What Is The Best Brand Food I Can Give My Parakeet?

Question

I want to breed and all sites that I have looked on say I need to give my birds the best of the best. It needs grain, seed, dried fruit, dried veggies, and TONS of vitamins and minerals. Any suggestions???

Answer 1

Well, first thing is first. Did you get both budgies from a reliable breeder yourself? If you got them from a pet store, not nearly enough is known about their genetic backgrounds and possible traits (recessive or not) or possibly defects they could be carrying. If you did get them from a good breeder, ask that breeder what they would recommend.

Also, find a local avian vet ( http://aav.org/vet-lookup ) and talk to a vet to see what their professional opinion is on not only a good diet, but your birds' overall health. Some birds are not built for breeding, while others are ideal for it, whether it be in physical condition, mental condition (you don't want a neurotic bird getting stressed with breeding and caring for young), and body preparedness.

I would avoid asking pet store staff, as many will urge the purchase of their own products. If they don't have the appropriate foods to be feeding, they won't say anything about them and you may get ripped off.

Start with a base of good, healthy pellets. Organic is best, but well known, trusted, and researched brands are also very good. Harrison's is the best I've seen, but Roudybush and Zupreem are also wonderful pellets. Some brands will carry specific types of pellets geared towards breeding birds, so look those pellets up and you'll probably find their breeding-specific pellets. This should make up about 80% of their diet. Avoid artificial flavours and colours, as they could be harmful to their systems and colour will dye their poops whatever colour the pellets are. This can be misleading in judging the health of your birds.

10% of the diet should consist of fresh foods. Fruits, vegetables, grains, pastas. You can basically feed anything from those groups given that you do NOT feed avocado, chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, carbonated items, salty, sugary, or greasy items, tomato leaves, apple seeds, fruit seeds and pits, onion, and mushroom. Avoid things that are not organically grown if you can help it. Otherwise, wash thoroughly. Strawberries are good, but very well known for carrying pesticides. Dried fruits and vegetables are great, too, and better yet if they're organic as well. This site: http://www.parrotdiseperch.com/parrot/shop.php?cat=77 carries dried organic fruits and vegetables, along with the pellet brands I mentioned above.

The last 10% of the diet should be seeds. You don't really need the "gourmet" crap that has all the dye in it, but you should head for a high quality seed blend and preferably, with little or no sunflower seed. I personally find them too fatty to feed regularly and feed safflower in my seed diets, then sunflower by hand as occasional treats.

You can add to these diets with a fun twist by making your own treats, such as birdy bread, mini bird muffins, glop, etc. You can Google virtually any recipe for birds you like - http://www.netpets.com/birds/reference/kjohnson/recipes.html for example. http://www.cockatielcottage.net/biscuitsnbones/maincc.html has a nice list of the things you can make. And more - http://www.upatsix.com/faq/recipies.htm ! Also, some people make "glop" for their birds, where they make a frozen blend of healthy fruits and vegetables here - http://www.rationalparrot.com/diet.html

Especially for the hen, you'll need to combat calcium loss and the potential of calcium or other nutritional deficiencies. You can crush egg shells into food, feed dark leafy greens (broccoli, spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, bok choy, etc.), and you can try to feed limited dairy since it does provide calcium, but birds are lactose intolerant. (Compare it to feeding a dog cheese as an occasional treat. They may love it, but they're also lactose intolerant.) If you buy a cuttlebone, the cuttlefish they're made out of provide some level of calcium and can keep beaks down if they choose to use it.

I'd also like to recommend Manu blocks. They're basically clay blocks full of enriching calcium and nutrients that other iodine and mineral blocks lack. If you're curious, you can Google them or check out this somewhat vague link: http://www.wctropicalbird.com/fooditems/specialty%20foods/minerals%20treats.htm It does give an approximation (in Canadian dollars) of price, though.

As a last note, do not add supplement drops to food or water! In water especially, it speeds bacteria growth and can make birds sick if you're not cleaning it every hour or two. As for putting it in food, I find it makes the food kind of gross and some birds don't like that texture on their tongues. Supplement drops, I find, are a waste of money and should not be used unless under the guidance of an avian vet, though most avian vets would suggest you handfeed a medication to a bird that needs it.

Good luck.

Answer 2

There is a brand of feed for Parakeets that is called Vitakeet...Its full of vitamins and minerals. You cant get it everywhere, I used to get it at the pet feed store in my city. Also you can look on sites like http://www.feedmypet.com/bepafo.html
and another one is NationalPetPharmacy.com..Hope this helps

Answer 3

I have 2 parakeets. I feed them a Gormet seed mix with little bits of dried fruits. As well as a seed diet they need a small amount of supplements and dialy fresh veggies and fruits like lettuce celery grapes and spinach.

Answer 4

Walmart sells the best deal on keet seed. I buy the two lb box for $3. I mix in some Lafeber pellets Petco sells, in a 1.25 lb plastic resealable container. Its not cheap but my two keets just love it.

Answer 5

do not feed them an all-seed diet as it is high in fat and can lead to deadly fatty liver disease. a pellet diet that my birds like is ZuPreem and it has many of the nutrients they need, plus its low in fat. it will help them maintain a healthy weight. you can give them seed occasionally, as a treat or once a week as part of their diet, because they do need some fats. supliment their diet with fruit and veggies and anything they may like (not avacado, chocolate, or high amounts of onion or tomato) my bird loves spagetti and ramen noodles! he shares them with me everyday after school.
good luck!

Answer 6

My vet reccomended that I feed Harrisons or Roudybush pellets along with fresh foods. For a great oppinion, ask your avian vet.

Answer 7

ZuPreem its is a pellet diet and if you mix it with seeds your parakeet will love it

Answer 8

versilago its german and has been voted the best many times and is a fair price

Answer 9

Hartz veg. blend parakeet gourment diet!!!!mine love it

Answer 10

I have parakeets. they like fresh celery and broccolli.