Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

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jmlw7
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Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by jmlw7 »

Hi all - We've had our 8 month old ringneck for 2 weeks now and he is doing really well. He is well behaved and comfortable in his cage and out of it, steps up and hangs out on our fingers and hands and shoulders calmly and happily and plays and eats a lot!

The first couple of days, he ate his seeds that we left in his cage all day (same food they were feeding him as where we got him)... and realized after a couple of days he was picky about it as he was only eating his sunflower seeds. So we started taking the sunflower seeds out and left the regular seeds mixed with pellets, etc. He eats them sometimes. About the 2nd day we had him, we introduced him to fresh fruit and veggies - mostly skinless apples, grapes, baby carrots and spinach and romaine lettuce. He loved them all and stopped eating his seeds so much.

The rest of the first week, he ate a lot of nuts - all kinds of unsalted nuts in and out of the shell, walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, etc, along with lots of apples and grapes to reward him with good behavior and getting him to like us, etc. He ate the seeds even less.

Last week, over a couple of days I started giving him a mini plate in the mornings of warm brown rice, half cooked old fashioned plain oatmeal and apples and grapes and he gobbled it up (didnt finish of course but spent lots of time eating it). For dinner I would give him cooked frozen veggies (kidney beans, white beans, chickpeas, broccoli, corn, carrots, peas, greenbeans) boiled in water for a few seconds. He ate a little of everything and barely touched his seeds.

This past weekend, he has been eating cooked frozen veggies boiled for a few seconds every morning and over dinner with some whole wheat penne pasta (which he devoured last night - all of it!), seeds still in his cage all day just case, with a big vine ball with peanuts in the shell, partially cracked walnuts and almonds for him to forage, which he absolutely destroys :). He hasnt touched his seeds at all. not one bit.

This morning I realized I most likely will need to buy a second dish bowl to keep his fresh or cooked veggies in to graze throughout the day as sometimes he eats it all at once, others he takes an hour or so to pick at it.

Is this all ok to be feeding him on a daily basis? He likes warm/softer veggies on his plate (he loves corn and carrots!) so the frozen freezer bags is what we've been feeding thus far boiled for a few minutes and served a tiny bit warm - nothing fresh boiled/steamed yet, and the fresher, colder, crunchier veggies as a snack for him to munch... nuts are given on a daily basis (not too much but enough for him to forage as he loves all nuts), sometimes spray millet (but not for a few days), fruit like apples and grapes as a treat... and some grains - whole wheat pasta, some bread and brown rice and oats. I feel good that he's not eating his seeds much as this seems much more nutritious, but he's a bird after all - isnt he supposed to? Is it risky getting him so used to human food and away from seeds? Or is this ideal? I mean, we leave seeds in his cage all day long but he really looks forward to his soft veggies and totally ignores his seeds now.
Skyes_crew
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by Skyes_crew »

You're doing a great job! :). I would just modify it a little bit.

Add more dark green veggies. Very important for their diet.
Cut back on the nuts. Try only giving as a reward in small pieces.
Try to feed either one bigger meal same time every day or two or three smaller meals. Depending on your schedule. Over feeding can lead to overweight.
Mix up what you give him each day so he doesn't get bored.
Fruit should only account for about 20% of his daily fruit and vegetable intake.
They love millet don't they?? Lol. Try making a sweet potato zucchini carrot mash and adding a small amount of millet to it as a treat.

You're on the right track for sure. I'm sure there are others that can add more to this. And you can do a search for previous threads regarding IRN diet.

Congrats on your new bird :)
I am owned by my birds...and I wouldn't have it any other way :D

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MissK
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by MissK »

I have been hesitant to give Rocky frozen veggies because I have some crazy idea they're not as good as fresh. Skye, can I get your blessing to to feed him that stuff? Sure would make life easier. How about rinsed canned organic beans?

jmlw7, Will you make MY breakfast? :lol: I found plain old fresh Kale is a huge winner with my birds. Not to overdo the cabbage family, but Brussels Sprouts seem to be a toy and a food in one. I give my bird a "hot cereal" breakfast mix marketed for humans. It's basically a bunch of whole grains all ground up together, from the Bob's Red Mill company. There's nothing wrong with the grains you are feeding, but I'm always pushing this stuff because it is so stinkin' easy to feed it to the bird. I put a little in the cup, pour on very hot water, and give it to him when I judge it to be cool enough for him to eat safely.

-MissK
-MissK
Skyes_crew
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by Skyes_crew »

I've tried frozen before. Nutrition wise, I don't think there is much difference. But I found that the water content in them is way too much. So for personal preference, once a week I prepare all the cut veggies and put them in ziplock bowls. My birds like the canned organic kidney beans. I just rinse them like crazy. They don't keep fresh for more than a few days though. That's the only part that's tough. Skye will throw Brussels sprouts around lol. Not much eating going on. But I did find that he likes broccolini. I think each bird has his or her own preference for what they like and don't like. As long as you stay within the healthy stuff you can't go wrong :D
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ellieelectrons
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by ellieelectrons »

I only use frozen veges occasionally but our avian vet gave them the tick of approval. I cook mine but he gives them to his bird frozen. I like giving mine bigger chunks of veges that I wrap in paper for foraging and hid in foraging toys.

They were my staple when Janey was nesting because I wanted to make sure she could access a wider variety of vegetables all the time. Normally they only have 2-3 different fresh fruit/vege at a time and I cycle through the different sorts. They always have pellets

Ellie.
jmlw7
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by jmlw7 »

Thanks so much Skye, MissK and Ellie! I've been reading a ton and you three are always so helpful, so thank you.

Skye - I think I'm at a loss for long lasting dark greens aside from spinach and romaine. I ordered a beaded millet spray holder recently that I think I will wrap a big romaine lettuce leaf in or so from Blues Bird toys but aside from green beans and spinach, I dont know what else to get that we would eat ourselves... and if we dont eat them ourselves, which will sustain the longest so we dont have to throw away good food if it goes bad since Remy is such a little IRN and still young and doesnt eat too much - at least not enough to finish whatever produce we will buy for the week. I definitely will try to buy veggies like peppers and fresh carrots, broccoli, etc and boil those for the time being and switch to frozen veggies when we dont have any fresh to offer I suppose. If only we can get to the grocery store!

MissK - Im happy to make u bfast! :) What is the kind of cereal you make? If I can eat it myself, i'm always on board!

Ellie - foraging is my new obsession! I want to "cover" or mix his seeds bowl with shredded paper or wooden beads or something... But I obviously have no clue how to make the cooked veggies as part of foraging. Maybe I'll do the "meals" for bfast and dinner as straight up mini plated dishes of cooked and fresh veggies... with the drier foods and fruit as foraging throughout the day that I'm at work for 9 hours.

One more thing for everyone - is it bad to give a treat late at night? Like at 9 or 10pm before we put him back in his cage - treat being an apple?

our schedule looks like this:

730am - greet Remy (he is in the living room, the cage is near the far wall by our deck door adjacent to the kitchen), make him breakfast, sing him a little song say hi
745am - 700pm we leave him in his cage while we are at work - almost a full 12 hours, sometimes less, sometimes more
700pm - greet Remy, feed him dinner, take him out, play, hang out on the couch
730pm or so - He plays outside of the cage, hangs out on his bamboo palm plant and play gym while we watch tv
930pm or so - We put him in his cage, give him an apple to munch on and after he eats, he fluffs up and grinds his beak as we say goodnight, but we stay in the room for a little while longer
1030pm or so - We turn off the lights, set the alarm, and go to sleep.

We dont have much time with him, but we make time every night. Its the best we can do, and we keep him out of the cage all day long over the weekends when we are home... Since its so late in the evening when we interact with him, we still want to give him a small treat to make going to his cage to sleep a positive experience (he used to hate going to sleep and goign back to his cage all alone), and it works so far, but is ok for him to eat so late at night? Its not big... but still..
Skyes_crew
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by Skyes_crew »

I'm guilty of the late night treat too lol. For greens that last long...try snap peas, mine loves to dig out the peas from the pod. Green pepper, jalapeño pepper, kale, broccoli, red leaf lettuce, dill, parsley, zucchini, green beans. You could do sprouted seeds. You can grow those indoors all year long. The fresher the produce when you buy it, the longer it will keep. And like I said, I chop everything once a week and store it. Just chop smaller amounts since you only have the one bird.

Your schedule is what works for you. If Remy seems happy that's all that matters :)
I am owned by my birds...and I wouldn't have it any other way :D

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MissK
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by MissK »

ellie - Is the vet not concerned about "slow crop" or is that not a problem for grown birds? Maybe I'm making that up. I got some idea someplace that if you are feeding a baby bird and the food is too cold it will just sit in the crop and not get digested right. Or is that just an "old MissK's tale"?

J- Here's a link to the cereal page of Bob's Red Mill website. I think we are currently using the 7 grain.
http://www.bobsredmill.com/Cereals
Now, you must understand that I am a "bachelor" of sorts - too young to be a "spinster", or at least I hope - so my kitchen habits are a bit relaxed. I will eat my oats and my "hot cereal" with truly minimal cooking. Honestly, I just pour on very hot water and let it cool. Normal folks may want to follow the actual cooking instructions. :roll:

Also, if you pot up some green veggie plants and grow them as houseplants, you may have fresh greens always at hand. I think cool weather greens would probably work best. This is actually a plan of mine, for "when I get to it"!

-MissK
-MissK
ellieelectrons
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by ellieelectrons »

MissK wrote:ellie - Is the vet not concerned about "slow crop" or is that not a problem for grown birds? Maybe I'm making that up. I got some idea someplace that if you are feeding a baby bird and the food is too cold it will just sit in the crop and not get digested right. Or is that just an "old MissK's tale"?
Our vet never mentioned it - I have no idea! I've heard of crop problems with baby birds - I presume adult birds would be a bit more discerning, if something isn't suitable they would probably just not eat it, but I really don't know. I, personally, don't like the idea of giving them something frozen. Having said that Janey was eyeing off my ice block one day so I let her have a lick of it when I'd almost finished it, thinking that would put her off wanting it ever again... but that didn't quite work... she licked all the way up one side and all the way down the other so that I couldn't eat any more of it myself! We don't have them often but when we do, providing they're not milk-based, I'll always given them a small amount.

jmlw7 wrote:But I obviously have no clue how to make the cooked veggies as part of foraging.
Mostly my birds forage for their fruit and veges. They're usually raw but are occasionally cooked. I wrap them in newsprint/cupcake paper and put them in a baffle cage or I put them on a skewer for bird vegetables.

Ellie.
Skyes_crew
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by Skyes_crew »

My husband eats these coconut ice bars...Skye loves them!! Never seen a bird lick something so intently lol. Good to know I'm not the only one with a frozen treat lover :)
I am owned by my birds...and I wouldn't have it any other way :D

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MissK
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by MissK »

Well, I guess now I can stop worrying about stuff from the fridge being too cold and harmful!

-MissK
-MissK
jmlw7
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by jmlw7 »

ellieelectrons wrote: Mostly my birds forage for their fruit and veges. They're usually raw but are occasionally cooked. I wrap them in newsprint/cupcake paper and put them in a baffle cage or I put them on a skewer for bird vegetables.

Ellie.
What a great idea. The more I read I think I really should buy a baffle box. It seems like it really is the prime (and easiest for the human) way to create a foraging system for Remy. All of the vine balls really get destroyed way too easily, and its time consuming stuffing things in there every day. Maybe that should be a once a week treat or so. I just recently bought one of those rubber balls with the holes in it that hangs with the bell inside (cant post links or photos yet), and we stuffed it with tissue paper, some millet spray, nuts (for today), and it was quite a challenge getting it in there I must say. But if the baffle box opens up from the top, that seems more ideal.

Do any of you feed your IRN's straight from their bowl or dish? or do you make every meal a foraging activity? Is it okay if I have three bowls? One for water, one for seeds (straight up right now, no foraging techniques there) and one for fresh or cooked veggies, pasta, etc (no foraging there). Is this too easy for him? He really looks forward to breakfast and comes running - er.. climbing.... when I come in the morning with his bfast dish.

Maybe I should feed him straight veggies or cooked foods in the morning, and then leave everything else to foraging?! :?:
Skyes_crew
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by Skyes_crew »

One of my foraging toys I use is a stainless still drink mixer ball. Comes in sport drink bottles from places like GNC. It's super flexible and I can stuff tons of stuff in there.

I feed Bfast in a bowl. That way I can monitor what they've eaten at least one part of the day. My birds are late afternoon foragers. I keep four bowl in my cages lol. One for water, one for pellet seed mix, one for fresh fruits and veggies, and one exclusively for treats. I trained cage recall using the fourth. Now when they here a nut drop in the stainless steel bowl they fly right home.

Part of the fun of owning these birds is that they are so food driven. I love inventing new puzzles for my birds. Over time you will become a master at it :)
I am owned by my birds...and I wouldn't have it any other way :D

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ranechild
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by ranechild »

And don't forget cilantro as a tasty dark leafy vegetable. I see it added to all the mash mix recipes I read.
MissK
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by MissK »

Rocky has a pair of bowls for seed (so it isn't deep in the bowl - it could as easily be a wider bowl), one for wet foods (including pellets & grains, since I soak these), hanging skewers for chunky foods, a platform perch for whatever I put there. I sometimes tie food to a perch or rope. I put a bunch of beads in his food dish on top the food. I put food in his hanging toy bowl for a surprise. I put strips of stuff (long slices of peppers, carrots, homemade tortillas) in the cage meant for wild bird suet - need something more challenging with smaller holes. I make "goodie bombs" - just a treat wrapped in a lot of paper. I stuff the goodie bombs into various things along with non-goodies. I sometimes lay fresh foods on the roof of the cage so he must pull it down through the bars. I have a few little wooden cups hanging on cord, one with a lid, for dry treats. I did have a foraging toy with drawers but he never, ever touched it, so I removed it to donate elsewhere. I sometimes cram nuts into his puzzle box. I used to have six bowls in the cage and he never knew which one had the food till he checked. I removed half when I realized it was getting pricey outfitting the second cage. I tried stuffing things into a mesh ball but he wouldn't forage there - I think the ball was scary. His water dish is a large dog bowl with a rock in it and doubles as a bath.

Rocky doesn't get all the forage options in one day. I don't want him to become jaded and uninterested. This happens with toys, and it's so sad! So, variety is a must. I am thinking now I need to buy some more bowls, since having six in the rotation was a lot of fun. Plus, they did not all contain food. Some had toys, some water, some nothing.

-MissK
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jmlw7
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by jmlw7 »

Thanks, today I left his cooked frozen veggies - mostly broccoli, green beans, carrots, chickpeas and red beans in his bowl when I left for work. He didnt seem interested as he was obviously looking for his corn. But I felt like he should eat something different today rather than grains. Is this okay to leave him? He has a seed bowl too in case he really hates his food he wont go starving, but should I have made some corn to be sure he eats something "fresher" than seeds?

Basically, I was forcing him to eat his broccoli and green beans and stuff by leaving it there and having him pick at it throughout the day. Maybe I'll feed him oatmeal and corn or something for dinner.

I feel limited on food choices if he is in a nutty/sweet mood and instead I'm giving him greens. Should I not worry so much and leave the food there?

As for foraging, I will definitely put wooden beads in his seed dish from now on. And wrap nuts in paper and leave them around his cage. I also will buy snap peas and bell peppers as a foraging treat and stick it in a wiffle ball or something... keep the ideas coming! We feel so guilty leaving him alone all day long with the TV on, that I want to make sure he wont be bored with all of the foraging work he can be doing.

Thus far, he wasnt too impressed with that blue rubber ball with the bell in it since I placed it back in his cage without food in it. Looks like he only forages (almond stuffed vine ball for example), when there is a treat in there for him. He wont yet forage to just play.
MissK
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by MissK »

Put the TV on a timer. Not even an NBC executive wants to watch TV all day.

-MissK
-MissK
jmlw7
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by jmlw7 »

MissK wrote:Put the TV on a timer. Not even an NBC executive wants to watch TV all day.

-MissK
You know what's funny.. the day I wrote the "left the tv on all day" update, he was SO cranky when we got home from work. We took Remy out and played with him on his playgym and walked around the house with him... when we put him back on the playgym, he fluffed up his feathers and yawned. I asked him to step up to put him in his cage and he bit me (not hard, but harder than usual)! I brought his entire playgym toward his cage where he stepped onto it, climbed in his cage, got on his rope perch and fell asleep! All while his entire cage was open for him to be out all night. And he was only outside of his cage for an hour. At first we were concerned and thought he was sick, but then realized because of the tv on all day long, he probably got no sleep at all! The next day, we put the tv on a 3 hour timer and when we got home, he was back to his usual happy self and wanted to play all night long. We put him to bed at 945pm, and he played around in his cage for a few and then went to sleep :) You are SO right about the tv!!

Now back to diet.... as we start incorporating more and more green veggies into his diet, I'd really like to take out the seeds that he has sitting in his bowl all day (which he barely eats anyway), and switch to pellets. His present seed mix has pellets in there already, which I tried hand feeding him a couple of times that he took to and munched on, but kept on doing what he was doing and ignored me :roll: Anyway - so I know he is sort of familiar with them.

I have no idea if he will even eat them, but feel like it is healthier to have pellets than seeds. With that said, do you think its safe to purchase Harrison's Adult Lifetime Fine Bird Food for him? Or should I start with high potency? I have no idea what high potency is really, but I've read that people usually start with that, and then gradually transition to a longer feeding ritual of the Adult Lifetime. This is just to keep in his cage all day when his fresh veggies run out, etc.

Can anyone provide insight?
MissK
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by MissK »

In my personal opinion, I think it would be a mistake to remove seeds entirely from the diet. I think the seed is vilified in some kind of dietary backlash, kind of like eggs for people. All seeds is bad, but no seeds is overkill. Please remember that pellets are simply an easy way to feed the various things that the pellet is made of. And variety is the spice of life. And all things in moderation. Do you feel me, here?

If the bird chooses not to eat seeds, that may be a different matter. I would still offer some. With regards to seed freshness, you can test your seeds. Try sprouting some. If you have a poor sprouting success, it is the wrong seed. A good company, providing fresh seeds, will sell seeds that sprout if the bird puts them in the water dish and you don't clean it out for a day or two. The ABBA seed company is well respected. Given any choice at all, that is the brand I get for my birds.

About the TV - :lol:

-MissK
-MissK
jmlw7
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by jmlw7 »

MissK wrote:In my personal opinion, I think it would be a mistake to remove seeds entirely from the diet. I think the seed is vilified in some kind of dietary backlash, kind of like eggs for people. All seeds is bad, but no seeds is overkill. Please remember that pellets are simply an easy way to feed the various things that the pellet is made of. And variety is the spice of life. And all things in moderation. Do you feel me, here?

If the bird chooses not to eat seeds, that may be a different matter. I would still offer some. With regards to seed freshness, you can test your seeds. Try sprouting some. If you have a poor sprouting success, it is the wrong seed. A good company, providing fresh seeds, will sell seeds that sprout if the bird puts them in the water dish and you don't clean it out for a day or two. The ABBA seed company is well respected. Given any choice at all, that is the brand I get for my birds.

About the TV - :lol:

-MissK
Hmmmm ok, maybe I should just leave it as is and hold off. I found the seeds we are feeding him is Kaytee Forti-Diet® Pro Health. He really isnt that interested though he picks at it sometimes and we take the sunflower seeds out each time we give it to him. There are a TON of sunflower seeds.

Also, I tried putting a bunch of wooden beads into his food dish, so it helps him forage a little. I noticed that he barely plays with toys unless its a foraging thing. Like a vine ball or something with a pistachio inside or something. What can we do to get him to play with more toys and not expect to find a treat each time? We've tried giving him toys and he just will pick it up and drop it if there is nothing "in it for him" :roll:
ellieelectrons
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by ellieelectrons »

There is a lot of contention in the seed versus pellets debate. I don't know what is best.

We feed our guys fruit and veg and pellets and seeds as treats. They are healthy. This was recommended by ou avian vet. I also give them sprouting seed semi-regularly. I used to alternate between seed and pellets.

Ellie.
MissK
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by MissK »

I have not examined the Katyee Forti Diet Pro Health, but if it truly has "a ton" of sunflower seeds, then I would hold that against it and wonder what else was in there I might not approve of.

I think if he is picking stuff up and then dropping it, that is much better than never showing any interest at all. Remember to provide toys that have texture. For instance, Rocky just loves his little seashells with ridges on them.

-MissK
-MissK
Skyes_crew
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by Skyes_crew »

My feeling on pellets is that if you're going to feed fresh then why feed the pellet. I provide fresh everyday with a small amount of seed daily (no sunflower) and use sunflower and small nuts for training. But...if there was ever a time I was really sick and couldn't get up to make breakfast for them, they will eat pellets if that is what is offered.

Here is a pic of their daily diet

Image

I mix it up constantly, but you get the gist :)
I am owned by my birds...and I wouldn't have it any other way :D

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jmlw7
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by jmlw7 »

Skyes_crew wrote:My feeling on pellets is that if you're going to feed fresh then why feed the pellet. I provide fresh everyday with a small amount of seed daily (no sunflower) and use sunflower and small nuts for training. But...if there was ever a time I was really sick and couldn't get up to make breakfast for them, they will eat pellets if that is what is offered.

Here is a pic of their daily diet

Image

I mix it up constantly, but you get the gist :)
:lol: can i have some? That looks delicious! hehe

How long do you leave it in the cage, it looks so fresh that I cant imagine it smelling good after some time. I bought one of those rubber hol-ee rubber balls or whatever they are and stuffed green peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. I made the mistake of putting it in his cage on Saturday when he was playing outside of it all day... Needless to say, it started to smell pretty bad after a few hours so that had to get thrown away. Today I put in 3-4 grapes on the vine so he can have fun foraging those out. I left him some coooked frozen veggies this morning, tomorrow will be raw frozen veggies - I'm just hoping they keep ok the whole time I'm away at work.

He has romaine lettuce wrapped in a millet bendy beaded thing, a small dish of seeds covered with wooden beads and that's all the food he has in his cage.

As for the pellets, I will just hold off and leave the seeds in his cage all day long for those desperate times he just wants something other than fresh food although I've only caught him nibbling them once in the last two weeks.

He has discovered his love of blueberries and pomegranate... and still loves corn although didnt care for the sweet corn on the cob. What a weird bird. :roll:
Skyes_crew
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by Skyes_crew »

It depends what I have in the bowl, but normally an hour or two. My house has central A/C so the food could potentially stay for 3 hours, but I like to be safe. If I add crumbled hard boiled egg, then only an hour. Cooked mash for about an hour. Afternoons ill throw some cooked pasta, cooked brown rice and raw carrot in their bowls and that can stay for a few hours. My one cage play top has pieces of driftwood in different sizes that they play on. Ill wrap veggies and nuts in napkin and hide them in the driftwood. They can knock that out in 30 minutes or less. My newest foraging toy is a whole walnut, split in half. Bore a hole through both sides and run jute cord through it. Tie a knot above and below the walnut with a bit of room for it to slide. Fill the walnut with food. They have to learn to separate the two halves. Ill take a pic of it if you can't understand my instructions lol.

I would try to feed early enough that you could remove the bowls of veggies before leaving for work. And then leave a bowl of grains and some seed while you're gone. He won't starve, believe me. Most of us over feed our birds anyway :wink:
I am owned by my birds...and I wouldn't have it any other way :D

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ellieelectrons
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by ellieelectrons »

Skyes_Crew, looks like you give your birds a great diet! I don't give as much variety in fruit and veg to my birds as you do. I give them 2 or 3 different types of fruit/veg a day and I tend to leave them in big chunks not in small pieces as part of their foraging regime, so I also supplement with pellets. The biggest part of their diet that gets me stumped is figuring out what are low sugar fruit and vegesMy avian vet seems to think that if I minimise these they will not want to breed, not working so far!

Ellie.
Skyes_crew
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by Skyes_crew »

My guess on the low sugar diet is that low sugar equals low energy which equals no interest in breeding. Not sure if its a sure fire method lol but it's worth a shot.

Raspberries, blackberries and cranberries are very low in sugar. For veggies stick to the dark greens...spinach, asparagus, broccoli, and cabbage. Root vegetables, such as peas corn and potatoes are very high in sugar.

I used to leave their breakfast in bigger chunks and found most of it on the floor of the cage. So I started dicing everything. I still use large chunks for foraging, but they love the bite size pieces. I love hearing the happy chirps in the morning when their heads are in their food bowls :)
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ellieelectrons
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by ellieelectrons »

Thanks for that - I assumed all fruits were high in sugar, so that's good to know!

Ellie.
jmlw7
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by jmlw7 »

Skyes_crew wrote:It depends what I have in the bowl, but normally an hour or two. My house has central A/C so the food could potentially stay for 3 hours, but I like to be safe. If I add crumbled hard boiled egg, then only an hour. Cooked mash for about an hour. Afternoons ill throw some cooked pasta, cooked brown rice and raw carrot in their bowls and that can stay for a few hours. My one cage play top has pieces of driftwood in different sizes that they play on. Ill wrap veggies and nuts in napkin and hide them in the driftwood. They can knock that out in 30 minutes or less. My newest foraging toy is a whole walnut, split in half. Bore a hole through both sides and run jute cord through it. Tie a knot above and below the walnut with a bit of room for it to slide. Fill the walnut with food. They have to learn to separate the two halves. Ill take a pic of it if you can't understand my instructions lol.

I would try to feed early enough that you could remove the bowls of veggies before leaving for work. And then leave a bowl of grains and some seed while you're gone. He won't starve, believe me. Most of us over feed our birds anyway :wink:
This morning I took Remy out of his cage, placed him on his playgym and gave him a bunch of raw diced up veggies - red peppers, cauliflower, spinach, broccoli, squash and zucchini. He ate a few pieces of broccoli and red peppers, ignored the rest and played. I then stuffed our new stainless baffle box with romaine lettuce, pomegranate, apple, sweet corn on the cob and grapes and hung it in his cage. This will be here all day while we are at work so I hope it doesnt turn disgusting while we are gone. We then left uncooked oatmeal in his food bowl and put him back in his cage. He was attacking the food in his baffle box when we left so hopefully it doesnt matter that he didnt eat much of his breakfast I tried to give him with the feast in his foraging box.

I just hope this gets eaten quickly and is fun for him.. rather than him losing interest and a pile of fresh fruit will get stinky over the time we are gone today. We also hid nuts in other foraging toys and left a very small bowl of seeds covered with beads so we will see what he actually eats today.

Yesterday he destroyed his wood kabob toy thing (finally a toy he played with and didnt get rewarded with food), had some collard greens but not much, ate piece of a carrot and didnt touch his seeds. He ate only the corn from his dinner.

Hopefully this all sounds ok and isnt turning him into a picky eater.
Skyes_crew
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by Skyes_crew »

Variety is always good and it sounds like Remy has great variety. One thing I've noticed with IRN's, is that they like routine habits. It took my baby 2 weeks to realize that breakfast is at 7 and everyone eats during that time. I was wasting a lot of food with him before that. Now when I place the bowls in the morning, he climbs down with the rest of them to eat.

I don't think you're in danger of him becoming a picky eater. That would only happen if you offered him nothing but one or two foods every day and never anything else. Even then, they can be taught to eat again. They will always have their favorites. But let him see you eat it just once....and suddenly it's his favorite too :)

To me it sounds like Remy landed in a great home and you are doing an awesome job :D
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jmlw7
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by jmlw7 »

Skyes_crew wrote:Variety is always good and it sounds like Remy has great variety. One thing I've noticed with IRN's, is that they like routine habits. It took my baby 2 weeks to realize that breakfast is at 7 and everyone eats during that time. I was wasting a lot of food with him before that. Now when I place the bowls in the morning, he climbs down with the rest of them to eat.

I don't think you're in danger of him becoming a picky eater. That would only happen if you offered him nothing but one or two foods every day and never anything else. Even then, they can be taught to eat again. They will always have their favorites. But let him see you eat it just once....and suddenly it's his favorite too :)

To me it sounds like Remy landed in a great home and you are doing an awesome job :D
Thanks Skye - right now our schedule has us taking him out of the cage around 7 or 730am, bringing him to the playgym and giving him a dish of fresh veggies or fruit. He usually eats what he can for 10-20 minutes or so, then he goes back to his cage with tons of fresh foraging food in his baffle box, foot toys and a couple of unshelled nuts in his food bowl, a smaller food bowl with seeds and wooden beads and fresh water. Sometimes more foraging stuff in balls, paper, all over his cage, but no actual open food for him.

When we get home, we take him out and put him on the playgym again with another dish of fresh veggies and or fruit.

Thats about it. Any concerns with having him eat outside of his cage for breakfast and dinner, with something to forage and graze on in his cage throughout the day? Some nights he is starving and will eat nonstop, other nights like last night, he will pick out all the corn and not eat anything else. Sounds picky to me... but maybe he is just moody because of his horrible molting.
Skyes_crew
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by Skyes_crew »

I only feed my guys in the cage in the morning because I have 4 kids to get ready for school. They won't focus otherwise. They fly around from all the commotion and forget to eat. During the day though I have play gyms and bowls and toys around the house for foraging. Try that website parrot enrichment.com. It has loads of ideas in one of the workbooks.

As for his eating...think of it like this. Everyone has days they don't feel like eating certain things. Everyone has days they feel like eating junk food for dinner. IRN's are the same way. Some days they love peppers, and others they don't touch the peppers. Maybe for Remy, try rotating his food. Offer 3 or 4 different veggies each day. Even a favorite food can get boring if offered every day. And yes, molting does affect their appetite. I wish more people were as inquisitive as you are. This forum is just a small percentage of people who own IRN's. and in my opinion, if I'm going to cage a bird that comes from the wild...I'm going to make his life as fabulous as possible to make it up to him. :D
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jmlw7
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by jmlw7 »

Skyes_crew wrote: As for his eating...think of it like this. Everyone has days they don't feel like eating certain things. Everyone has days they feel like eating junk food for dinner. IRN's are the same way. Some days they love peppers, and others they don't touch the peppers. Maybe for Remy, try rotating his food. Offer 3 or 4 different veggies each day. Even a favorite food can get boring if offered every day. And yes, molting does affect their appetite. I wish more people were as inquisitive as you are. This forum is just a small percentage of people who own IRN's. and in my opinion, if I'm going to cage a bird that comes from the wild...I'm going to make his life as fabulous as possible to make it up to him. :D
I totally understand as I'm a picky moody eater myself :) I guess lately I've noticed that I will prepare Remy a lovely meal, perhaps mashed sweet potato with broccoli florets, spinach, peas, kidney beans and whatever... and he will pick at it but wont really eat it. Then I will tell him to eat and he will look at me disdainfully, so then I will add cooked corn to the bunch and he hops over and gobbles it up. I tell him every day that corn isnt a vegetable, but he doesnt listen :wink: So I will constantly provide a different variety, like tonight I will give him broccoli and chick peas with hard boiled egg and black beans and green peppers and spinach... I will be surprised if he eats it and doesnt go looking for more corn.

His baffle cage today had raw carrots, grapes, pomegranate, apple, romaine lettuce and whole wheat bread. I'm curious to know what he ate out of it. Every morning before we leave for work we give him a pistachio in the shell as distraction to our departure. There is millet spray in a holder he needs to forage that he hasnt touched in a couple of days, as well as a couple of partially cracked walnuts at the bottom of his food bowl covered with foot toys. Chances are he ignored it today as he ignored it yesterday.
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by ellieelectrons »

I think your bird is spoilt for choice and so picks and chooses his fav foods and turns his nose up at the rest. My vet is of the opinion that most pet parrots are overfed. He was horrified to learn that I was giving my guys an almond each a day for going back into their cage on cue. He said that almond provides their energy needs for 2 days. They just don't need to eat too much. I agree that variety is important and can be achieved on a daily basis especially if you have lots of birds to portion it between but I wonder if for people with small numbers of birds providing this variety over a course of a week rather than a day might be better so the portion sizes are smaller?

Also, I now provide almost all of my bird's food as foraging, it's their daily job (and they enjoy it), I don't provide other food other than treats I offer them when out of the cage. I started ths also at the request of my vet.

Ellie.
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by Skyes_crew »

You're probably right Ellie. I'm giving advice based on me feeding multiple birds. One thing I will say though, don't give Remy corn if that's all he wants. Offer him the other stuff. If he doesn't eat he doesn't eat. Birds will not starve themselves. If he gets desperate he will eat the seeds. But most likely he will start eating what you provide. I also wouldn't offer too much at night. Maybe like Ellie said offer his food in the baffle box only. If he's full from foraging all day that may be why he won't eat in the evening.
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by MissK »

I am the QUEEN of giving the bird too much to eat. When I first got him I bought this and this and that and something else - I spent $40 on bags of food for this liiiitle birdie. And then I give him too much and I feel disappointed when he leaves so much behind. I'm getting better, but still struggle with what is "appropriate". (I have trouble identifying a correct human size portion of ice cream, too, so maybe that's part of it....)

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jmlw7
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by jmlw7 »

ellieelectrons wrote:I think your bird is spoilt for choice and so picks and chooses his fav foods and turns his nose up at the rest. My vet is of the opinion that most pet parrots are overfed. He was horrified to learn that I was giving my guys an almond each a day for going back into their cage on cue. He said that almond provides their energy needs for 2 days. They just don't need to eat too much. I agree that variety is important and can be achieved on a daily basis especially if you have lots of birds to portion it between but I wonder if for people with small numbers of birds providing this variety over a course of a week rather than a day might be better so the portion sizes are smaller?

Also, I now provide almost all of my bird's food as foraging, it's their daily job (and they enjoy it), I don't provide other food other than treats I offer them when out of the cage. I started ths also at the request of my vet.

Ellie.
You all have great points - I have cut back a lot over the past two days of what I'm giving Remy for breakfast and dinner as I noticed he barely eats any of it with all of his food abundant in his foraging areas in his cage all day. For example, yesterday I had the day off from work and I tried feeding him at the usual breakfast time - some carrots, apples, oatmeal, jalapenos and broccoli (what a combo, yuck :lol: ) and he picked at it but didnt really eat it. His main foraging buffet left in his cage for several hours was a kabob stick of apple, green and red peppers, romaine lettuce, corn on the cob, and a vine ball with a walnut inside. He picked at most of everything all day.

For dinner, I gave him spinach, blueberries and pears, and he ate two teeny pieces of each. Instead, he ate tons of my roasted chicken breast (a first), and that is all.

So today, I cut back a lot and gave him a very small piece of apple for breakfast, another foraging kabob full of veggies and fruit for him to attend to throughout the day, a pile of oatmeal and granola buried under his foot toy bowl, and his seeds with beads in it. That's all. For dinner I will probably try and give him a small plate of something, but I feel like the foraging kabob full of fruit and veggies might be all he needs as his main food source?
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by Skyes_crew »

You can probably cut out dinner. Think about birds in the wild. They do their foraging for food all day. An hour before dusk, most wild birds will be settling down and having their "social hour". They're not thinking about food at that point. My birds will pick off of my dinner, but not much of anything else. I pull everything from their cages at night except for a small bowl of seed for them to pick at. That way they're nice and hungry when breakfast time rolls around. :D
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jmlw7
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by jmlw7 »

Skyes_crew wrote:You can probably cut out dinner. Think about birds in the wild. They do their foraging for food all day. An hour before dusk, most wild birds will be settling down and having their "social hour". They're not thinking about food at that point. My birds will pick off of my dinner, but not much of anything else. I pull everything from their cages at night except for a small bowl of seed for them to pick at. That way they're nice and hungry when breakfast time rolls around. :D
So the progression of Remy's feeding schedule has come to this now: I've basically stopped feeding Remy "directly" from a dish entirely. All food in his cage is now all foraging, and there is a very small food bowl in his cage that changes location every day that sometimes has cooked veggies (sweet potatoes, broccoli, etc), and sometimes has cilantro and blackberries, or whatever wont fit on a skewer or baffle cage, etc (today) covered by beads. Other times it has beads and pine nuts. All fresh raw fruits and veggies (broccoli, carrots, grapes, berries, peppers, green leaf veggies, etc) are either in a baffle box, roll-ee rubber toy, and/or on a stainless steel skewer, and his big food dish has very little seeds at the bottom and covered with foot toys so he will need to take out all toys to get to his seeds. I also have two water dishes at all times - one big one that I swap with the large food/foot toy dish since he likes to drop everything in his big water dish, and a smaller one kept toward the top that never gets dirty.

In the morning, when I prepare my own breakfast smoothies, sometimes I'll offer Remy a bite of berry or kale or spinach or whatever is going into my smoothie to munch on.. and in the evening I offer him a bite or two of our dinner. Last night was tuna fish and brown rice.

I've also limited his protein for the rest of the week as he devoured an entire roasted chicken bone on Monday, along with some chicken breast. I stopped feeding him corn all week except for today (stuck a small cob in his rol-ee rubber ball along with a piece of golden delicious apple) so he can really work for his favorites.

He also ate a cherry tomato last night, but probably wont give that to him more than once a month or so because of the acidity.

Does this sound about balanced so far?
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Re: Is my IRN's diet ok so far?

Post by Melika »

jmlw7 wrote:
Skyes_crew wrote:You can probably cut out dinner. Think about birds in the wild. They do their foraging for food all day. An hour before dusk, most wild birds will be settling down and having their "social hour". They're not thinking about food at that point. My birds will pick off of my dinner, but not much of anything else. I pull everything from their cages at night except for a small bowl of seed for them to pick at. That way they're nice and hungry when breakfast time rolls around. :D
So the progression of Remy's feeding schedule has come to this now: I've basically stopped feeding Remy "directly" from a dish entirely. All food in his cage is now all foraging, and there is a very small food bowl in his cage that changes location every day that sometimes has cooked veggies (sweet potatoes, broccoli, etc), and sometimes has cilantro and blackberries, or whatever wont fit on a skewer or baffle cage, etc (today) covered by beads. Other times it has beads and pine nuts. All fresh raw fruits and veggies (broccoli, carrots, grapes, berries, peppers, green leaf veggies, etc) are either in a baffle box, roll-ee rubber toy, and/or on a stainless steel skewer, and his big food dish has very little seeds at the bottom and covered with foot toys so he will need to take out all toys to get to his seeds. I also have two water dishes at all times - one big one that I swap with the large food/foot toy dish since he likes to drop everything in his big water dish, and a smaller one kept toward the top that never gets dirty.

In the morning, when I prepare my own breakfast smoothies, sometimes I'll offer Remy a bite of berry or kale or spinach or whatever is going into my smoothie to munch on.. and in the evening I offer him a bite or two of our dinner. Last night was tuna fish and brown rice.

I've also limited his protein for the rest of the week as he devoured an entire roasted chicken bone on Monday, along with some chicken breast. I stopped feeding him corn all week except for today (stuck a small cob in his rol-ee rubber ball along with a piece of golden delicious apple) so he can really work for his favorites.

He also ate a cherry tomato last night, but probably wont give that to him more than once a month or so because of the acidity.

Does this sound about balanced so far?
Sounds rather ideal to me. :)
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