Cream of Tweet

[Eshana]

When I adopted Jon, the woman that runs Fancy Feathers Aviary gave me this product called 'Cream of Tweet'.

 

I had forgotten about it until last night, when I was doing some training with Shelby. He has gotten a bit thinner, and absolutely refuses to eat anything but his zupreem pellets (trust me, I have tried it all). So I went into my birdie bin, found the Cream of Tweet, and decided to make it.

 

After allowing it to cook and letting it cool, I tried giving some to Shelby. He turned his nose up at first, but then began to take small bites...progress!

 

Of course, Jon started to scarf up every bit he could.

 

Has anyone ever used this as a supplement to their parrots diet? Is it okay to use to try and get a bird to gain weight, or should it be a once in a while treat?

 

ingredients: Basmati ricek pearled barley, cracked corn, green split peas, whole wheat, rolled barley, banana chips, raisins, dates, cinnamon, anise seed, with additional calcium, vitamins and minerals.

 

Guaranteed analysis: crude protein min. 7%; crude fat min. 3%; crude fiber max. 4%; ash 4%.

 

Picture:

[zandische]

I've used all the Beak Appetit products though I tend to like Volkman's Soak and Serve blend better in terms of nutrition. My birds really like Cinnamon Sunrise, Nuts for Alfredo and Cheese Teaser though. I have to admit I think they taste pretty good myself I like the Cinnamon sunrise the best because after my birds are done chowing down, their breath smells like cinnamon and makes them very kissable!

 

I don't know if I'd use a cooked mix specifically as a "weight gainer" for underweight birds. Being underweight is usually a sign of sickness or malnutrition so if you haven't talked to your vet, you should do that first. Sometimes birds can lose a little weight if they are molting or stressed in their environment too. Providing a balanced, healthy diet is really the key. We tend to think of birds in terms of people - if they are too skinny, we should stuff them full of food to fatten them up - but in reality, a parrot generally will eat all that it needs to support its metabolism throughout the day, and it's only when outside factors encroach - lack of balanced diet, overabundance of fatty seeds/human junk food, or an illness/injury - that the parrot's metabolism fails to keep up. A lot of people say "my bird refuses to eat x____x" but I believe that in most situations, the bird just doesn't realize that x is a source of nutrition. I've changed my birds' diet half a dozen times over trying to achieve that perfect, healthy balance and the key to doing it was to be patient, introduce new foods in moderation, and get creative with the introduction. Some sure fire ways of success for me are:

 

1) Always feed the birds in one location. Put the tasty food in the same bowl as the untasty/untried food. This helps the parrot realize that what's in the bowl is food, regardless of what it looks like, smells like or tastes like.

2) EAT your parrot's food. Take a spoon and eat a bite out of their bowl. Show them that YOU think it's just SOOOO tasty! (This may sound crazy but I can assure you this method wins every time with my birds ;P )

3) Layer the stuff they like at the bottom beneath the stuff they haven't tried or don't normally eat. Let them see you doing this.

4) Mix everything up with baby food or red palm oil so there is a consistent taste to everything. Texture, shape and color are big indicators to a parrot about whether something will taste good (ie, the more bling, the tastier it's got to be.) So if everything looks roughly the same, they can focus more on what their body needs.

5) If you're trying to switch the parrot's diet, don't just eliminate the "bad" food cold turkey. When I switched my parrots from a daily seed intake to daily sprouts, I put a heaping tablespoon of sprouts in their bowl and sprinkled just a few seeds on top. This had the effect of convincing them that they still had seed in their bowl - but now it was tastier, juicier seed!

 

Food and nutrition can sometimes be an act of extreme patience with parrots. Most of the time if I try the food and share with them they will eat it, and after that it's just a matter of adding it regularly to their meals to get them in the habit of eating it whenever its offered. I usually do a 2 week period with new foods where that's the major staple of what they get fed. They still get their normal stuff, but I'll add the same new food at every meal for around 2 weeks to establish a habit of seeing it, and then usually they get used to eating it. Sometimes it takes less time and sometimes it takes a LOT longer. Unfortunately, there is no exact science with these guys and some things do take convincing!

 

Consider adding some extra treats in the form of healthier nuts (almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts) and maybe a little more protein to the diet - egg is ok, but instead of animal proteins - which greys don't normally eat in the wild and can be hard on their kidneys - consider sprouting quinoa or legumes for a much healthier, more natural protein. Quinoa is a complete protein and extremely easy to sprout.

 

Also, in my experience birds can take a long time to gain back weight they've lost due to illness, injury or malnutrition. One of my birds lost over 20 grams during a 3 day outdoor adventure (we estimate she flew over 8 miles on clipped wings), and it took her roughly a month to gain that back. Another one of my birds lost about 15 grams after bruising her breast bone (she flew into a wall, the dingbat!) and it took her almost 3 months to gain that back on a normal, balanced diet.

 

Today, I feed my birds a varying mix that usually falls in the range of 20% cooked grains(beak appetit, volkman's or other), 40% sprouts, 5% dry seed, 25% fruits & veggies and 10% other (like people foods or treats.) I try to change the mix up on occasion so sometimes they get more veggies and less sprouts, etc. I try not to make a mash of it but instead just mix it up with a half teaspoon or so of organic babyfood, and they get all the fun of eating different textures but the taste is relatively the same. A lot of birds really seem to like cooked mixes, and if you can convince your bird to eat even a little, then you are making progress. Keep it up and eventually your patience will pay off! Good luck!

[bmatrow]

EAT your parrot's food. Take a spoon and eat a bite out of their bowl. Show them that YOU think it's just SOOOO tasty! (This may sound crazy but I can assure you this method wins every time with my birds ;P )

 

I have done this myself to get my conures to take an almond from my hands. They didn't know what to think of that funny looking nut (me, not the almond lol) so I ate a few myself saying mmmm good lol. This did work like a charm.