Dear Parrots magazine,
Live and Let Live
It saddens me when I see a flurry of bickering letters in successive issues of Parrots magazine.
I read and enjoyed Tariq's original article and then I re-read it to confirm what I had remembered, that he had mentioned he fed fresh produce alongside a base diet of pellets. I should think the poor man is now wary of ever writing for the magazine again, which would be a pity.
The only group of people I trust to advise me on avian nutrition are specialist avian vets, as they have the benefit of both professional training / study and solid clinical experience to draw on. Any other ‘experts’ just confuse things, in my opinion. Our excellent vet takes the pragmatic stance that although pellets are the optimum choice as a base feed, in a clinical setting, where it is essential to get the patient eating again, if seeds are what it takes then seeds are given.
Pellets offer a safe, efficient, proven base feed to which fresh produce may be added. Many parrots are hand-reared on a formula very similar in nutritional values to the pellets. Many parrot owners simply do not have the time or the inclination to prepare complicated soak and sprouting mixes, only to have them rejected by their pets, wasting time and money. I can testify to this, having made a number of attempts to include soaked and sprouted foodstuffs in our birds' diets, only to find them rejected. The wild Jackdaws that inhabit my horse's paddock are, however, very grateful for our pets' cast-offs!
The absolute bottom line here is that no diet is going to be of any value what-so-ever if the parrots being offered it refuse to eat it. Pellet and seed both make perfectly sound base feeds to which to add fresh produce. Incidentally, our Green-cheeked Conures adore dry pellets but reject figs. Every bird is an individual, which is true of owners too, so please put an end to the evangelical ‘thou shalt not’ feeding advice, and live and let live.
Karen Anne Chudley