Good Stuff All Organic Bird Food - Birdie Bread and Cooking Mixes

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Tips from Parrots on the Porch to aid the Birdsitter When You Are on Vacation

As I said good bye this morning to Luna, Gandy and Kiwi, Christi’s three birds that were staying with me while she went on vacation,  I thought I would share  some helpful hints to aid your birdsitter to care for your birds while you are away.

1. If your birds will be staying in your own home, have the birdsitter come and visit to socialize with the birds. If your birds are going to the sitter’s home, take the birds for a trial visit. It is good for your birds to have a recent vet check, and if your sitter has birds, it’s a good idea to know they are disease-free, too. All the birds I sit for are patients of my vet.

2. If you have more than one bird, label the bowls with their names on the bottom with permanent marker. If they don’t know the birds’ names, label the cages, too.

3. Make a list of the steps you use to get your birds’ meals ready. Be detailed. For example:

  • Collect bowls
  • Wash bowls in hot, soapy water; rinse well
  • Chopped veggie mix, fruit and sprouts are in the bottom pull-out drawer in refrigerator. The greys (Cosmo and Gris-Gris) get 1/2 cup and two blueberries, the quakers and conure (Sparki, Kuiper and Kiwi) get 1/4 cup and one blueberry. The lovies and Cockatiel (Ikie, Blooper and Hubble) get a tablespoon and each get one blueberry cut in half. Make sure Hubble gets a serving of Kale. One almond in each bowl. Sprinkle sprouts on top of each serving.
  • Collect bowls of fresh veggies after 2-3 hours.
  • Dry Food: Greys get 2 T. Good Stuff Medium Blend (take nuts from Cosmo), with high potency coarse pellets. Cosmo gets 15 pellets, Gris Gris gets 6; Conure – 2 T. medium, 1 t. Lifetime Fine …. etc, etc.

If  you just have one bird, it may be easy to put each day’s serving into labeled zip-lock bags, so all the sitter needs to do is wash bowls and dump the food in.

The extreme details leave no question. I would let the birdsitter know that it’s no problem if the instructions don’t get followed exactly. I know we conscientious bird owners can be a bit particular! We can’t expect others to know our personal birds’ needs to the extent we do. I would feel perfectly comfortable if the bowls were just cleaned and filled daily. A bird’s diet, even if it needs special attention won’t get undone in just a few days or a week.

4. If the birds meed medication, leave detailed instructions for this also. Write down the vet’s phone number and have it at the birdsitter’s fingertips. It is a good idea to have a note stating that your birdsitter and your vet have permission for emergency treatment, if neccesary. You can leave credit card info with your vet, or have your cell phone number on file with their office. Medication is very important to keep up with, even for just a few days.

5. Let your sitter know what birds can be handled and what ones can’t. It is helpful to have your birds stick trained so anyone can handle them regardless of temperament. Outline whether the birds should get out of cage time and what time “lights out” is. Let the sitter know if they get covered at night.

6. Make a trial run with your birdsitter. Let the sitter watch what you do and help (especially with medicines and if a bird needs to be towelled). It will make you both more comfortable, as well as the birds.

7. Leave your cell phone number and the phone number of a friend that may be able to help in case backup is needed.

8. It’s okay to call and talk to your birds on speakerphone. It can help them to hear your voice and help you relax and enjoy yourself more, too.

Did I leave out anything? Let me know. Have fun on your vacation and don’t worry. If you are clear on instructions, your birdsitter will be able to handle whatever comes up. It’s better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.

I’ll look forward to birdsitting again later on in the summer. I try to teach Christi’s grey something each time she is here. What should I teach Luna to say next time?

Organic Produce from Local Farmers Market for the Parrots

It was a wonderful day at the local farmers market. Kale (from Maple Creek Farm) and bok choy (from Cinzori Farms) are in season and it is gorgeous! And I got a long-waited for item!

Dinosaur Kale

Dinosaur Kale

The varieties of kale I saw were Lacinato or “Dinosaur” (looks like lizard skin), Red Russian and White Russian (tender, mild and sweet taste). The Scotch kale (curly) is not in yet. Kale is easy to grow and some of the purples look great in the garden. Kale is a wonderful vegetable that is in the Brassica family (related to sulfur vegetables like cabbage and collards). The sulfur containing phytonutrients (chemical componds occuring naturally in food) of vegetables like kale are being studied for their detoxifying effect that can aid in cancer-prevention. My birds enjoy kale, especially my cockatiel, Hubble. He likes a whole leaf to wrestle around. My quakers like to play with a whole leaf, too. Sparki bites holes in the center while Kuiper nibbles at the edges.

Bok choy

Bok choy

Where last weekend I bought tender, sweet baby bok choy, the bok choy I bought today was just HUGE! Bok choy is another vegetable in the Brassica family, sometimes called chinese cabbage. The stalks are thick and juicy and a thrill for my African greys to chew on. If I clean the stalk bases really well, I can give the whole bottom part to the greys to have fun with. Where they like the stalks, my little guys like the greens. I really like bok choy myself, so I will be making a good stir-fry tonight! Yes, I will share with the birdies!

Gray-striped sunflower

Sunflower

The long waited for item was a huge load of Organic Gray-Striped Sunflower Seeds in the shell. Big, chunky ones! Hampshire Farms planted them as a new crop he hadn’t done before. I have been waiting for them to process these for a few months. It was worth the wait! We only include a small amount in our mixes because birds love them so much that they would fill up on them! Moderation is the key to serving a tasty morsel like this. A little is beneficial, a lot is a fat bird! Sunflower seeds are high in vitamin E (anti-oxidant), magnesium (for bone strength and activity) and selenium (for detoxification and muscle building). The gray-striped variety have a lower oil fat content than the black oil seeds, which is why we prefer these. I know these big, orgainic sunflower seeds in the shell are pretty hard to find right now, so order away! You can always request a larger size bag, if you would like.

Crazy for Couscous Organic Cook Mix for birds

This is one that birds and their people have been waiting for.

New on our website: Crazy for Couscous is our new quick-cook mix available in two tasty flavors! Cooks in only 7-10 minutes. Wholesome, whole wheat couscous. quinoa, nuts and sesame seeds make a yummy, interesting textured meal for discriminating beaks. This mix is great to feed with the addition of chopped, fresh vegetables to get your birds to eat their greens. Blends well with fresh sprouts, too!

Savory: All Organic Ingredients: Whole Wheat Couscous, Almonds, Red Quinoa, Sesame Seed, Carrots, Peas, Celery Seed, Garlic, Dulse

Sweet (no sugar): All Organic Ingredients: Whole Wheat Couscous, Cashews, White Quinoa, Sesame Seed, Raisins, Carrots, Banana Powder, Cinnamon, Ginger

12 ounce Package $ 10.50

Click here to go to our website to order Crazy for Couscous

We’d love to add pictures to our blog of your birds enjoying our food. We hope we help make things easier for you to give your bird the best organic ingredients. Any comments and suggestions are welcome!

Changing your parrot to a more nutritious diet

A nutritious diet can help your bird live a long, happy and healthy life. A diet that is lacking in complete nutrition can cause immediate and chronic health problems that can shorten a bird’s life. Birds eating all seed diets have more health problems than birds eating fresh, whole foods and pellets. Changing thier diet for the better takes some observation and work.

The most important thing is to make sure your bird is healthy before changing the diet. Make an appointment with your avian veterinarian to assess your bird’s health and consult about diet change. Your vet can do a blood test to determine any problems. Your vet may have specific recommendations based on these tests or based on his/her experience with birds like yours. Your vet may suggest a diet of mostly pellets, based on the “average” bird owner’s knowledge and time. If you want to pursue a whole foods diet, most vets do not have a problem helping with that, as long as they know you will do your research, are committed to taking the time it requires, will be observant to your bird’s eating habits and that you will be consistent. Pellets have lengthened many birds’ lives with their uniform nutrition. But if you and your bird find pellets boring, you can get help to build a nutritious diet from fresh, whole foods.

Changing your bird’s diet can be frustrating. Exercise patience. Changes should be made gradually. Birds can get comfortable with what they are used to and apprehensive of new things. A bird may not recognize a new food as being edible and may shy away from strange shapes and colors. Understand that you *will* waste food as you let them get used to its new looks, textures and tastes.

Do not let your bird go hungry. The idea that birds will eat what’s in front of them when they are hungry is not necessarily true. Birds can be very, very stubborn. Present new food items in the morning when a bird is most hungry. If after a while (say, an hour), you see the food untouched, please let them have what they are accustomed to. Eventually they will become curious. To make them more curious, you can eat what you are feeding them while they watch. Many birds need to “follow the leader” to learn to be brave. It may be a natural flock behavior. Eat it and comment to them how good it is. Make a drama of it and see what they think. Cockatiels are notorious for being picky, but if you have a plate of food and you tap at it and push it around with your finger and peep happily while YOU eat it, that tiel is going to be curious and eventually want to see what the big deal is about.

What attracts birds to food? Taste, size, color, texture and temperature all play important roles in getting your bird to eat. Some birds like strong flavors, some prefer bland foods. Some birds like itty-bitty pieces, while others like big chunks to hold in their foot and gnaw on. Some like long shreds, some like whole kale leaves or whole ears of corn. Some birds shy away from the color red. I have a conure that will not reach into her bowl if something dark is in it (like a raisin or dark purple kale). Others pick out a certain color and eat it first. Some birds like crispy foods, like crackers. Others like the texture of bread. Others like mushy foods, the messier the better. You have to experiment a LOT to find out what your bird prefers and ease him into new foods using his tastes. For example, to feed sweet potato there are many ways to offer it: raw in chunks, raw in shreds, cubed and lightly steamed, cooked and mashed with applesauce, sliced thin and dehydrated as chips, chopped small and lightly cooked or mashed and frozen with a popsicle stick to hold it with.

Get creative and have fun! It can be very rewarding when you see your hard work pay off when the birds dive into their bowls in health and appreciation!

New Cook Mixes – Healthy Quick Cook Food for Your Bird

I have been working on new cook mixes with input from customers and their birds. I have requests for something with smaller grains that would appeal to budgies, lovies and tiels.

The first new mix is Quinoa Nut Crunch. It’s got the smaller grains like quinoa and millet with oatmeal to stick it all together. Although quinoa is called a “grain” it is actually related to leafy green vegetables like spinach and chard. The quinoa is packed with amino acids (protein) and is good for the littler birds’ activity levels. The amino acids in quinoa can help build and repair muscle tissue. Quinoa also has a lot of magnesium that can aid in cardiovascular health. Millet is a gluten-free “grain” (actually a seed) that most small birds adore. It is easily digested and used for energy to keep your birds active and happy. The millet remains crisp as a texture difference to the quinoa. Oh and nuts — that’s a must! Other quick-cook (20 minutes) ingredients have been added for texture, taste and flavor. This mix was tested on lovebirds, tiels, conures, quakers, African greys and macaws. Although made with smaller birds in mind, the larger birds seemed to take to it just as readily.

NOW AVAILABLE! “ABCs for Birdie“, another mix with the littles in mind. With a cook time of ten minutes, it will fit into a person’s busy schedule. Made with little vegetable alphabet pasta, quinoa and vegetables, this mix should satisfy the pasta-lovers.

The third little grain mix is a couscous mix. Many people miss the ease of the Beak Apetit instant mixes and we’d like to help out there. I wish I could find an alternative grain couscous, but I found a whole wheat couscous that seems to be good. I am still working out flavors. Some people’s birds miss the Alfredo flavor of Beak Apetit, but cheese has salt and I can’t bring myself to add something with that much salt to anything a bird would eat. I am trying blends of spices, maybe two different blends — a sweet and a savory. Birdies sensitive to gluten should not have this mix.

Into these mixes, we advise you to add fresh, finely-chopped vegetables and sprouted grains to boost the nutrition and get birds eating as many fresh, whole foods as possible. I have an African grey that doesn’t like his fresh veggies UNLESS they are mixed in with a warm, gloppy mash. He gets his fresh veggies and sprouts with his cooked mix every day.

My birds are really enjoying being test subjects, as our some of my friends’ birds. They are so spoiled! Here’s Jazzy, B and Stumpleton in California, enjoying ABCs for Birdie!

I gave up looking for organic canary seed for our bird food mix.

Canary seed (annual canary grass) is mostly grown for the bird food market. The farms growing canary seed at present are not organic farms. Most are in Canada, Hungary and Argentina. The organic farm we used to deal with in Canada is no longer in production.

From what I have found out, “Annual Canarygrass seed is similar to oat in mineral composition. The caryopsis is higher in ash, oil, and phosphorus but lower in fiber than concentrations common in corn, pea, or fieldbean. Canarygrass caryopses have higher concentrations of all eight essential amino acids than does wheat or corn, and are higher in sulfur-containing amino acids than pea or fieldbean.” This info is about 10 years old, but gives me something to shoot for in using quantities of replacements in our mixes.

The downside to the information I found is that it doesn’t address why organic canary seed isn’t currently available. In my opinion, it must not be lucrative for farms to grow organic canary seed for several reasons.
1. It’s not a human-consumed product, so there’s not a huge market for the product.
2. Not many farms growing it, so not much competition to keep the price worth it for the farmers.
3. Harvesting needed special equipment as canary seed grows with itchy little hairs on it that must be removed. These hairs are dangerous to be inhaled and can be cancer-causing.
4. Canary seed plants get overrun by weeds easily.
5. Canary seed is sensitive to higher temperatures and drought. Global warming can’t be helping.

In my understanding, it seems canary seed is sensitive to herbicides because it is a grass. And it isn’t very attractive to bugs and diseases. Perhaps, conventional canary seed may, as a result, have few pesticide and herbicide residues.

But, I will not use canary seed in our mixes unless I can find a certified organic source.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/cangrass.html

Beak Appetit. Working on something for their fans.

Many people are sad to hear about Beak Appetie’s exit from the bird food market. We would love to know what you liked about the product so that we can work on something that your birds will like as a replacement. Some people, especially budgie owners, say that their birds liked the smaller grains and the gloppy texture. That is different from most of the Good Stuff™ cook mixes, which have the more defined texture of the larger individual grains. I favor soaking and then cooking grains for only a short period of time, so the texture stays a little more firm and natural, similar to the texture of sprouted grains. Some people say their birds love the couscous and like an “instant,” quick-cook variety.

There are some ingredients that I can’t use based on organic availability or my own beliefs in what birds should eat. I won’t use peanuts or soy. I don’t want to use pre-cooked or par-cooked ingredients. Some of our client birds can’t have much corn, if any at all, so I will avoid that. I won’t use nutmeg, onions or white potatoes.

I use whole grain pastas, and prefer not to use wheat, so I am on a search for an alternative grain couscous that’s organic and whole grain.

So 1.) We will have a new cooked mix with small grains and ,hopefully, a whole-grain couscous.

2) We will present a new cooking mix that is just grains, brown rice and lentils that cook quickly. It won’t come with add ins, but instructions to add your own finely-chopped vegetables and/or sprouts after the grain mix is cooked.

Look for these items by the first of the year. We will be testing recipes over the next month.

Sprouting Question

Question:
I received an Easy Sprout kit. Hardly any of the seeds germinated (about 1%). There’s different time frames for different seeds according to the directions that came with the Easy Sprouter. Can someone clue me in on making small batches of sprouts (1/8 cup). Can under soaking can cause stomach problems for birds? They each tried the softened seeds & I am mixing them with brown rice. Do you always have to use sprouting seeds or can one use regular organic seeds as well?

Big Long Answer (As I’m good at giving TOO MUCH information!!):
There are different time frames for different seeds. The Parrots on the Porch Good Stuff Sprout Mixes contain a blend of grains and seeds chosen for their sprout timing and what parrots seem to like. We make a separate mix of legumes because they require longer soaking and sprouting times. It is okay to feed the grains and seeds after an overnight soak. This gets the seeds germinating. Millet and quinoa seem to be the quickest to sprout. Sometimes the coarser grains just barely start showing a white tip, and that’s okay. It is just starting to sprout and this is how my personal birds seem to enjoy them most. When the tails get too long, my birds don’t like them. There is a varying time for full sprouting, but the grains and seeds we chose seem to work pretty well together.

Let me go over what I do:
1. Rinse the seeds well, then place in a jar with the seeds covered with lukewarm water overnight. Set in a dark area.
2. In the morning, I rinse the seeds well and feed them. What I don’t feed that morning, I keep on the counter for the day to continue sprouting.
3. In the afternoon, I can see some of the seeds growing tails. I rinse them again. (Twice a day rinsing is fine, and maybe 3 times a day in the Southwest or in summer’s hot, humid weather) After I feed my evening meal, I refrigerate them to slow down the sprouting process.
4. I can feed these for 3 days, then toss (but I usually use up all of what I make).

I have not used an Easy Sprouter, since I have good luck with jars and strainers. But I know many people with Easy Sprouters love them.

Some reasons for not sprouting can be due to environment. Your room may be too chilly. I found someone who had put theirs on a windowsill and it just couldn’t get warm enough to sprout. Sprouts shouldn’t have direct light either. They like to “think” they are underground until their roots get long. You may have problems if you store your sprout mix in a freezer. Freezing can affect some sensitive grains and seeds if the temp goes too low (a deep freeze freezer that goes to zero or below can damage seeds, regular refrigerator-freezers don’t go that cold).

Older grains don’t sprout as well. Grains are just harvested once a year, so make sure you get your batch from the latest harvest. We get many of our grains straight from farms that grow them, so we know they are fresh. It’s great to create your own blend, and I will always encourage people to take the most active role in your bird’s diet and do it yourself! Just make sure to check on your store’s rate of turnover of grain supplies. I have success buying directly from grain farms. For example, I frequent a Farmers Market that has a farmer’s booth that carries sprouting and bread-making grains.

Soaking for too long (over 12 hours) can drown some smaller seeds, although I have forgotten once in a while and they have been fine. I suggest trying to sprout in lukewarm water. This mimics a good warming spring rain and that can help them along quicker.

Here’s a hint about how I teach beginners: Try sprouting raw, hulled sunflower seeds. They are the easiest seeds to sprout. You can practice on them in different temps of water and putting your Sprouter or jar in different locations. When you have luck with those, you know that the conditions are right for anything to sprout. I don’t know many birds that refuse the sprouted suns either! (And they are good on salads for people, too!)

I haven’t heard of under-soaked grains and seeds causing stomach problems in birds. They eat dry grains and seed just fine and don’t have digestive problems. Under-soaking just may not get the grains and seeds germinating. Over-soaking can “drown” them, but if rinsed well, they shouldn’t be a digestive problem, either. There just isn’t as much nutrition in dead, stale seed. I understand under-sprouting being a digestive problem with legumes (beans and lentils) — these must have a tail at least as long as the bean before feeding. But grains and seeds are okay with an overnight soak.

All my birds love sprouts and it is a staple of my quaker’s (Sparki and Kuiper) diets. They like courser grains than my tiels and lovies. They have had great checkups. Once you get the hang of sprouting, your birds will do great. Sprouts are lower in fat and carbs than regular dry grain and seed and have many of the qualities of fresh vegetables. Many seed junkies are transformed by sprouts.

Hope this helps!