I want my parrots on a whole raw food diet! IS there actually such a thing? Because right now it feels like everywhere I turn to for help, education, suggestions and ideas is basically selling PRODUCTS!!!!! So now I need to take a step back and say HOLD UP!!! Is it or is it not possible to feed parrots a whole raw food diet??!
I thought I found the perfect group on Facebook that is run by Dr. Jason Crean. He is a very nice man and I’m sure has very good intentions but since joining that group, I’ve spent at least $1,000 dollars (not including appliances I bought) trying to follow their recommendations and I’m still no closer to feeling like I’m on the right path then I did in the beginning. I purchased their suggested teas (which I still love btw, hahaha), raw nuts (which I already bought anyways so no different than usual), freeze dried worms and crickets (now that was new), Texas Naturals Freeze Dried ($83.20 for 3 little containers with shipping and handling – see picture below), Tops Organic Dream mix bundle ($189.34 plus 52.77 for custom fees) and I’m waiting for Abby Amazon to get the China Prairie products for the rest of this dry food mix. Then I will mix it all together and pray that it lasts me a few months since it will only be given to them once a day. However with all that being said, of course they are not forcing anyone to purchase the products, it is just their recommendation. With this dry mix, pellets are still included regardless of the fact that it is cold-pressed vs. being heated. As I stated before, the African Greys, I met that were in their late 50’s, early 60’s, their owners stated they never knew what a pellet was etc. So I was striving for the same concept ( I wish I took their information now) because they obviously are doing something right. I’ve never seen Dr. Jason Crean’s birds except for his babies so I can’t really say anything about their condition, I can only go off of what he claims. As for his partner, Lou from Parrotsrus on Instagram she has a great flock that includes a Toucan, 2 hyacinths macaw, a Harlequin Macaw and an African grey. All are in great shape as she shows them all the time. The Congo African Grey has plucked his chest feathers when he was about 7 years old and he is 25 now but he is still bare unfortunately however she just started feeding her flock this way about 3 years ago I believe.
Anyways after spending nearly $500 CAD to try and make their dry food mix, I got discouraged. I still have toys, fruits and veggies that I need to buy for them so this dry mix just wasn’t feasible for the Canadian dollar. When I complained about it not being more financially manageable they suggested I duplicate what I can within my country. When I see a recipe or something I’d like to follow, I like to follow it EXACTLY the way it is before changing anything so that suggestion didn’t work for me. Not to mention, I’m already busy with training, cleaning and coming up with foraging ideas that I don’t have the time to sit down and try and figure out how I can duplicate a mix within my own country. OH well, IF this mix lasts me a few months it will end up being worth it but thats a BIG IF!
Next, I joined another facebook group that advertised their name as REAL RAW FOOD. When I first inquired with the owner I was extremely excited about the group so much so that I even recommended it to another avian fellow of mine but within a few interactions I realized this lady too is pushing her product line. Now, I understand that everyone out here needs to make a dollar. HELL, if I’m spending 500 dollars just to feed my flock a dry mix, I need to find a way to make those dollars back too but with that being said, does no one want to just help out fellow parrot owners?!?
So with all this being said, I’m still feeding my parrots Harrison pellets plus a fruits and veggie chop with sprouted items and soaked nuts. I also now offer them the avian teas and that’s currently where I am regarding their nutrition. I will be stopping Harrisons completely and I’ll explain all about that in another post but let me just say I have enjoyed feeding Harrison’s over the past 7 years. Grayson, my 7 year old African grey has never plucked a day in his life and he has been through MANY, MANY changes. Now was that due to Harrisons or just me being the great parrot parent I am? Hahaha, who knows but I give Harrisons credit for that. Now, I do feel that Harrisons is NOT a good option for parrots who can suffer from Fatty Liver Disease. I lost my 2 parrots who both were on Harrisons and both were prone to fatty liver disease. Now was Harrisons to blame? Maybe NOT! But these are little things that I take notice of.
Anyways I have more data on that, that I will post another time. So if you are interested in hearing about that, definitely follow our blog as we go through being a parrot owner.
PARENTING PARROTS
