Are pellets necessary?

[h4l1.png]

Hello dear friends. I spend a lot of time reading about pellets as food for parrots, so I would be interested in one thing. Does the pellet replace the parrot's real food or is it a supplement to the daily diet and can it really help my parrot a lot. I really try to include as many vegetables as possible in her diet. My conure eats her standard food every day, which consists mostly of sunflowers (food for large parrots). He eats apple and carrot twice a week and once a week he eats broccoli, cauliflower and peas. What do you think about this formula of mine and do my parrot really need pellets?

 

[Mizzely]

It really depends on well balanced the rest of the diet is. If their diet is primarily dry seeds with a little veggies/fruit, I would not consider that balanced. If the diet is mostly veggies, with a little fruit and dry seeds, that would be more balanced.

Most species, aside from predominantly seed eating birds like cockatiels, budgies, and grasskeets, don't need much dry seed in their diet.

Most seed mixes are often low in calcium and Vitamin A, and devoid of D3. Veggies can help fill in those gaps; dark leafy greens have calcium, vitamin A can be found in orange veggies like carrots, and some natural sunlight (not through a window) can give D3.

Sprouting or soaking seeds can also increase the nutrients in them, making them a better choice than dry seeds.

Pellets can be a great way to ensure your bird is getting enough nutrients if they aren't getting them in other ways. My Jardine's is a picky eater and has some health issues, so for him pellets are essential. My linnie is a little more adventurous with his eating, but I still make sure about half of his diet is pellets.

Just like dry seeds, pellets shouldn't be the only thing fed. They are a good addition to the diet, and would replace some of the dry seed portion you are feeding now if you went that route.

 

[Pixiebeak]

I think Mizzly put it well.
And you should see the yummy fresh foods and soaked grains she offers!

A primary sunflower see mix as base diet isn't nutritionally adequate . Seeds are t all bad and for our hook bills 10-20% of the seems to be a common recommendation. The rest need to include pellets and fresh . Or if going primarily fresh needs contain a wide range of actually eaten veggies, greens, sprouts , and 10% fruits that are lower sugar higher nutrients, fiber, antioxidants, like blueberries, blackberries, mango, pomegranate, plums and cherries minus the stone and such . Not grapes or bananas or citrus. Banana and grape can be a rare treat , some are ok with citrus I am not.

 

[Matto]

It's a contentious question and some people will die on the "no" hill, but i think that a general consensus has been reached that pellets are good for birds. How much of their diet should be pellets and what the other parts should be are still in question. Personally I feed a diet of around 80-90% pellets. Other foods are given for variety, excitement and foraging opportunities but the pellets provide the vast majority of the nutrition.
Every bird is going to have different requirements based on their species, lifestyle and health. But pellets are meant to cover all the bases for the vast majority of birds, and studies show that they do a pretty good job. I've heard many large breeders and aviculturists say that their birds health improved after replacing much of the fresh food diet with pellets.
And as an alternative to seeds, especially very fatty seeds like sunflower, there's no question that pellets are healthier.

 

[sunnysmom]

This is a good read: Little Feathered Buddies Health & Nutrition - Pellets

 

[Tommy95]

I’ve been thinking about this issue also. I think it is possible to go the route of “no pellets”, but you will need to start sprouting. Sprouting allows for more protein in the diet, which vegetables and fruits alone cannot achieve. Offering protein from eggs or insects can also help. B12 is hard to find in plant products, but insects and eggs should provide some. You’ll also need some sunlight for D3.

I come from the perspective that pellets are good, but not necessary. Isn’t it interesting that we don’t eat “human pellets” but can still have a healthy diet? True, we have things like fortified cereals and stuff, but those aren’t necessary. I’m sure many of us don’t count our nutrient intake also. We just eat a variety, and that is usually enough. And while sometimes we may not reach our “daily requirement” of certain nutrients, we’re fine. Our bodies are equipped to deal with small amounts of deficiency. I take it that parrots are similar. Feed a small variety, with protein, carbs and fats, and you should be good.

However, pellets are good, like fortified cereal, to cover the lack in case there’s any. For example if you have no time to sprout, maybe feed pellets.

 

[Mizzely]

The human diet angle assumes that we aren't deficient I know during the winter especially I am deficient on D3 and have to supplement. I also know when I'm deficient on potassium because of a family history it. A lot of people don't get enough Omega-3s and have to add them in with supplements.

The problem of course is that the birds can't tell us how they are feeling.

Also, if there was a food I could eat everyday and it would be a perfect balance of nutrients and calories, I absolutely would eat it!

 

[h4l1.png]

Što mislite o ovim peletima? A imate li neki prijedlog za dobar pelet?

 

[Mizzely]

It depends on what country you in; some places have better access to more pellet brands. NutriBird is fine, however you would probably want a smaller size for a green cheek conure.

 

[h4l1.png]

Poslušat ću i stvarno sam vam zahvalan na savjetu. Kupit ću ove pelete, samo me zanima kako ću mu ih dati. Da li svojim pticama dajem pelete kao glavnu hranu uz dodatak sjemenki i naravno svakodnevno davanje jabuke, banane i ostalog povrća ili da baziram na miješanje sjemenki ili ovu sadašnju hranu s povrćem i voćem svaki dan. Trebam li potpuno izbaciti ovu zrnastu hranu?

U mojoj zemlji postoji samo ova hrana (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

 

[Mizzely]

I offer pellets all day in a bowl, and then offer soaked seeds and veggies as a morning meal. It can take time for them to recognize pellets as good, so you may have luck mixing it with her current dry food.

Converting Parrots to a Healthier Diet - Tips

A healthy parrot starts with a healthy diet. Although the perfect diet is controversial, many parrot enthusiasts and experts agree on one thing; a seed only diet is a diet that is lacking in essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Studies have shown that adding fresh foods and pellets to a...

forums.avianavenue.com

 

[tka]

(I'm using Google Translate so apologies if I misunderstood what you've written)

I'm in the UK and I have used P15 before. The dyes may make your bird's droppings change colour: I prefer the undyed P15 for this reason. However, the undyed P15 pellets are harder to find. I would still feed dyed pellets rather than no pellets though.

Apple and banana are nice treats but should be fed less frequently because they are so sweet.

Try to focus on vegetables instead: broccoli, green beans, carrot, sweet potato, butternut squash, pumpkin, beetroot, Swiss chard, kale, peas, sweet peppers, chillis

Sweet potato must be cooked. Green leafy vegetables like Swiss chard or kale should be lightly cooked or steamed.

Many birds like different textures so you may need to experiment with these. My girls refuse to eat anything wet or mushy - they prefer things they can crunch. You can experiment with different ways of chopping and preparing the vegetables: some birds like things finely diced, others prefer chunks that they can hold.

This is a good guide by @Mizzely My Chop "Recipe"

 

[h4l1.png]

In my country, I have these pellets that are not in colors, so that is excellent information. I will start with a serious and healthy diet for my conure and whether this food suits my conure

 

[Mizzely]

If those are too big, you can also crush them a bit to make them smaller for your conure.

 

[h4l1.png]

Excellent, I am very happy because of this, that my love will start a healthy life. One lived for me for 6 years, in the end she got diarrhea when I suddenly changed her food and unfortunately she got weak and died.

I'm getting another one soon

 

[h4l1.png]

@Mizzely I would like to ask you something. I feed my parrot constantly with pellets, more precisely we switched completely to pellets without giving any seeds, and now I am interested in the following. I noticed for a couple of days, maybe 3, 4 days, that he eats less of that food and that he eats less of the seeds. Until 3, 4 days ago, she knew how to eat almost the entire small bowl (a bowl that doesn't hold much food), I cut the food nicely into small pieces for my GCC.

Is this a cause for concern or is it simply that she knows how much is enough for her because maybe this food is strong enough to fill her up. Below at the bottom, I can see that he is eating, but there is simply a lot of food left in his bowl, unlike in previous weeks

She is playful, lively and I don't think she lacks anything