Starting to introduce fruit and vege

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Toya98
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2012 6:20 pm

Starting to introduce fruit and vege

Post by Toya98 »

Hi, This is my first time hand raising and my baby is about 4 - 4&1/2 weeks old at the moment. I'm trying to introduce a little bit of fruit and vege with his/her meals. I have been told by a friend who has owned and bred birds for years that i should mix very finely mushed up fruit and vege (roughly the same consistency as the formula) into his formula to get him/her used to the smell and taste but I have also found conflicting information that the fruit and vege should be fed separately to the formula in a 50/50 ratio. I was wondering which one of these is the most popular way to do it? And should i cut up the fruit and vege until it looks more like a paste while he's still trying it or should i cut it into small chunks so he has to chew it a little? I'm not ready to wean yet so i don't really want to leave food in his cage, just want him to learn what else he can eat.
I would really appreciate any opinions and views on this subject. Thanks :)
Melika
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Re: Starting to introduce fruit and vege

Post by Melika »

I didn't want to cut down the amount of formula he was getting, to make sure he was getting all the right nutrients and such, so I did not mix anything into the formula. But since he was used to getting food from my hands, I finely diced some veggies and fed it from my fingers. This way he got to taste and knew it was food (since obviously my hands produce food, to him anyway!) and after a week or so I began to leave food, again finely diced, in a white shallow (and heavy to prevent tipping) dish for him to play with. Also millet, so he could learn how to eat seeds. As he tried more and more foods, then finely dicing wasn't that important and could introduce more seeds, etc. :)
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Toya98
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2012 6:20 pm

Re: Starting to introduce fruit and vege

Post by Toya98 »

I didn't even think that adding extra's to the formula would reduce the nutritional value, very glad i asked before i added anything. I think she's ready to start trying some more foods because she has started using her beak to chew on just about everything she can get :P So we'll give finely chopped foods for the next little while and see how she goes. Thank You for the help :)
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