lol Jayd

[Birdnut]

Harrison's, Pretty bird, Kaytee etc are not my favorite. Harrison's because of cost and people think their birds need nothing else, Pretty bird because of corn etc and really bad preservatives [bHA]. I use Zupreem because of ingredients, but our fid's eat very little pellets

 

Moussa came to me eating Pretty Bird African Special, and he has shown little interest in other pellets I have tried to introduce. But he also doesn't eat many pellets, so I have not been too pushy about it with him. I have introduced Zupreem Natural, at your recommendation, and have had really good acceptance of it from the conures and the pionus, especially. I have been gradually phasing out some of the other pellets in the bird room. I have left the Harrison's high potency, as a couple of my conures are doing their annual major molt right now.

 

I encouraged our bird store to begin carrying the Zupreem Natural and they are offering it in their bulk section now.

 

Moussa's cage is in the living area of the house; not the bird room. I have been adding the Zupreem in with his seed and nut treat in the evening to see if he will begin trying it.

 

I did read the ingredients list on the Pretty Bird African Special, and I did not see BHA. Did I maybe fail to recognized some long fancy scientific name for it? Or maybe the African Special is a different formula?

[Luvparrots]

My grey, Ana Grey, actually eats better if she is stealing my food. She insists I hold the spoon for her though. LOL!!! She loves toast and eggs and I sit in the birdroom with my breakfast and feed some to them. We all eat it together and they seem to enjoy that. (It is not eggs every morning. They like oatmeal too.) I am very careful to section my plate, half for me, half for them. Okay, 3/4 for me, 1/4 for them. LOL!

[Jayd]

Most preservatives are listed as " Preservatives for freshness" etc I highlighted it below..Jayd

 

Quote: African Special 3 lb Designed for most African species and medium and large conures, contains higher calcium. 14% protein and 8% fat in medium sized morsels. INGREDIENTS: Corn, Oats, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat, Potato Protein, Soya Oil, Coconut Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, L-Lysine, Choline Chloride, Natural and Artificial Flavors, DL Methionine, Isoleucine, L-Threonine, L-Tryptophan, Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Ferrous Sulfate, D-Biotin, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Niacinamide, Magnesium Oxide,Vitamin B12 Supplement, BHT ( as a preservative), Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Natural and Artificial Colors, Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite (source of Vitamin K3), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Cobalt Sulfate.:Unquote...

[Janfromboone]

Compared to Pretty Bird , I think the ingredients sound more varied in Harrison Diet. Besides corn and oats it includes sunflower seeds (tell me why we avoid sunflower seeds - I hadn't heard that until a recent post commented on by Jayd) barley, soybeans, peanuts, green peas, lentils, Psyllium (whatever that is), alfalfa, spirulina (is that seaweed), sea kelp and other things (why is there clay in this bird food). It's all a mystery to me but I like the idea of no preservatives or artificial flavors and Tobie has been diving in to it. The three table spoons I fed this morning was gone by 11:00 AM and yes there were alot of crumbs in the bottom of the cage and on the floor- no telling how much of it was fed to the dog. I wil just keep his bowl full. Thank you all for your helpful comments.

[Jayd]

Parrot's eat clay in the wild to get the minerals they lack in other food and as a medicine. Yes seaweed, Psyllium is a bulk-forming laxative....Thanks Jayd

http://www.inkanatura.com/macawclaylicks.asp

[DrTak]

My avian vet likes Harrison's, but Lulu doesn't. She throws the pellets and Golly the dog eats them.

 

She mostly eats Roudybush pellets. I wouldn't doubt that she only eats 3 tablespoons, but she scatters a bunch, and again, Golly gets plenty.

 

She gets fresh veggies every morning, pellets on demand, and a 90%pellet/10% seed (no sunflower seeds) in the afternoon. I was giving her some boiled grains and fresh greens in the evening, but she showed little interest.

 

The other criticisms I have heard about Zupreem and Pretty Bird relate to the coloring.

[Jayd]

The other criticisms I have heard about Zupreem and Pretty Bird relate to the coloring.

Sounds good, keep working on the fresh veggies, their the most important part of a parrots diet. Zupreem Natural is color free, that's one of the reasons I use it...Thanks

[Birdnut]

Quote: African Special 3 lb Designed for most African species and medium and large conures, contains higher calcium. 14% protein and 8% fat in medium sized morsels. INGREDIENTS: Corn, Oats, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat, Potato Protein, Soya Oil, Coconut Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, L-Lysine, Choline Chloride, Natural and Artificial Flavors, DL Methionine, Isoleucine, L-Threonine, L-Tryptophan, Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Ferrous Sulfate, D-Biotin, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Niacinamide, Magnesium Oxide,Vitamin B12 Supplement, BHT ( as a preservative), Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Natural and Artificial Colors, Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite (source of Vitamin K3), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Cobalt Sulfate.:Unquote..

 

Jayd: You know, I think Pretty Bird has changed the formula on the African food. I have a bag sitting in front of me right now. It's called "Pretty Bird Species Specific: African." The ingredients are mostly the same as what you quote, but instead of the BHT, it lists Rosemary Extract and Mixed Tocopherals. It still contains the artificial coloring, which is certainly not ideal, but it does look like they've taken out the BHT.

[Jayd]

Yes, you could be very right, I got my info off a pet food site, but it could be old, I really hope they changed it. Rosemary is a preservative. Tocopherals [vit-e] is also a preservative. I still have a problem with the amount of starches and corn, corn is a filler, not much food value, it's a carrier for all the additives, so in essences, it's additives with color. Thanks for the update....Jayd