Parrot Nutrition and Diet Guide
Parrot Nutrition is an essential point in the daily management of parrots and the veterinarian has a key role to inform and advise the owner. Indeed, people with a parrot often feed their animal with seed mixtures, and for different reasons: it is practical, cheaper than other types of food, the bird in love and this type of Parrot food is the most common in the trade. Most French pet shops offer only mixtures of seeds on their shelves, thus depriving the owner of the choice of the type or quality of the food he wants to give to his parrot. Many homeowners are convinced that the seed mix is the only food available, or even that it is the most suitable food for parrots. However, the majority of parrots are not exclusively grain-eating but also frugivorous (except for the Loris and Lorikeets which are nectarivorous and which we will treat separately) and a diet consisting solely of seeds is often the cause of many diseases.
1.Seed Mixes for Parrots
Use the following as a guideline
- Wheat groats
- Canary
- Hemp seed
- Oats (whole)
- Pumpkin
- Sesame
- Spelt
- Sunflower
- Poppy
- Barley
- Buckwheat
- Corn
- Flax seeds
- Millet
- Milo
- Poppy
- Quinoa
- Rice
A-General considerations parrot food and diet
To feed his parrot, the owner has different types of Parrot food in the trade grouped in Table 4 presented below:
Advantages of Seed Mixes for Parrots
–Affordable price
-Very readily available commercially
-In appearance very well consumed by the bird
-Ease of use
Disadvantages of Seed Mixes for Parrots
-Used alone, source of nutritional imbalances and resulting diseases (see details below)
-Obesity, dull plumage, poor beak growth (too long or deformed), stress sometimes associated with behavioral disorders due to metabolic stress
-In fact, the bird will choose the seeds he prefers, especially millet seeds, sunflower, and peanuts, thus accentuating the imbalances of the ration
3. Extruded Granules For Parrot
Advantages of extruded granules food for parrots
–Avoid sorting
-Constant composition of vitamins and minerals
-Easy to use
-Less expensive than compressed granules
-Some very colorful and therefore more palatable for some birds
Disadvantages of extruded granules food for parrots
Cooked under pressure at 140 ° C: the destruction of bacteria, vitamins and natural flavors and modification of the structure of proteins and fibers that become more digestible (thus the acceleration of digestive transit of the bird)
– Important cost of manufacture sometimes compensated by lower quality raw materials
-Added synthesis elements to compensate for the deleterious effects of high-temperature cooking: vitamins, non-extruded fibers, artificial colors, etc …
-Conservation shorter than compressed even if possible freezing
