Could I be overfeeding my bird Oliver?

[dmkrieg]

I was just curious if I was overfeeding/underfeeding my bird Ollie.

Here is Olivers planned food schedule for today:
He had a scrambled egg w/shell for breakfast
1/4 of a Kiwi cutup
a baby carrot - cut up in small pieces
2 pieces of broccoli
10-12 pieces of Nutriberries (Laebefers) i think that is how you spell it.

Then tonight he will get:
10 - 12 pieces of the nutriberries
2 slices of apple (no seeds) cut up
2 pieces of broccoli cut up
and a very small amount (about a tbsp) of cooked macaroni.

and a peanut (no salt) at bedtime - to get him back in his cage. lol

[Greywings]

How much of that does he actually eat and how much ends up on the floor? I would suggest a smaller serving of egg and maybe fewer Nutriberries. What other veggies and fruits do you offer? The brighter colored produce carries the most nutrition squash, beets (red and yellow), pomegranate, kale and sweet potato for example.

[danmcq]

Hi dmkrieg.

GreyWings asked important questions and gave good advice.

Your grey should have a high quality seed mix or pellets available 24-7. The items you listed are mainly snacks, not a good diet for a grey or any other parrot.

Could you expand a little on the complete picture for us?

Thanks and looking forward to hearing more. :-)

[dmkrieg]

Well actually i was trying to follow the directions on the bag of Lafebers Nutriberries and then provide a variety of different fruits and vegetables. He really was afraid of the Kate that I tried to give him. I will try and add more vegetables. He eats most of the nutriberries and just pics at the fruits and veggies I put in there. I've given him oatmeal and some days he eats it and other days he doesnt. I give him egg and he eats some but not a lot. He loves apples but I try not to give him a bunch due to all the sugar in it. I really want the very best for him and am willing to give him whatever he needs but I honestly have no clue what that is? do I just slice up a bunch of different veggies and put it in his dish. I try to give him some of what I eat however; I have read so many things about sugar being bad, or too much salt. he loves pizza but i don't want to make him sick with all the salt in that. Please help me develop a good meal plan for my boy. Im not sure if its his diet or what but the first month I had him he was perfect and just recently he started biting everyone but me. He will actually let them hold him and then he decides it is ok to try and bite their face. Once my little girl was sitting on the floor and he walked over across the floor and bit her hand. this is the same boy that likes to walk back and forth across her hand or sit on her leg while watching tv. And it was a bad bite, broke the skin and almost took a chunk out of the top of her hand. I had to tell him NO BITE when i heard her screaming - then he let go. Ive read diet can change their personality. I wish I knew what the problem is.

[pearllyn]

Hi Debbie,
Diet can certainly have a lot to do with personality, do you know what he was eating before you got him? Feeding him on a purely seed diet could cause him to be overweight, which is VERY bad for a grey Ideally, he should be on a complete pelleted diet, maybe supplemented with some seed (cause they love them!) plus fresh fruit and veg, and the odd treat like the ones you mention.
Egg is ok, but in moderation - once a week is more than enough. Alfie gets her eggie treat on a saturday morning mixed with all her suplements!
So really, you should be looking to have her dry diet available to her at all times, all though, if you are trying to wean her onto a complete brand, at first, offer it for maybe half an hour or so, then remove it, and so on.
Fresh water should be available at all times, and any fresh fruit or veg should be offered, and then removed before it starts to go off.
Again, there are many threads on here about diet and feeding, don't be shy about having a good old rake through the threads to find the info you need!

This is a website I found useful.

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/africangreys/a/africangreys_3.htm

Lyn & Alfie.
x

[Lambert58]

I really recommend a mash recipe + a good pellet diet (harrisons or we also use another organic brand, I'll track it down) + fresh veggies/fruits for variety.

I have a proven mash recipe here: http://greyttimes.com/?p=68

[dmkrieg]

I am going to try and begin making this mash today for Ollie, can you tell me how long its good in the freezer for? I only have one African Grey so not sure if I should try and cut down the ingredients or just be thankful I don't have to try and make it so often. hahaha.

Anyone have any awesome parrot recipes to share cookie or meal??

[Xtreme575]

I usually cut the mash recipes in half as I only have one Grey as well. Then I spread the mash over clean ice cube trays and freeze it for individual servings that I store in Tupperware in the freezer. That makes it easy to heat up in the microwave in the mornings (I let mine sit so I won't have hot spots that could burn his tongue or crop) that I feed. Veggies next, then he gets pellets just as I leave. That way he eats his veggies before his preferred pellets are offered. I get up an hour earlier than I did pre-fid, but he is worth it! Plus I'm excited to see him each morning!

[Spinner]

Although they might be related, the biting and food issues are probably separate items to deal with. Search the forum for biting and I'm sure you'll find great information. Since Ollie is fairly new to your home, you are probably experiencing normal Grey growing pains. But be sure to deal with it soon, you don't want it to be habitual. There are also a number of resources on the web to address biting.

For the food; As Dan said, have pellets always available. Ollie will only eat what she needs as birds typically don't over eat. Anything else we feed should be considered supplemental and for variety.

You asked for recipes, and I use a pretty simple one. I purchase "15 bean soup", which is a bag of different bean types and a flavor packet. I throw away the flavoring and cook the beans after an overnight soak. I throw in brown rice towards the end of the bean cook time. Add a bag of frozen vegetables, or stir fry veggies and pack them into one-cup ziploc containers. I usually get 16-18 packages worth of mix.

A second recipe uses rice, whole wheat pasta, and greens mixed together. A package of broccoli cole slaw mix and normal cole slaw mix is added in.

I alternate between the two each day along with occasional fresh fruit.

Hope this helps!

[luvparrots]

Thanks Spinner for the recipes!!