Staring at Birds - Cockatiels

Definitive proof that cockatiels WILL eat fresh foods:

Eric's little messy face after his breakfast of carrots, broccoli, apple, celery, cauliflower, and sprouts.

Remember - Birds are suspicious little creatures.  Repetition is they key to getting them onto a healthy, assorted diet.  After seeing the food item enough times they WILL try it. . . after they figure out you're not trying to poison them.

Bird Thought - What I feed

I feed a quality seed base with pellets free fed to some pairs.  Pellets are my "vitamin supplement".  Some pairs don't get pellets (or get limited amounts of pellets) as pellets have been linked to health problems in some birds such a eclectus and mutation parrotlets.

I also feed the following "mash" every day.  In addition to the "mash", seed, and pellets I feed as treats and enrichment whatever interesting thing happens to be at the store at the time - grapes, cantaloupes, strawberries, cactus pads, etc.  Try your ethnic food store for some REALLY interesting fresh produce.

This "mash" is what I feed my birds.  If you only have one or a few pet birds, this is probably too time consuming and a hassle to deal with.  With only a few birds it would work better for you to integrate the bird diet into your routine:  Integrate him into YOUR lifestyle

Small Birds:
(Finches, Bourke Parakeets, Cockatiels, Parrotlets, White-Winged Parakeets)

 

Broccoli

 

Carrots

 

Apples

  

Cook Mix - Raw

 

Cook Mix - After Cooking

  

Cook Mix

 

Sprouts

How to sprout: Sprouting

 

Sprouts

  

Complete and ready to feed.

Large Birds:
(African Greys, Eclectus, Rosellas, Conures, Indian Ringnecks) 

 

Broccoli - Coarse Chopped

  

Carrots - Coarse Chopped

  

Apples - Coarse Chopped

 

Cooked Mix

  

Cooked Mix

  

Fruit Cocktail - No Sugar Added

**This is occasionally used.  The eclectus like it. 

 

Sprouts

How to Sprout: Sprouting

  

Sprouts

 

Complete and Ready to Feed

Bird Tip - Join Me!

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©2011 American Federation of Aviculture, Inc.  All rights reserved.

Bird Thought - There are no human pellets. . . Why?

Think about it - There's been a lot more research done in the department of human nutrition than avian nutrition; but there's no human pellet out there.

And fer real? An amazon parrot from South America has the same dietary requirements as a cockatoo from Australia as an African grey from Africa?  If not, why the same pellet for all of them?

Don't get me wrong, I feed pellets; but I view pellets as more of a vitamin pill than a complete diet.

I think it's lazy to feed only pellets; just like it's lazy to feed just bird seed.
Feeding Your Bird for Health
Diet
Why Food is Better than Pellets
Thoughts on Diet
Parrotlets and Pellets

Bird Tip - Sprouting Revisited

For the truly HARD CORE seed junkie you can sprout spray millet:

 

Entire spray millet

 

Cover with water.  Soak about 8 hours or overnight.

Entire spray millet is a little tricky to get thoroughly soaked.  

Push the top ones to the bottom about 4 hours into the soaking session.

After soaking, pour through sieve and rinse thoroughly. Set sieve on top of sprouting container to drain.  Make sure the sieve holes are small enough so the millet seeds don't fall through. 

Rinse at least twice a day.  I leave this next to the kitchen sink so when I pass by 

I give it a rinse. Smell it after each rinse.  It should smell fresh and "earthy", never moldy.  Discard if moldy or smells yucky.

Sprouts are ready to serve when it grows "hair" (make sure it's not mold!).

Depending on the temperature, the sprouts will be ready in 24 - 36 hours. 

I don't know how long the sprouts will keep.  If I do spray millet, I just make enough for what gets consumed in 1 day. So if you want to feed over consecutive days, you'll need to have several going at a time made a day apart.

Bird Tip - Sprouting

Sprouts are super nutritious and it's great for birds that refuse to eat anything but seed since it looks like seed to them.  It sounds complicated, but it's really not once you have it down.
I sprout with no special equipment.  I use ordinary household sieves and plastic storage containers.

For my larger birds-conures, african greys, eclectus, ringnecks:

 

Sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, green peas, barley.

Use any plastic food storage container.

Pick out all the broken pieces and "junk"

 Cover with water.  Soak about 8 hours or overnight.

 

After soaking, pour through sieve and rinse thoroughly. 

Set sieve on top of sprouting container to drain. 

Make sure the sieve holes are small enough so what you're sprouting doesn't fall through. 

 

Rinse at least twice a day.  

I leave this next to the kitchen sink so when I pass by I give it a rinse. Smell it after each rinse.  

It should smell fresh and "earthy", never moldy.  Discard if moldy or smells yucky.

 

Sprouts are ready to serve when there are small tails.

Depending on the temperature and what you're sprouting, the sprouts will be ready 

in 24 - 36 hours. Refrigerate unused portion in refrigerator.  

I don't know how long the sprouts will keep.  I feed out within three days.  Experiment with the amounts and make what you can feed out within three days.

For my small birds-finches, parakeets, cockatiels:

I use a parakeet/finch mix. Small yellow millet, white millet, red millet, 

canary grass seed, oats, flax, rape, niger, chinese millet. This generally is 

too small to pick out any broken pieces, but remove any obvious pieces of "junk".

Cover with water.  Soak about 8 hours or overnight.

After soaking, pour through sieve and rinse thoroughly. 

Set sieve on top of sprouting container to drain.

Make sure the sieve holes are small enough so what you're sprouting doesn't fall through.

Rinse at least twice a day.  

I leave this next to the kitchen sink so when I pass by I give it a rinse. Smell it after each rinse.  

It should smell fresh and "earthy", never moldy.  Discard if moldy or smells yucky.

Sprouts are ready to serve when there are small tails.

Depending on the temperature and what you're sprouting, the sprouts will be ready 

in 24 - 36 hours. Refrigerate unused portion in refrigerator.  

I don't know how long the sprouts will keep.  I feed out within three days.  Experiment with the 

amounts and make what you can feed out within three days.

Another great article listing other things you can sprout: Sprouting for Healthier Birds

Cockatiels - Two Day Old Baby Being Handfed

If you think that's tiny, you should try a day old baby bourke parakeet!

Jendays - Handfeeding Time

No, it didn't grow right before your eyes - It's two different babies.

Bird Thought - My bird won't eat a variety of foods! Really?

Ok, so you say you give your bird all sorts of good table foods and your bird just won't eat anything other than bird seed.  Really?  This is actually something I didn't think about until I was speaking with someone yesterday.  The lady told me the same thing - Can't get the lovebird to eat anything other than bird seed.  Then she described what the lovebird does with the apples, oranges, broccoli, other foods she gives the bird.  She said the bird just destroys all the food and throws it on the ground.

**BING, BING, BING** A dim light bulb flickered in my little pea brain.  Her bird most likely is eating all those good foods; she's just not familiar with how a bird eats.

Think about it.  Give your dog a treat - woof, it's gone, not even a crumb left.  Give your bunny a piece of carrot - nom, nom, nom carrot all gone.  Now go watch some birds in an orchard.  They destroy and waste a ton of fruit all over the ground while they're feeding.

When feeding your bird, think about it this way - If you had a personal fridge and pantry supplier that replenished you every single day with unlimited pizza, a bag of chip, soda, beer, apples, bananas, broccoli, quinoa, salad; what would you eat?  I love pizza.  I'd eat the pizza, chips and soda.  I might take a bite of apple.  I'd probably never get around to the quinoa-ever.  Next day I get the same items, I'll probably do the same thing.

Now, if my personal food shopper started giving me daily a slice of pizza, maybe chips maybe not, fruit smoothies, salad and quinoa; I'd still be hungry after my pizza slice.  I'd have the fruit smoothie and eat the salad and quinoa even though those might not be my favorite things.  Next day I get a pizza slice, banana, whole grain pasta salad, and water.    I'd probably eat everything again.

Hopefully you understand my analogy - Don't starve your bird, but don't keep that seed bowl filled 24/7!  Portion any seed you feed and keep giving them the variety they need.  If they're destroying the good foods and making a mess, that's a good thing.  The true "seed junkies" I've seen don't even touch the other food items.

Read also: Thoughts on Diet and Diet

Bird Tip-Integrate Him Into YOUR Lifestyle

Ok, so I've read the articles about minimum cage size, enrichment, feeding, training, etc.  Google it - I'm not going into detail here.  I don't know about you, but after 20+ years living with parrots, I still can't get around to doing everything that's recommended out there.  Or maybe you have family members who aren't as thrilled as you are at decorating every room in the house to look like the inside of a bird cage.

Especially to those of you out there with your first bird or just a couple of birds - Don't kill yourself!  The more you can integrate bird care and feeding to fit your lifestyle, the more likely you'll actually KEEP your bird.  We've all seen those rehoming ads - "No time for my bird Buddy".   No time, or it's just more hassle than it's worth?

- Trash cans can serve at temporary perches in rooms you don't/can't put a play stand.  When I do dishes there's usually a bird sitting on the trashcan next to me.  For those of you thinking "How disgusting! How unsanitary!"  I have to ask you - what the heck are you putting in your trashcan?  Don't you empty it regularly?  And don't you ever wash your trashcan?

- Improve your eating habits so you can share food with your bird.  Forget that bag of Flubber Thigh Potato Chips and get those whole wheat crackers.  Try quinoa instead of mashed potatos.  Go check out the bulk bin at your local health food store for dried fruit, low sugar whole grain cereals, nuts, etc.  (I'm not a healthy organic kinda gal, but I can even do this.)

- Your bird needs time out each and every day.  I read somewhere a minimum of two hours a day.  I don't feel that's enough out of cage time.  This doesn't necessarily mean it needs to have your undivided attention at all times.  Guess what!  It's doable even if you work full time!  Here's my apprx. scheduled when I was working full time:

* 6 AM - let the birds out to play on their stands or on top of their cage and stretch.  One bird gets to be with me while I get ready for work (I'd rotate each bird throughout the week).
* 6:30 - Make and have breakfast (I'm big on eggs-do something healthy.).  Make enough for the birds to have some, but don't feed them yet.
* 7:00 - Everyone back in their cages with fresh food and water and whatever was for breakfast for the day.  They get used to going into their cages w/out fussing since it's yummy breakfast time.  I leave for work-they didn't even notice I was leaving since they're too busy pigging out.  If you're running late a handful of sugar free/low sugar cereal or uncooked oatmeal is quick and easy.  I usually didn't even have to physically put the birds away, they knew it was time and would go back in by themselves and wait for food.
* 5:30 PM - back home, let everyone out to play on their stands/cages and stretch.  One bird gets to be with me while I get out of work clothes. (Again I'd rotate them throughout the week).
* 6PM - Bird that's with me goes back to his cage or play stand.  All birds playing by themselves while I make dinner - of course with enough for them to have some.
* 7PM - Dinner.  Dinner of our people food to all the birds either on their play stands or in their cage (leaving the cage door open - it's their room, not prison.)
* After Dinner until bedtime - All birds still out.  Some are having cuddle time, some are just goofing around, causing trouble.
* Bedtime - All birds back in their cages.  Last check that there's clean water and some seed in their bowls in case they wake up earlier than I do and want to munch.

So you see, even working full time, my birds were out every day at least a full four hours.  I had an African Grey, two cockatoos, a conure and a couple of cockatiels at the time - not necessarily birds that are considered low maintenance.  My birds didn't pluck themselves, or scream excessively, or develop other neurotic behaviors.

I started keeping birds in my late teens and have kept them through going to school, working full time, getting married, having a baby, moving, etc.  It's doable.  They're resilient.