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Post by amber on Aug 4, 2014 22:41:17 GMT -5
Hi ya'll Ive never had a bird before (but my husband has). We just got a 10 month old Green Quaker Friday and i was just wondering what/how much do you all feed your quakers daily? Like do you feed them several times a day, how much and how do you prepare their food? The pet store recommended eCotrition essential blend(cocktatiel food)but Im a little iffy on this type bc it seems mostly seeds? I also have been feeding her fresh fruits with Cherries being her absolute favorite. I have been doing a lot of research on this but Id love to hear what an average day for your quakers would be in terms of nutrient. Thanks everyone!
Amber
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Post by baconfamily on Aug 4, 2014 22:58:06 GMT -5
My Quaker is only 8 weeks old, So he gets pellets, seed, fresh fruits and veggies, and sprouts everyday along with his formula. I feed pellets in cage all day everyday. They have dry seeds on the play stands when out of cage. Sprouts in the morning for breakfast, and then fresh chop or mash of veggies, fruits, rice, or pasta at dinner time with us. All my bird get his expect for the formula, But they still like a little of that too but the oldest bird I have right now is only 3 months old.
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Post by cnyguy on Aug 5, 2014 20:35:47 GMT -5
Ralph has pellets available at all times; I provide fresh ones by themselves before Ralph goes to bed at night, and again when Ralph gets his breakfast and dinner. He gets a little Higgins Safflower Blend parrot food once or twice a day, not much more than a pinch at a time. At breakfast and dinner, Ralph gets a variety of vegetables, sometimes a little fruit (usually apple, since Ralph doesn't care for other fruits too much), some pasta or cooked grain (quinoa, brown rice or barley). If I'm home at lunchtime, he'll get a couple treats-- maybe a bit of whole grain cracker, a little rice cake or a tiny piece of cheddar cheese. He loves pellets softened in spring water, and gets some of those a few times a day. In a typical day, he gets fresh water three or four times. His favorite vegetables include fresh green peas, broccoli and corn; he also gets raw kale, parsley or celery leaves, cooked green or yellow beans, lima beans, garbanzo beans, cauliflower and sweet potato-- a little of each of three or four different vegetables at breakfast and dinner.
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Post by Sharyn and Mr P on Aug 5, 2014 21:18:59 GMT -5
Mr P spends most of his day out of his cage (I work from home) on his playstand. In the morning, when he comes out, he has fresh pellets and water in his playstand food dishes, and he gets these all day long. I change the water quite a bit since he likes to dunk everything in the water dish. As an addition to pellets, in the morning, he gets homemade birdie bread which contains as many chopped veggies and I can cram in there since he wont eat them by themselves, and it is VITAL to their health that they get veggies. He will also get bites of whatever fruit and quaker friendly food I eat during the day. At night, when he goes back to his cage, he gets fresh pellets and water, and dinner which normally consists of some sort of cooked whole grain (we are doing quinoa this week but sometimes it's barley, sometimes brown rice and sometimes bulgar wheat. He also gets a little bit of chop which he doesnt like but I keep offering it to him, hoping he will change his mind. If he hasnt gotten any pistachio nuts during the day as treats, I will put one or 2 shelled and broken apart in with his quinoa/chop and let him just pick them out. As snacks that arent fed to him daily, he gets Nutriberries, almond slivers and I just ordered some avicakes, not sure he'll eat them. Of course, the BEST way to get your quaker to eat anything is to put some on your plate, eat it in front of him and make lip smacking, good..mmmmmm.. type noises. They will at least TRY what you are eating when they see you eating it  I want to edit this to add the following: If your quaker doesnt eat something you think he should have the first time, KEEP OFFERING IT. They are fickle little buggers and sometimes what they hate today they love tomorrow. Also, a mostly seed diet is NOT good for a quaker. Every once in awhile seed as a treat is ok, but their diets should consist of mostly fruits, veggies, whole grains and pellets. There is some debate as to which pellet is the best for them, roudybush and harrisons contain no artificial stuff but if your bird won't eat them, then it doesnt matter. Mr P eats a mixture of Zupreme natural and Zupreme fruit. This is not the best pellet on the market as it contains artificial stuff but as my vet said "ANY pellet diet is better than seed" |
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Post by amber on Aug 6, 2014 19:27:26 GMT -5
thanks for the info I really appreciate it. How do you make birdie bread? Also do you just cook his veggies until soft? last question...i think haha when i first got Athena I went to the pet store to get her food and they recommended a type of food for her but after doing research I don't think its the best as it seems to be mostly seeds, how would you all shift towards more of a pellet diet? Im not sure if I should just stop offering the old food altogether and just give her pellets till she eats or what I mean I don't want her to starve but I also want her to eat healthy? Again thanks so much for the help I feel a bit overwhelmed and worried about her diet especially knowing how important it is to her life expectancy!!
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Post by cnyguy on Aug 6, 2014 20:04:33 GMT -5
This article on the companion site is about converting parrots to a pellet-based diet; I think you'll find some helpful suggestions there. Most vegetables can be offered either raw or cooked-- most types of beans should be cooked, but vegetables like carrots and peas can be fed either way. Try offering them in different ways-- slightly larger pieces (or whole, in the case of peas), finely chopped or mashed up. My QP Ralph prefers most vegetables chopped into tiny pieces, except raw peas, which must be sliced in half. Quaker can be very fussy about food.  Sharyn is right-- don't give up, be persistent and keep offering the same foods over and over. It took 8 months to get Ralph to try broccoli, and now it's one of his favorites. It can help to eat some of the same things in front of your parrot and act like it's the most delicious food you've ever tasted. Parrots love to share foods their human companions enjoy.
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Post by Sharyn and Mr P on Aug 6, 2014 20:44:00 GMT -5
Like everything else, there are differences of opinion on how to make birdie bread. If you google birdie bread you will find a ton of recipes. There is also a facebook page called The parrot panty, that has a ton of recipes. The rescue organization I adopted Mr P from (Florida Parrot Rescue) also has a FB page that has lots of birdie bread and chop recipes. Mr P gets 2 types of birdie bread, one is pumpkin based with lots of frozen fruit mixed in, whole wheat flour to hold it together, an egg, some crushed up pellets, and this last batch had baby food in it that my grandson (8 months) didnt like. Mr P will eat that version of bread grudingly because he thinks I like it and he MUST HAVE what I eat. What he really prefers is cornbread. I have read that pre-made cornbread mixes are not good for your QP, however, I weigh that with the fact that since I PACK them with chopped veggies (usually raw and fresh), the fact that he's eating veggies balances out the fact that he's eating a pre-packaged mix. He prefers Betty Crocker cornbread mix to the Jiffy mixes (yeah, don't laugh, he CAN tell the difference) and absolutely loves it when I cook them in mini muffin tins instead of cutting them into squares. (yes, he IS a tad spoiled) I did notice on amazon that they have an organic cornbread mix, I am going to try that next. If the mix calls for cows milk, I use almond milk. I also add the eggshells into the mix if it calls for an egg. I make it differently each time, a lot depends on what I have in the house. I buy those bags of steamer veggies that you can just pop in the MW. I don't MW though, I have a vegetable chopper and I chop them into small pieces first. If they are too big, Mr P will pick out the veggies, throw them on the floor and just eat the cornbread. It's pretty much hit or miss until you find what they will eat Birds are *supposed* to like veggies and I am 100% sure that if you introduce them to a baby qp, they will eat them without all the hoops I jump through to get Mr P to eat them. I will say one other thing about this. When I first got Mr P, his tail feathers were discolored and, although he was on a pellet diet, his foster mom could not get him to eat veggies so he didnt. When I took him to the vet right after I got him, the vet told me that his discolored tail feathers and the overall lack of luster of all his feathers, was due to him not eating veggies. In the 8 months that I've had him since I figured out to give him bird bread with veggies in them, the tail feather discoloration is gone and his feathers glow almost. So yeah, it's really important! Whatever it takes.... |
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Post by benegesserit on Aug 8, 2014 17:45:17 GMT -5
Happy has a dish of Roudybush pellets in her cage 24/7. I give her a small amount of treats daily (right now she's into the fruit avicakes.) Since I am a well trained human, I actually bear my Quaker in mind as I shop. As a result, I'm losing weight and have a healthier diet. I replaced rice with millet (yes, humans can eat it too,) I make salads all the time (no avocados!) and I make sure that whenever I eat fresh whole foods, I share them with my fid. I also buy fruit for my entire family, so whenever my husband and I eat some, we share with Happy.
This evolved because Happy was raised on seed by her previous home, and she didn't recognize whole foods as being edible. It's necessary for her to see us eating items, then she'll become curious and want to try them. It's much easier for us to have her adapt this way.
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