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Some owners try to compensate for deficiencies in seeds by adding a vitamin powder to food or water. The problem is that the vitamins break down and quickly become useless in water. Even worse, vitamins enhance bacterial contamination of the drinking water. Powdered supplements on seeds are worthless since birds hull the seed and don’t get much powder in their mouths.

Birds will live for years and even successfully breed on an all seed starvation diet. The early signs of nutritional deficiencies are often subtle. Some early signs include malformed feathers, excessive beak and nail growth, flaky skin, black discoloration in green or yellow feathers, chronic infections, and even changes in personality. Canaries may stop singing and have scaly feet and legs.

So what should owners feed their birds? The easy answer is to feed a formulated diet (pellets). The hard part is to slowly train your bird to eat the new food. Just as there are formulated diets for dogs, cats, rabbits, etc., formulated diets for birds are also available from veterinarians and pet stores. Many veterinarians carry Harrison Bird Diet which is the only certified organically grown bird food. Pet stores carry other brands of pelleted foods such as Hagen, Kaytee, Lafeber, Pretty Bird, Roudybush, Zupreem, and Ziegler. Birds in the wild eat a number of things besides seed. They eat insects, berries and fruits from trees, they even get certain nutrients from eating dirt and leaves.

Methods of converting a bird from all seed starvation diets to a healthy formulated diet.

1. The slow method – mix the formulated food with the seeds. As the bird begins to taste and eat the new diet, gradually decrease the percentage of seeds, eventually eliminating it or only giving a small amount at feeding time. This may take weeks to months to accomplish. Once the bird starts to nibble on the pellets you may want to try method 2.

2. Offer the seeds only in the morning for a limited time. Leave the formulated food in the cage at all times. As the bird eats the new diet, gradually eliminate the seed.

3. Try to get your bird to first eat various table food, vegetables and fruits. You can entice your bird by eating these items in front of him and make a fuss over it and your bird will want what you have and will try it. You can even try this with the pelleted foods. Make a fuss over it and act like you are eating it and your bird will eventually want it.

4. Experiment with different sizes, shapes and textures of formulated foods.

5. Formulated foods may be incorporated into homemade recipes.

The following recipe is one that we use in the adoption program to convert birds that have been on all seed diets:

1 bag of 15 bean soup mix – discard the flavor packet

1 lb. of pasta – use various shapes to keep them interested or use the shape they prefer

1-2 lb. bag of mixed frozen vegetables

White or brown rice

Formulated food (don’t use the colored foods they tend to melt) we use Roudybush mini or crumble size pellets or Zupreem Natural

Raisins

Boil the beans according to directions on bag. For best results cook all the foods separately and combine. You may just add the vegetables still frozen if you are going to divide and freeze the whole batch. Put into freezer bags in amounts that will be used immediately when thawed. Just like any fresh foods that you offer your birds this food cannot be left in the cage for long periods of time especially in hot weather. You should remove it in an hour or two to avoid bacteria problems. Do not add fruit until served. If you have difficulty getting your bird to eat this food you may want to try heating it in the microwave (make sure it is not too hot when served), some birds prefer warm foods to cold.

Sprouting is a great way to give your bird(s) seeds and beans that are much more nutritious. China Prairie has a sprouting kit that is safe and easy to use. My birds love sprouts! www.chinaprairie.com