1st attempt at "birdie bread"

[thenabrd]

success! i "invented" a version of birdie bread and they seem to like it. i used corn bread mix using apple juice instead of milk, crushed the egg shells very fine, finely chopped sweet potato, apple and carrot, smashed mixed beans (i cooked them to almost mush first), apple sauce. they're munching away on it and they're being very quiet while doing this, which usually means they really like what they're eating! i wanted to try something "sweeter" this 1st time to encourage them to at least try it.

 

the next time i'll try some veggies like peppers, maybe some greens (they're really expensive right now though) and maybe some rice and/or barley and millet.

 

i also smashed up some baked sweet potato and apple sauce with a bit of apple juice and put it in ice cube trays to freeze. i'll put the cubes into baggies to store in the freezer. i also took the left over cooked mixed beans, added some apple juice and put that into ice cube trays to freeze into cubes for future birdie breads or to thaw and serve. neither bird has shown much interest in veggies, so that's why i'm using apple juice right now as the "bribe" in some of this.

[Luvparrots]

Your birdie bread sounds just yummy!!! No wonder your fids like it so well, the ingredients are so tasty even I would give it a try.!! Well done!!!!

[thenabrd]

thanks luvparrots! i'm trying to get both birds to eat more veggies, so that's why i'm mixing in apple juice or sauce. i used to do that when our kids were little and refused their veggies! dip the spoon in the green beans or whatever veggie they were "hating" at the moment, then dip into apple sauce or pears or some fruit, then slowly reduce the amount of fruit until it was mostly veggies! now, if i could just figure out the right "bribe" to get our new grey to want to learn to step up! lol!!! i know it's only been 2 weeks, i'm trying to breathe and be patient, but sometimes that easier said than done, hahaha!

[judygram]

I have never tried making birdie bread but your recipe makes me want to so I may try a version of it soon, my fids don't eat a lot of their veggies either, just at times they do so I am always looking for ways to get more inside of them, thanks for sharing that with us.

[thenabrd]

thanks judygram! i had read some of the recipes on here and thought, what the heck! i've cut it all up into cubes and put it in baggies in the freezer so i can take out a couple of chunks at a time. the other stuff i put in ice cube trays is a trick i used to do when our kids were babies. making my own baby food was so much cheaper than buying it, so when money was tight, i'd have the most interesting looking "ice" in the freezer, lol!

[thenabrd]

ok, today i've made a new batch of birdie bread. this one has apple sauce, apple juice instead of milk, cornbread mix, cooked barley, jumbo millet seed, finely chopped red bell pepper, finely chopped collard and turnip greens, and green peas. we'll see how this one goes over, lol!!!

[judygram]

Sounds good and be sure to let us know how this batch goes over with the fids.

[thenabrd]

well athena our conure picked at it, but didn't make her happy squeak. kallie our grey looked at it like it was going to bite her back, lol!!! i'll keep giving them some over time and see if their opinion changes. they are just so veggie picky, lol!!!

[Shelly Yokum]

Well, I have to say I think I am going to try this as well. My Prince will eat anything that isn't nailed down, and sometimes.... But my Roy won't touch a veggie for nothing. I might even leave out the egg shells, and tell my son that its a cake. He loves corn bread, but its a fight to try a veggie.

Thanks you sharing

[thenabrd]

you're welcome! i didn't put ground egg shells in this latest batch. it smelled good though, lol! i'm hoping if they like these 2 versions well enough that i'll slowly increase the amount of veggies until it's more veggie than corn bread. sometimes kallie likes the 1st version still frozen. the sweet potato ice cubes went over reasonably well too. i'll just keep trying and trying and keep my fingers crossed that they'll come around or i go broke from trying, hahaha

[Shelly Yokum]

try feeding 2 macaws, that eat fruit and veggies everyday, plus their pellets. They only thanks you get it a bit arm, and pooped floor. God isn't it sweet to be love by a birdie. Have you ever thought of going to a restaurant, that has a salad bar or buffet. They have to throw out so much of their unused portions, but they could let you pick them up instead of them throwing them away.

[thenabrd]

i hadn't thought of that, thanks shelly. i'll have to see if any restaurants around here will do that! lol, birds, always trying to start "seeding" for the next forest no matter where they live, even when they're inside the house! kallie is the messy one for sure, athena, not as bad most of the time. plus, athena doesn't dunk her food, but kallie has discovered this lately! i don't mind, if that makes stuff taste better to her, but sometimes i feel like i'm changing her water all the time. i've thought of moving her water bowl to the other side of her cage from her food, but i don't know if that's a good thing to do or not. hahaha, quandaries, always quandaries!!!

[Shelly Yokum]

I put Roys water dish on the opposite side, and it helped. Prince is bad at that when he is on his gym, but not in the cage. Roy, makes a mess on purpose. He likes to sit on the door of his cage, and often will sit there and eat. I have a box under his door to catch the droppings, and if I sweep the mess up he will then lean forward to eat, and miss that box, and then laughs. Sometimes that birdie is to big for his feathered britches.

The golden Corral does it for me, about once a week, and I freeze most of what I get. I put is all together make salads and put it in zip locks, toss it in the freezer. Most of the time I only use the freezer food when I am running low on the fresh or in a hurry.

you can also go to farmer markets, and they will have stuff of the verge of going bad, that you can bring home and steam and freeze. I don't steam for longer than 3 or 4 minutes, because it tends to get mushy after being thawed. My Macs don't want anything that is mushy

[Zoom]

My lovebird, Oboe, loves birdie bread. I stuff it full of all kinds of treasures: seeds, fruits, veggies, nuts. He likes to dig through it, looking for treats. Kazoo the Amazon hasn't shown any interest in it yet, but he has started eating some fruit and veggies. (He's second-hand - he never ate fruits and veggies for his first 13 years, so I'm pleased that he's at least trying them now.)

[Grazrgr8]

I do similiar birdie bread, but use crushed pineapple (the kind without sugar added) instead of milk. There is enough juice in the can to make up for any other liquid. I will also add red palm oil, flax seed, oatmeal, and whatever else I happen to have on hand. It sure makes a mess in their cage, but they do enjoy it. I think I will try your apple juice next time for a change.

[Greywings]

Try running the veggies through a food processor so they are very tiny almost pureed then add to your bread batter, they can eat their veggies and never see them, p.s. you can also use coconut juice as the liquid.