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From: ooblick@intercon.uucp (Mikki Barry)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Bird diets
Message-ID: <1292@intercon.UUCP>
Date: 20 Jul 89 16:27:05 GMT
Sender: news@intercon.UUCP
Reply-To: ooblick@intercon.uucp (Mikki Barry)
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While there are almost as many opinions on cage birds' diets as there
are possible diets themselves, I'd like to pass on some of the work
being done at Texas A&M by their veterinary researchers.

There is an ongoing cockatoo study that has been in progress for
the past 10 years where the birds have been fed ONLY high quality,
low fat, low ash content dry dog food (yep, DOG FOOD).  The birds
in the study have produced young at an abnormally high rate, and the
birds have had lower incidence of normal cage bird diseases.

Our avian vet has fed her amazons, cockatoos, hawk heads, etc. etc.
Science Diet dog food for the past few years now.  While local breeders
screech "Animal protein....YEEEECH", other avian vets concur about dog
food being good for cage birds.

As far as the pellets v. seed debate, it seems to have become almost
religious in its intensity.  My birds get science diet, kellogs pellets,
and fresh fruits and vegetables.  My yellow nape was on a seed diet
until my vet pointed out that this is not good.  Since switching him to
pellets, his feather color, quality, and his overall disposition has
improved considerably.  My wild caught cockatoo was more difficult to
switch over, but he is now eating pellets as well as fruits and vegetables.
It took a lot of persistance, as well as monitoring daily weight and food
intake (starting with a 50% 50% mix of seeds to pellets and gradually
(over weeks) cutting down the seeds) but his feathers and color has also
improved.  It took a year on the new diet to notice major differences, but
at least for my birds, the pellets seem to have made them healtheir.

Mikki Barry




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