| Good Food, Good Meal, Amen! |
| Greens, Greens & More Greens. |
| Often referred to as "Mother Natures Buffet, Dark Greens, such as Kale, Mustard & Collard Greens, Spinach & Swiss Chard are an important part of your parrots diet. In the wild, parrots often feed on greens such as leaves, buds, sprouts, blossom, shoots, stems as well as a variety of nuts, seeds, fruits & berries. It's believed that Greens that contain a lot of fibre make up a large portion of wild parrots diet, whilst other nutrients such as fats & protien make up a small percentage. If you take a look at the high fat diets that alot of todays bird owners are feeding their birds it's very easy to see why there are many birds who are overweight.. In the wild Parrots & other birds are able to enjoy a huge variety of greens every day of their life. However most companion parrots in captivity will be lucky to eat green foods once or twice a week. A healthy varied diet combined with plenty of exercise helps parrots to maintain a healthy body weight Lack of greens in a birds diet can cause several deficiencies. One of the most common is a vitamin A deficiency. This compromises the immune system and will eventually effect the outward appearence of the bird. Most notably, the eyes will appear dull and so will the feathers. The richest and most natural source of Vitamin A is dark leafy greens. Vitamin K is also abundantly found in this nutritious food. Another advantage of feeding your birds leafy greens is that they are low in calories, fat & sodium. Greens are also free of cholesterol & fat that causes obesity in companion birds and the various health problems that accompany it. |
| Spinach |
| Spinach, Romaine Lettuce & Red Cabbage |
| Mustard Greens |
| Red Leaf Lettuce |
| Collard Greens |
| Kale |
| Leafy greens contain Phytonutrients or Phytochemicals which are substances and pigments that are found in plants that help to prevent cancer & heart Disease. Gail Worth of Aves International has written some great information on the importance of Phytonutrients in birds diets. click here to visit her site and read more. There are many nutrients found in dark leafy greens that are an excellent part of your parrots diet. Fiber is found in abundance in many greens. Fiber is an is important in your birds diet in that it has different functions in the system including the regulation of cholesterol. Carotenes, including beta carotenes are also present and play an important part too. They help fend off diseases and keep the eyes & mucas membranes healthy. Dark Greens have a higher beta carotenee content than greens that are light in color. So always choose leafy green such as Mustard, Collard, Red leaf & Romaine Lettuce as well as Bok Choy, Kale & Spinach. Calcium is also present in alot of greens. Not only is calcium very important good bone structure in parrots it also assists in nerve transmissions, blood clotting, the formation of eggs & the laying of eggs in females & muscle contraction. Magnesium is another important mineral that is found in Greens. Magnesium helps to control many metabolic processes. Promoting the absorption and metabolism of other minerals, particulary calcium, Magnesium is a critical mineral for a bird coping with stress. Magesium is somtimes referred to as the Stress relieving mineral. Potassium is found in greens and is essential to help, blood pressure regulation, transmission of nerve impulses & proper digestion. It also helps out with the birds heartbeat as well helping muscles to contract. Folic acid is found in greens also. Folic acid is a B vitamin that can help fight off heart disease by working with enzymes that can help dispose of homocysteine which is a harmful chemical found in blood that can irritate the walls of your birds artery. Folic acids are also important in the development of red blood cells. One must remember that if your bird has never eaten greens before that there is a good chance that it will take a while to get it use to eating these great nutritious foods. Below are some tips you can use that have worked for me in helping Bandit - our African Grey & Ryley our Mollucan Cockatoo eat new things. Patience is the key and remember to not give up. Alot of birds will not eat new foods on the first try. Some take a few days, some take months and others take literally over a year. Just work with your bird consistently and it will eventually come around. |
| Tips on how to convert your feathered friends to a better diet |
| **When trying to get your parrot to eat new foods try placing the fresh foods such as fruits and veggies in their regular feed bowl. **Using the "Monkey See What Monkey Do" approach can work too. By allowing your birds to watch other birds in your house, especially if your birds are good buddies, can enable them to eat healthier foods. Watching one bird munch down on a stalk of Swiss Chard more often than not, intrigues the other bird and it's curiousity soon sets in and is often willing to try it as well. If your bird is the only bird in the household then don't worry. Have your birds favorite person eat some good food in front the bird. Make a big deal out of how great it is too. Yes, you can run the risk of your family and friends thinking that you're ready for a straight jacket however parrots get very curious about things if someone is being dramatic about it. If your bird shows an interest in what it is that you're eating offer a bit to him. let him touch it with his beak then pull it away from him. Say things like "mmmmm this Kale is good" or "Oooh would you like some Kale?" Again offer it to him and if he beaks it pull it away. Usually this is enough for the bird to decide that what you have in your hand belongs to him now and he will set about taking it from you. Don't expect him to eat it right away. Do expect him though to play with it somewhat before deciding to eat it. Remember that when he does eat it, praise him. Birds love it when we praise them for what they do. He will soon realize that good things happen when eating the good food. Stainless Steel Kabob sticks are a great method too for getting your birds to eat healthier foods. There are some bird safe kabob sticks that don't have the sharp pointed edge. There are some you can buy that have a threaded end where you can tighten a nut on the end which will prevent the bird from being injured should it poke itself on the pointed edge. With the kabobs you can cut the fruits & vegetables into different shapes. Be Creative. A bird that may not like carrots and bell peppers sliced julienne style may enjoy them cut into thicker chunks weaved onto a kabob stick. You can also wrap them up in a large lettuce leaf and skewer the leave and the veggies wrapped inside as an added way to entice your bird to try it. By doing this you can really motivate your bird to want to try it by chewing the lettuce, kale, bok choy etc in order to get whats on the inside. By mixing chopped up greens into your birds regular feed dish you can encourage him to want to give it a try. If you're bird is a seed lover or fond of foods that just aren't good for him you, you will find that they may not be willing to try things such as the leafy greens that you're offering them. Apples , Corn on the cob & Grapes may not be some of the most nutrient rich foods to offer but they do serve well as a transition food. By offering these foods first it can help set the grounds for your bird being more accepting of new foods. One more trick that has worked for me in the past is feeding new foods in the morning when your bird is usually at his hungriest. Remove the feed bowl once it's lights out so he doesn't eat before you rise in the morning. Add the new foods with a very small amount of other food that he eats. If you're serving yummy foods like sweet potato. You can always serve them warm. Some birds prefer vegetables warm rather than raw. Remember to be in control of what your parrot eats. If allowed, your parrot will not make good choices. For example, if you have 3 feed dishes in his cage, Veggies in 1, seed/pellets in another and dried fruit n nuts etc in another you can be certain he will go for the foods that he likes best. This doesn't bode well if he wont eat Fruits and Veggies. Be sure to never go "cold turkey" when transitioning your parrot to a better diet. If he doesn't yet like what is in his feed dish, it's a pretty safe bet that he will not eat it. By making sure that there is feed that he does eat. The key is to gradually replace the unhealthy foods with better alternatives so that you will not be compromising your birds health & his nourishment needs. Going cold turkey on a parrot can lead to health issues and possibly aggrivate and underlying health issues you may not be aware. Parrots can be quite wasteful, often taking a bite of a chunk of food and then discarding it. Cutting feed into small chunks can help eliminate this. Be prepared for some food wastage though when making the transition to healthier diet for you bird. Remember that converting your bird to a healthier diet is something that wont happen overnight. Remember it can take a day or week or even several months of trying different things to finally find something your parrot loves. One trick that has worked for me here at Bird Heaven Aviaries is to not offer a huge variety of foods in one feeding. By providing a large buffet of foods you're allowing your bird to choose the feed that he likes best, quite often filling himself up on that before attempting to try other things. By offering one or two samples of fruits or veggies each feeding then alternating to different ones the next day. It's important to remember that fresh and germinated foods like sprouts can spoil very quickly in warmer weather. If your bird has not touched any food after 2 hours, remove the feed from his cage and try again with something different. It takes time and alot of patience when converting birds to a new diet as well as a lot of trial and error. It's very important to not become discouraged, it takes time and in the end you will have a healthy bird that eats all kinds of great food. Birds can live upwards of 30 years. it's important as their caregivers to do right by them and provide with a healthy diet, in return we will be rewarded with years and years of great companionship. |