Pellets!

[Rueae]

I was just wondering what the forum thought of the different brands of pellets?
Which is the best and which do you feed your birds?
From what I can see I think RoudyBush curries a great favor all around, but why?

As for me, I fed Ink a 50/50 mix of natural diet and fruit blend ZuPreem pellets. I read that the fruit blend one has added sweetness that the birds don't need and that the non colored ones are to be preferred in general by the discerning parrot owner.
I picked this blend for Ink because the breeder I got her from fed it to her and I wanted to be sure I had a pellet she would be comfortable with and actually eat when she came home to me.
I had planned to switch her pellets to another (or at least take the fruit blend out) over time, but I didn't quite know which brand I wanted to switch her to.

[zazanomore]

I know a lot of people may not do this, but I offer my birds both pellets AND seeds. The seed diet I give them have pieces of dried fruit, vegetables, nuts, various types of seed, and it already comes with some pellets in it.

I also offer them roudybush maintenance crumbles. The size and texture is similar to the their premium seed mix, so they eat it.

I've read different sources that say cockatiels and budgies do well with a higher seed content in their diet.

I think I've done a pretty good job with their diet. None of my birds are over weight, and their feathers are extremely bright.

I would recommend the crumbles diet for switching over to pellets.

[Rueae]

Why would you recommend the crumbles diet? What made you try it?

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I think many people think Harrison's is the top of the line. It is the only diet that is uniformly USDA organic certified if that is important to you (I'm more inclined to consider it a factor for my birds than myself, since they are so sensitive to small amounts of anything).

That said, Scotty has a clear preference for the Fruit Blend pellets and will pick them out of his pellet mix first. So, while people fuss about the strong flavoring and coloring, it does seem to be more palatable at least to some birds. And it does deliver the vitamins and minerals that might otherwise be absent.

At any rate, there are a ton of threads on this subject. You might want to scan down this forum and see what you can find. Opinions vary is the bottom line!

[pirategene]

Which is the best? What dog food tastes the best? We will never know really, that's why we should read the ingredients and listing of the food. My 9yo B&G was started on Pretty Bird pellets by the breeder. All his life he has been on a daily plan of macaw Pretty Bird and Zupreen pellets. Naturally he gets a wide range of fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, pasta etc. added to his menu. Most days he will sort thru the colored pellets (I call fruit loops) and drop all the yellow ones shaped like bananas. Other days the green, other days the purple, so they gotta taste different also. But he never drops a nut, most fruits or pasta. I will keep him on those two pellets. I never had any luck with the un-colored variety of any pellets. They all get dropped or don't even get touched. Just like dog food, the better it is for them, the costlier it is also. Just watch how fast a dog eats canned food versus a bowl of plain expensive pellets.
pirategene and tambo

[GlassOnion]

I used to feed roudybush, then transferred to harrison's. Both were well accepted. I prefer harrison's because of the organic factor and also the ground up vegetation in the composition. I can't remember if roudybush had some in its pellets, but with harrison's, I can smell the grassyness.
The small veggie component is big for me because Apple really doesn't eat much fresh foods, and will accept occasionally if I hand-offer.

[zazanomore]

Why would you recommend the crumbles diet? What made you try it?

I read that the texture and size would be perfect for budgies and cockatiels. Also, the texture and shape of them is similar to their seeds, so they could easily see it was food.

[GlassOnion]

I've noticed that there was a lot of waste with a budgie+crumbles because the size seemed a bit big for the budgie's beak, and there was a lot of flinging.

[TheNzJessie]

i cant really recommend a brand because my budgie is on a seed/grain diet with fruit and veg and jango is a nectar eater so no pellets for him. but i have heard nothing but good reviews for harrisons

[zazanomore]

I've noticed that there was a lot of waste with a budgie+crumbles because the size seemed a bit big for the budgie's beak, and there was a lot of flinging.

I find that budgies do that with EVERYTHING. They do that with their seeds, fruits, toys, anything they can get their beaks a hold of.