03/08/2025
Good Morning Beautiful Bird Family! We have happy news to share.....We got all of our back ordered food and will be fully stocked this morning. We figured with the food showing up its also a good time to talk about diet and variety!!!!
One of the largest controversies in the bird world is diet. You hear some say chop only diet, pellet only diet, primarily seed diet, fruits and veggies only diet, and every mix in between.
When thinking about diet, and what we have seen over the 25+ years is that there is no one right answer. You have to look at each type of bird, individual personalities, likes, dislikes, and also at our own situations. Of course, someone with a lot of time and a lot of money can focus more on heavy chop diets, with all the different ingredients to formulate a healthy diet. However, the majority of people owning, and caring for pet birds are the average working person, with families, other responsibilities splitting their time, and other items dipping from their financial resources. In our store we talk a lot about individual circumstance. If you have a flighted bird we would look at that differently than if your bird is a perch potato! If your bird has only eaten seeds we will look at that differently than a bird who is only ever been on pellets.
I know that the majority of avian veterinarians really push Nutriberries, and/or pellet only diets. We will never undermine a veterinarian, however most of the time when I hear this its in talking about a bird who is on a full seed diet, so of course if it’s between a full seed diet or a pelleted diet with Nutriberries I would agree, but lets talk about variety!
The problem we have seen is that instead of offering as close to their natural diet as possible, and offering the variety they would see in the wild, we are taking that away and exchanging it for factory made, typically preserved with chemical, plain boring food. Another problem we often see is that people try so hard and so fast to transition their birds to pellets and often times their bird only eats enough to barely sustain (sometimes they don’t even do that), and the food bowl then becomes boring, and a bird is not eating to live but eating to strictly and only survive. We have seen birds come in here so thin and weak from transitioning to a pellet only diet, or even a chop only diet. The number one rule is to watch your bird, be patient, and remember tough love is ok, but there are limits to which we can do this. Below is a quote that I think resonates and makes a lot of sense:
“But the amount of processed food I give my birds hovers around five to ten per cent. The rest of my diet is cooked, sprouted and raw food and seeds offering the correct combinations of nutrients put there by Mother Nature, not the combinations formulated in the laboratory!” (By Malcolm Green BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences)
We can’t help but think, and from years of experience believe that the more natural, healthy diet full of variety is what will keep your birds living longer, looking better, and still offering the variety they deserve to have. Sure we have to watch the fat intake more than they would in the wild as most birds in doors don’t get the exercise needed (there are work around with this is as well, stay tuned for more info), but we can still feed in a way that excites the birds, keeps them working, offers them the variety, and quite honestly its fun. It’s fun to get involved, see what your bird loves and hates, throws, or decimates. Its fun to bond over food, to train with food, and to let your bird be a bird.
Now this is not to say we don’t believe in feeding pellets, we absolutely do, but we suggest feeding it in addition to a well-rounded diet.
In our store we focus on that variety. We focus on transitioning a bird in a healthy way. If they are a bird who has eaten seed-based food all their life, chances are they won't easily be transitioned immediately into the ideal diet. It's about trying to find that food that makes your bird click. Offering it in a way that makes it fun, showing them its good/safe to eat, and yes sometimes this means eating with your bird. Birds like to eat with you or other birds, after all they are a flock, and you are a part of that. Don’t give up, just keep trying, and do practice a little tough love, just in a safe way that is not depriving your bird for long amounts of time.
Also remember it is ok for a bird to have some seed. Usually the recommend amount is no more than 10%-20% of their diet. Lastly, no one is perfect, most birds don’t cooperate with everything we really want them to do, so make sure to have fun, don’t stress so much that it takes the fun out of owning a bird! Do the best you can, with the bird you have!
If you are wanting help, advice, etc. on getting your bird on a better diet let us know! We are always here and have over 60 types of food (most of which contain vital nutrients and probiotics, plus all of the goodies, to try and find that winning food to offer in addition to fresh fruits, veggies, chop, pellets, etc. GET THAT VARIETY IN THERE!
