Food
– If your bird is being shipped -I have sent you both Roudybush Maintenance
and/or Breeder Med or Small and Zupreem Fruit Blend Breeder parrot/conure size pellets. I find they waste less if I feed the medium or
small size.
If you are picking up your bird I will give you a care package the day you pick up
your bird with food, a rope, a toy, and other items. I will also send a few of the nuts
and treats I feed regularly. I will only
provide a couple days supply so make sure you have plenty on hand when your bird
arrives. These pellets can be kept fresh in the freezer. Always check the expiration day on the bag of feed
when purchasing. These products usually have a
shelf life of 1 year. If you see an expiration
date with only one month left you know this bag has been sitting someplace for 11 months
since it was produced.
These babies have eaten both type of
pellets and I provide the Breeder form of both brands of pellets. The pellets you
buy in the store are usually maintenance pellets. Yes, there is a difference and
yes, the birds do know the difference. I use the breeder for the young birds to keep
them growing. Maintenance are for *Maintaining* the body weight of an adult bird so
they don't gain weight. They have less fat and less calcium etc. that both breeder
and baby birds need. Your baby may or may not convert easily to the maintenance
pellets of either kind. You can feed one or both brand of pellets. Your bird
will eventually make that decision. I prefer the Roudybush.
For the first 8
months a baby should have Roudybush High Energy Breeder pellets which
will provide the needed calcium,D3 and other nutrition's a baby bird
needs to grow.
After 8 months if
you are feeding Roudybush you should mix 1/3 Maintenance and 1/3 High
Energy Breeder to make sure your bird is getting the calcium a Grey
requires to stay healthy. If feeding other pellets or seed (not
recommended) you will need to supplement Calcium.
Nuts should be human
grade. For young birds they should be shelled
so the baby actually gets to eat the nut. Their
beaks, when young, are not strong enough to open the shells so they play with them but never
get to eat the nut defeating the purpose of feeding them.
I purchase Diamond brand cooking nuts at Sam’s in large bags. They can be frozen to keep the extra nuts
fresh.
NEVER feed anything that has an old oily smell.
Remember no salted nuts and no raw peanuts.
Peanuts are grown under the ground where bacteria and mold can grow. Roasting kills
these bacteria and mold spores. Nuts supply the extra fat baby birds need
(especially Macaws) that the
maintenance pellets do not have. Do not over feed peanuts. There
have been some problems assumed to be allergies from peanuts. Other type
nuts are a better choice. If you feed peanuts keep them to a minimum.
Have a supply of apples and grapes and
any other fruits or veggies you want to try. They
are most familiar with apples, carrots and grapes.
A batch of bird bread will help sooth
a weary traveler! Bird bread recipe can be found at - http://www.bignest.com/texas.htm
Most like it but some don't. I feed a 1 1/2" cube of bird bread per
bird.
