Feeding Your Kakariki
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Malnutrition is the #1 Cause of Illness in Birds
Birds need a good diet just like every other animal. A poor diet creates a bird with a myriad of problems. It can lead to obesity, tumors and diabetes. It also compromises the immune system, making the bird more susceptible to infections. Even so, most people aren’t feeding their birds right. Many give them only seed and water, the equivalent of a bread and water diet in humans. Usually this is due to ignorance.
My Bird Won't Eat That...
Feeding your birds a nutritional and varied diet is THE most important thing you can do to keep them healthy, yet most people keep their birds on seed-only diets, even if they know better. Many claim to have tried converting their birds to a better diet but their birds "just won’t eat anything else!" I probably shouldn’t be surprised, considering that the United States is raising its children on fast food, greatly increasing their chances of having heart attacks and bypass surgeries at the age of 45.If you are having trouble converting your bird please see Getting Your Bird to Try New Foods. Below are the three reasons birds typically won’t convert.
Why Birds "Won’t" Convert to a Healthy Diet
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They do not recognize the item as food.
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The food is being presented wrong.
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The owner isn’t being persistent enough.
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Birds do have their preferences, but they should also be willing to accept a variety of foods. My birds get a veggie mix of green beans, lima beans, carrots, corn and peas. Most of my birds go for the corn first and then consume all but the carrots. Fry, my mitred conure, will eat everything but the lima beans. Ringnecks will eat the carrots. Peas are my kakarikis’ first choice. Both corn and peas are high in starch. Fry loves all bread products. He often shares breakfast with me. He will ignore everything else and go for the bread, eating all but the "crust," even on muffins. This doesn’t mean he won’t eat non-bread items. If I place an item in his dish he will eat it. If I’m eating something he will want some too (we’re sharing a chicken tamale as I write this). When a bird does not have access to a favorite food, it has to eat what is available.
My Seed is Better Than Your Seed...
You probably buy a seed mix with "fortified" or "gourmet" on the package, right? I’ll let you in on a little secret about seed mixes: one is just as good as another. While you’re paying $6.49 for 2 lbs. of that "Fiesta Fortified Gourmet Bird Food" I’m paying $8.25 for 25 lbs. of plain seed. Okay, so not everyone can afford to buy in bulk. However, many stores sell seed mixes that contain just seed. Sometimes these mixes aren’t even a name brand or are packaged in-store. They are much cheaper.
"But wait! The seed I buy contains dried fruits, veggies and nutrient supplements." Does your bird actually eat any of those dried items or does it just pick out the seeds? I’ve found that birds a much more likely to try new foods if they are offered in a separate dish. If pellets are mixed in with seed (like manufacturers suggest) they are often ignored. The bird will just eat its seeds and dismiss the foreign item. Offer new items in a different bowl. Vitamin supplements do not work with seed mixes. If a seed mix claims to contain supplements what it means is that vitamins are sprayed onto some of the seeds. However, because all psittacines husk their seed before eating it, the vitamin-coated exterior is cast aside and only the uncoated seed itself is consumed. It is best to leave seed plain and supplement by offering other foods.
Pellets vs. Seed
Seed is like bread- it’s good, but in no way a complete diet. If bread is all you eat eventually you will have many problems due to malnutrition. Seed is perfectly healthy if it is supplemented with other foods. Some seeds are higher in fat than others, like sunflower, peanuts and safflower. These should be avoided, especially in species that are prone to obesity (Galahs, amazons, budgies). A few species can tolerate high fat but not many. You can increase the nutritional content of seeds by sprouting them. In the wild birds eat seed still growing on the plant. The dry seed we offer our birds is nowhere near as nutritious as sprouted.
Pellets are designed to be a "complete" diet. They are supposed to provide all the vitamins and minerals a bird needs. This means you should NOT offer other foods, especially not cuttlebone, mineral block or vitamins. You risk overdosing your birds by feeding other foods with pellets. Most old-timer experts are against diets consisting solely of pellets. Birds need variety in their diet and pellets just don't give them that. These experts recommend no more than 25% of the diet consisting of pellets. Such a diet would be mostly seed, soft foods and fresh foods, with only some (25%) pellets for supplementation. This would be a safe way to offer other foods along with pellets.
What do I think? Honestly I don’t know if pellets really are a complete diet or not. They are definitely not psychologically beneficial, even if they are dyed and molded into various shapes. When it comes down to it, I’m skeptical of anything advertising itself as being the only thing required. Most people feed their dogs and cats canned or dry diets only. Are these diets complete? Probably more so than bird pellets because they’ve been researched longer, but then why is my sister’s sheltie always hanging out under the cages eating dropped Crazy Corn and veggies? Hmm... I really don't think that one food item can be a "complete" diet, no matter how well-researched it is. Natural sources of nutrition are always better and more varied than a formulated diet. My personal opinion is to feed seed supplemented with a variety of fresh and cooked "soft" foods.
The bulk of my current diet is seed. Pellets are offered in a separate dish, and yes, the birds do eat them even though they have seed. Every day I also offer a fresh or cooked food. This could be frozen veggies, fresh greens, fruit, pasta, eggs or Crazy Corn. These items are rotated so that every day the birds get a different fresh/cooked food.
Vitamin & Mineral Supplements
Birds have dry mouths. Vitamins are utterly useless when sprinkled on seed or dry foods. Putting them in water does no good either as they will only lose their potency and provide a breeding ground for bacteria. If you do want to use vitamin supplements, sprinkle them on your wet foods.
All birds on a seed diet should be offered cuttlebone and/or mineral block.
Grit should NOT be offered to psittacines. All hookbills husk their seed before consuming it, hence they have no need for grit. Some birds will also consume massive quantities of grit which will impact their crop. Grit is fine for birds that do not husk their seed (doves, pigeons).
Feeding a Varied Diet
So what do birds need? Basically anything that a health food nut would eat is what birds should be eating: lots of fruits and vegetables, low-fat, low-salt, grains, etc. Use your imagination! Try some of my recipes. Here's a better idea of what you can feed: corn, peas, carrots, carrot tops, beans, legumes, rice (must be COOKED!), pasta, chicken, bread, egg, Crazy Corn, grapes, mangos, apples, peaches, pears, apricots, plums, kiwi, berries (whatever kind is in season), parsley, chickweed and bananas. This is just to give you an idea. You can feed much more than this. Keep it varied. See Fruit and Veggie page for a further list of some of the edible foods for your kakariki.
Special notes on Iceburg Lettuce and Spinach:
Iceburg lettuce has no nutritional value. It's basically all water. Spinach contains a chemical which binds to calcium, making it unable to be absorbed by the body (so much for Popeye). It is healthy but should only be fed sparingly.
Don’t forget to give your bird fresh water too. Change it everyday. Some birds like to dunk food in their water or use it as a toilet. Sometimes moving the dish to another location may help. If not you'll just have to change the water more often. The rule of thumb is if you wouldn’t drink it, change it. I don't really approve of water bottles because people get lazy changing them, they are hard to disinfect and often don't get checked often enough.
Toxic Foods and Things to Avoid
Most fruit pits are toxic. Remove them before feeding. NEVER feed avacado or chocolate, they are toxic. Also avoid any type of drug (even the legal kind). NO alcohol. NO caffeine. Even decaf coffee contains some caffeine. Don't let your birds have any. While we're on the subject of drugs, DON'T SMOKE AROUND YOUR BIRDS!!! This practice is bad enough for humans, but birds have much more sensitive respiratory systems. Mammal bacteria is also dangerous. Do not allow your birds to share food with the dog/cat or drink from their water bowls. Likewise, do not allow your birds to take food from your own mouth. If you are going to share food give them their own plate or at least don't offer them anything your mouth has touched.
Fruit & Veggies For Your Kakariki
The fruit and veg that are at the top of the list is what I feed all my birds:
Carrot
Chives
Cress
Mint
Rosemary
Thyme
Lettuce
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Eggs Hard Boiled
Meal Worms
The following is a list of suggested fruit and veg for birds:
Basil
Dill
Lovage
Marjoran
Oregano
Sage
Tarragon
Spinach
Sweet potato
Squash
Raspberries
Strawberries
Blackberries
Apple
Pear
Banana
Grapes
Kiwi
Pomegranate
Tomato
Peppers and the seeds
Dandelions
Corn
Cucumber
Celery
Chilli peppers
Along with all this fruit and veg your kakariki will also eat:
Cockatiel Mix
Hemp Seed
E.M.P egg food
Please remember to provide calcium for your bird in the form of cuttlefish or a liquid form that you can put into their water.They also require an iodine block in the cage
Recipes
All-Purpose Bread
This was originally a recipe for an apricot nut loaf. Bread is one of the best things you can make for your birds. Why? Three reasons: 1) Even picky eaters will usually eat it. 2) Bread is very flexible; you can stuff just about anything in it. 3) You can get your bird to eat foods it normally wouldn't by concealing them inside bread. The ingredient list here is only a basic guideline. Like I said before, you can add just about anything you want. Fruits and nuts bake great, veggies usually don't. Warning: don't add tomatoes unless you REALLY love the smell. The bread will reek of them while it's baking and whenever it's re-heated.
Ingredients
3/4 cup dried fruit
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup Crazy Corn
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tsp Spirulina
2 tbl melted butter
3 eggs with shell
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts & pine nuts
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In one bowl mix all the powders (flour, Spirulina, baking soda and powder). Throw everything else into another bowl. Make sure everything is well mixed and eggs shells are well crunched as the bread will be very thick. Add all the powders to your "everything else" bowl. Mix well again. Batter should be very thick and chunky. If it's not add more fruit/nuts/whatever. Pour in pan, bake 55-60 minutes. Let bread cool before cutting. Cut bread into slices (however much you will use at once) and store in a ziplock baggy in the freezer. Defrost however much you need later.
Simple Eggfood
All birds, especially breeding pairs, need protein. This can be supplied in many ways. Most poultry owners and some parrot owners buy their birds lay mash. Others prepare bean mixes. Another easy way to give your birds protein is to serve them eggs (and no this is not cannibalism). Not only does it provide protein but calcium as well. As one of my AVS professors put it, "The egg is the most complete form of nutrition." I know that most of you probably already know how to cook eggs, but then my stepdad couldn't even hardboil one before he met my mom.
Ingredients
The number of eggs depends on how many birds you're planning to feed. One egg goes a long way. If you're like me and you've raised quail at one point or another, 4-6 quail eggs equals one chicken egg (I'd like to note though that I never added the shell when I used quail eggs). There are also many extras you can add if you like to make a little omelet: cheese (sparingly, birds are lactose intolerant), peppers, veggies, and beans.
Instructions
Take out a bowl ow measuring cup that is microwave-safe. Toss entire egg into bowl and crunch up well. Put bowl into microwave and heat until the egg is puffy and there is no "goo" left. This may take 90 or more seconds depending on the strength of your microwave and how many eggs you're cooking. Place egg on plate and cruch further, making sure the shell is well mixed and not clumped together. Serve while warm and take out unfinished portion within an hour as it will start to spoil and attract ants.
Rice Pudding Muffins
This one was sent to me by someone from the message boards.
Ingredients
2 cup apple juice
2 cup instant rice
1/4 cup raisins or dates
1 15 oz. can of sweet potatoes (use 1/2 the juice from the can also)
3 tbsp honey
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup flaked coconut
3 large eggs
1 box of yellow cake mix
1/4 cup chopped nuts
Instructions
Add the raisins to the apple juice and bring to a boil in the microwave. You'll need a large bowl. After the juice boils for one minute remove and add instant rice, cover and allow to cool. Set this aside. Blend sweet potatoes with honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, coconut and eggs until smooth. In a large bowl empty the box of yellow cake mix and then fold in the rice mixture and add the potatoe mix. Stir everything together and bake a 400 degrees in muffin tins until golden brown. Makes about 3 1/2 dozen muffins.
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