Self Seed Mix

[Maviarab]

Right, after the initial purchase, I am almost now out of seed and Kaytee mix. Then it came to me as it has others here, why keep paying inflated prices to a shop when I can mix/make it myself?

 

Found this site (UK based)http://www.streetendfeeds.co.uk/index.php which seem reasonable (have mailed them and got good responses back) and was wondering what others thought?

 

Would rather buy in bulk from a farm, knowing their quality, knowing its coming straight from them and helping them out from a shop where I have no idea where the product has come from etc.

 

So, your thoughts, and also what actually constitutes a good mix. Now bare in mind that this is just his 'in cage' food as he gets a variety of different breakfasts and nibbles throughout the day, so its really just a base food for him to nibble on if he feels like it. But am a little disappointed at the high number of sunflower seeds in all the 'bought' mixes so another reason for mixing my own buying straight food.

 

To add to this, where would be the best place (in UK) to obtain things like cracked corn, beans, lentils etc...health food shops?

 

Thanks in advance.

[BaxtersMom]

This is a very good topic and I hope others will tell us what a good mix is, too. I have been buying the seed mixes at the pet stores and it is very expensive. Seems I'm always running low on it and I don't give them very much either but with 4 birds they seem to go through it.

 

Last time I bought some seed I mixed with cracked corn to stretch it. I figure this is ok because the seeds are just a filler anyway with not much nutritional value so didn't think it would hurt.

 

We also feed the outside birds with wild bird seed mix and I can buy 50 pounds for about $15. I haven't given it to my birds inside but have been wondering why I shouldn't. Wouldn't it be just as good?

 

Also I went to a new grocery store today and they have several different types of wild bird seed to offer in smaller 5 pound bags for about $3 to $5.

 

I don't want to give it to them if it is bad for them but would like to switch over to a more reasonable type seed if it didn't make a difference. Does anyone know?

[Journeyman]

Cosmo eats a seed/nut dried fruit mix called "Jungle Munchies" by pretty bird. I brought him home from the breeder about 1 1/2 years ago eating "Zupreem", he somehow lost his taste for this, and after much deliberation, I found the food mix above. I realized that with these seed mixes, Cosmo only eats what he likes out of them. This probably lends itself for an unbalanced diet. That's why I introduce the vitamin suppliment in his water. Since I brought Astro home, my newest member of my family who eats pellet food, another pretty bird product called "Daily Select" for medium parrots, I'm using this opertunity to wean Cosmo onto this stuff. Pellet food is the best diet because the right kind will give your parrot all the nutrients he needs. No matter which pellet they eat, each pellet has the same amount of the good stuff.

[Maviarab]

Journeyman, this is where we disagree unfortunatly.

 

I believe in a little of everything, especially lots of fresh fruit and veg. I would personally never feed a pellet diet.

 

But that is not really what I asked, I asked what constitutes a good seed mix (he eats pretty much everything I give him anyway so i have no concerns there thankfully), this is just something to nibble on whenever he happens to be in his cage and probably makes up 25% of his daily intake.

 

I'm just trying to make it myself rather than be paying for retail costs, as my first post stated

[Journeyman]

Maviarab,

 

Oh yes, I agree. I feed Cosmo fresh broccoli and carrots, fruits... His favorite treat is "fruit to nuts", which has a little of everything. We eat together on occation, pasta with broccoli/marinara, cooked spicy beans and such. I just figured that since Cosmo is kind of picky, I only see him eat the nuts and sunflower seeds out of the seed mixes. Actually, Harrison's pellet food is ranked the best. Most of the cag... (short for Congo African Grey )... parents on this forum feed thier grey this as a main diet. Cosmo hates this stuff, so I'm hoping I can wean him onto the pellet food I mentioned before. Not only because it's good for him, but my yellow sided Conure eats it, and it'll save me having to buy two kinds of main food.

[BaxtersMom]

I think what Maviarab was asking and what I was wondering about was if we were to make our own seed mixtures at home..what would the best seeds to include in our mix that we make ourselves not about the diets of our greys but so far no one has come up with any ideas:(

[Journeyman]

Ah yes, I see. I guess it depends on what her cag eats, like Cosmo, he/she may be picky. A mixture of oat groats, pumpkin seed, watermelon seed, cooked popcorn, pistachio and almonds are a good mix. I know Cosmo eats these. I would suggest that you'd put a good vitamin/mineral mix in the food and/or water because unlike the store mixes that have nutrients added to their mix, buying this stuff separately of course wouldn't have this added. I use Quikon vitamin supplement powder. The powder vitamins are better, because they retain their potency a lot longer.

[Journeyman]

The reason I was intent on the extruded food that is designed for greys is that cags need some extra nutrients above other parrots. Calcium is one, because they seem to have a genetic deficiency with the mineral.

[LisaM]

Here is a listing I came across on another parrot website that focuses on Eclectus parrots...I'm guessing most of these would apply to most parrots. There are some things on here that are nutritionally better than others, but a small amount of any of these should be okay.

 

One note - quinoa sprouts within about 2-3 hours. Makes it a very easy, healthful food. I put a teaspoon or so on top of their other fresh foods and they all eat them immediately (it seems to be the only thing all three of my parrots agree on! :laugh: ).

 

Make sure none of the dried fruits/veggies have additives of sugar, sulfur, etc. They should just list the fruit/vegetables for ingredients. sometimes you can find the "freeze-dried" fruits also...my birds like them as an occassional crunchy snack but prefer the regular dried fruit on a regular basis (always part of the dry mix portion of their diet).

 

Hope you get some ideas...I can't find all of the ingredients everywhere but they are becoming more common in grocery store bulk sections (particularly Whole Foods and similar stores).

 

Good luck!

 

********************************************

 

Assemble your dry food mixture by selecting from the following ingredients.

 

SEEDS AND GRAINS(from health food stores, Whole Foods Markets, & co-ops)

 

~ Milk thistle seeds

~ Shelled sunflower seed

~ Unshelled sunflower seed

~ Wheat berries

~ Whole oats

~ Barley

~ Spelt

~ Quinoa

~ Dried pumpkin seeds RAW (expensive)

~ Dried squash seeds

~ Dried cantaloupe seeds

~ Sesame seeds (unhulled if you can find them)

~ Flax seeds

~ Rice

~ Milo

~ Corn

~ Buckwheat

~ Poppy seed

~ Sesame seed

~ Millet (red, yellow, white)

 

SEEDS

(from bird supply stores)

~ Hemp seed

~ Millet sprays

 

NUTS (raw and unsalted)

(from supermarkets, online catalogs, & buying clubs like Sams & Costco)

~ Almonds

~ Pine nuts

~ Pecans

~ Walnuts

~ Cashews

~ Hazelnuts (filberts)

~ Macadamia nuts

~ Pistachios

~ Coconut shreds

~ Soy "nuts"

 

DRIED FRUITS & VEGGIES (unsulfured)

(from supermarkets and health food stores)

~ "Just Fruits"

~ "Just Veggies"

~ Banana chips

~ Papaya chunks

~ Pineapple slices

~ Apple dices

~ Apricots

~ Cranberries (sugarless are hard to find)

~ Cherries

~ Raisins

~ Currants

~ Green peas

~ Chili peppers

 

MISCELLANEOUS(from supermarkets, health food stores, & specialty stores)

~ Coconut shreds

~ Nuts (on sale after Fall & Winter holidays)

~ Sesame seeds

~ Sunflower seeds (raw)

~ Dried peppers

~ Dried fruits (unsulfured)

~ Cereals (non-fortified, sugar and salt free)

 

Lisa

[Journeyman]

Lisa,

 

Very helpful and informative, Thank you.

[Maviarab]

Excellent list Lisa, many thanks

[Luvparrots]

Lisa, great list. Karma to you for putting it together for us.

[LisaM]

You're all very welcome! Really it was just a cut-n-paste from another site, but I have found it helpful when shopping. There are more and more dried flowers available also...(hibiscus, nasturtium, dragon flower, etc.).

 

Happy shopping! Even when I shop at the Whole food store, the mix ends up being cheaper than buying a ready-made mix.

 

Lisa

[BaxtersMom]

I appreciate the list too. I don't care if it was cut and pasted;) I would like to go make my own seed mix.

 

A "Whole Food Store" was mentioned. I don't think i have ever been to one. How would I find a Whole food store? I'm ready to go but have no idea where to go cuz I don't know where one is:S :huh:

[LisaM]

www.organicstorelocator.com is one site, but not many options. I see you're in Michigan...there are three listed there. One in Warren, one in Dundee and one in Saint Joseph. Maybe one of those cities is near you?

 

Here's another...http://www.greenpeople.org/healthfood.htm. That one includes a ton of health/natural food stores, co-ops, etc.

 

Many items can be found in the bulk section of most grocery store. There are some things I can't get there though (like my Red Palm Oil, speltberries, wheatberries, etc.) They can be more expensive though (except co-ops, I've heard they are less expensive but I've not been to one...yet).

[BaxtersMom]

Thanks Lisa, yes, Warren is the city next to where I live. About 5 to 10 minutes away depending on which side of town its on. Yea:woohoo: This is going to be fun. Thanks a bunch!!! Karma to you for being such a great help!!! I'm excited now:woohoo: :side: :silly:

[LisaM]

That's awesome! Let me know how it goes!

 

Lisa

[mjames74]

Found this to go with the seed list

 

15 Non Dairy Foods High in Calcium

 

Sesame Seeds

A quarter cup of sesame seeds has 351 mg calcium.

 

Spinach

A cup of boiled spinach has 245 mg.

 

Collard Greens

A cup of boiled collard greens has 266 mg.

 

Blackstrap Molasses

One tablespoon has about 137 mg.

 

Kelp

One cup of raw kelp has 136 mg.

 

Tahini

Two tablespoons of raw tahini (sesame seed butter) have 126 mg.

 

Broccoli

Two cups of boiled broccoli have 124 mg.

 

Swiss Chard

One cup of boiled chard has 102 mg.

 

Kale

One cup of boiled kale has 94 mg.

 

Brazil Nuts

Two ounces of Brazil nuts (12 nuts) have 90 mg.

 

Celery

Two cups of raw celery have 81 mg.

 

Almonds

One ounce of almonds (23 nuts) has 75 mg.

 

Papaya

One medium papaya has 73 mg.

 

Flax Seeds

Two tablespoons of flax seeds have 52 mg.

 

Oranges

One medium orange has 52 mg

 

 

So if they like almonds, sesame seeds and papaya they should be getting close to their calcium they need. I don't know the exact amount needed per day though.

[BaxtersMom]

Thanks Mjames for the additional list. It is very helpful:)

 

Well, I went to the Whole Foods Market today!! I really liked it. I didn't go overboard although it could have been real easy to do:woohoo: with their great selection of seeds & nuts, etc.

 

I thought I'd try just a few things to see how it would go over with them. I got a few different items. Each thing I picked was different weights but all about what would fit into a large coffee cup or mug.

 

.42 lbs of Oranic Pumpkin Seeds $3.99 per pound, my cost $1.68

 

.41 lb of Organic Golden Flax Seeds at $1.99 per pound, cost my cost 82 cents.

 

.25 lb of Oranic Dry Roasted Peanuts (no shell) at $3.99 per pound, my cost $1.00

 

.43 lb Oraganic Buck Groats at $1.39 per pound, my cost 60 cents,

 

.17 lb of Raspberry N' Cream Granola @ 3.99 per pound, my cost .68.

 

 

I mixed it all up and gave my birds about a teaspoon each and they ate every bit of it. They really enjoyed it all so I am pleased. There wasn't anything they didn't like. I did want to get them some sesame seeds too but they were out of them. Maybe next time.

 

Here is a picture of they different things I got.

 

 

Quanity size it ended up being about 6 or 7 large coffee cups so it was a good amount when all mixed up and I think it costs much less than the seed mixes I got at my pet store, it's prettier to look at and better for them since it's all organic. I paid less than 5 dollars for everything and if I got it at the pet store think I would have paid atleast $10.00 for it easily. I like doing it this way especially since I can choose which seeds and nuts I would like them to have. They had a good selection of nuts too but they were very pricey but I will get some of them next time too. This was just the trial run and I am very impressed!

 

Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2009/01/06 21:28<br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2009/01/06 21:36

[BaxtersMom]

This is what it looks like all mixed together. And it all cost less than $5.00.

[redkim]

I have heard and read lots of places that the dark leafy greens like kale and spinach can actually be harmful to the Greys in that they bind calcium and it cannot be absorbed in the bloodstream. This could lead to worse calcium deficiency problems in Greys. I know that I cannot feed that stuff to my tortoise for the same reason - it will bind the calcium, he will not be able to absorb it and it will cause big problems like MBD (metabolic bone disease).

Other greens like broccoli are ok, it's only the dark leaf stuff.

[Goralka08]

That looks great, Erika! I'm definitely going to have to go this route. It seems much healthier and affordable to make your own mix than to pay $6 a pound at the parrot store when Kenzie only likes 1/2 of it!

[BaxtersMom]

From what I've heard and read Kale and Collard Greens are safe to feed to greys in a well balanced diet. Kale is rich in vitamin A,E & K. Collard Greens are rich with Vitamin A, C, pottassium and calcium. I have found these on several safe vegetable lists but if you are unsure it is always best to ask your vet.

 

 

And as for Kimberlys response to the Whole Food Store, I am so glad I found this place and was so excited to tell everyone about it. They even list the nutrients in each one where you get it at. And I don't think you can beat the price or freshness of it unless you are growing it yourself:)

 

Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2009/01/07 03:25<br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2009/01/07 05:26