Your topic Soy: The Complete Protein! – from ecomii blogs was interesting when I found it on Wednesday searching for step diet…

david jones :
I have the same problem with my Timneh grey parrot as Priya had with her red parakeet. White patch on and under tongue with the extra flesh at the each side of beak. Have been to several vets who have run blood tests and xrays which show a high level of bile acid in liver. Trying to juice and get as much Vit A in him as possible but he does not seem to be improving at all. He will not eat much and have not been able even after a year to get him onto pellets so am now sprouting seed.

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I have had small hookbills in the past, this is the largest one I have every had – and a permenanent, life companion for me. My son will inherit her as I’m 48 and she will outlive me. With a great, varied diet she will live a long and healthy life.

I am looking for a ‘cooked’ food to add as a basic diet rather than the seed mix. Does anyone have such a reciepe? I know I had one in the past but can’t find it.

Thanks! – Jane

So why do pet supplies add sunflower seeds and peanuts to the seed diet? It’s certainly not what any bird would eat very much off if any in the wild, I mean how many sunflowers do you see growing in the jungles of the Congo / Senagal?
Does a Cockatiel in Auz go on a wild rampage looking for gardens with sunflower seed, it does not.

I asked my local suppliers to omit sunflower, biscuit and peanuts from the mix and allow us the choice to feed or not to feed these items, I was told that it could not be omitted as the people supplying the mix would not listen as the majority of pet owners did not object?
So I guess the only way to turn this around is to take them to Court for making your bird ill maybe then they might listen.

Let me also say it matters not how much fresh food you feed your bird every day, because, if you are still giving them the seed mixes that are bought ready prepared then you will still be feeding them a high protien diet as I see it and have found.

The only way forward is to mix your own seed to resemble that which your bird would be eating in the wild and this would require some research if you care about your bird.
Personally I mix my own by shopping around every week and some of my dried fruits – pulses – seed come from the Asian and African food supermarkets, I then compliment these with fresh greens, carrots, cherries when avialable and any other fruit (BUT NEVER AVACARDO). Mineral blocks and the ole cuttle bone are a handy supplement. I don’t like to add vitamins unless this is from a natural source because unless your a vet and you regularly blood test the little person you will never know if your over doing it which can be dangerous.

I have also found that most birds get fed up with the same diet daily and require a break from it now and then with perhaps something totally different for a while just like us humans does the trick.

Don’t burn your bird’s tongue – touch the food before you serve it. The garlic will have your roommates out in the kitchen looking for dinner it is a pretty tasty combo. I put it on top of his seeds.
Also mashed potatoes, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, apple slices, raw potato thinly sliced, a raw chop of corn cob or steamed and cooled.
He also likes a tablespoon of Apple or Cranberry Juice in a plastic measuring spoon that I bent into a hook shape with a lighter.
I put a whole apple on top of his cage (doors always open) -The skin keeps the apple fresh longer so if you work a shift your bird has access to fresh apple rather than withered brown slices.
Tons of things have been tried but he likes this stuff. In the kitchen he gives a short loud peep if I pass or handles things he likes- Honey and buttered toast, coffee with cream and sugar, milk, onions and green onions. If I make his veggies and forget them in the microwave he shouts and squawks until I get it. His fuse is about two minutes.