Harrisons and supplements?

[GreetingCardReligion]

So I'm heavily considering switching Schroeder's pellets over to Harrisons (he liked the sample we got from the vet but I ordered a sample of the high potency course from the website to see if he'll eat that, since its what he'd actually be eating.

I have some questions about two things I found on their website:

3) Only supplement with the kinds and amounts of foods offered on the back label of the bags. Improper supplementing may also unbalance the diet.

4) Do not add other supplements, such as vitamins, cuttlebone, seeds, table food or other animal food.

Now, this may be the stupidest question ever, but if you feed your birds Harrisons, should you cut down alot of the fresh and cooked foods? I don't want to make the conversion, if that is the case, because my little guy loves sharing healthy things with me and does really well eating his fresh veggies!

We try to eat all sorts of different things prepared different ways since he's little and I want to help build up an interest in a variety of foods so he doesn't get too terribly picky and feeding /only/ pellets, for the most part, doesn't sound like something I'd want to do.

So is there any real reason to not continue feeding him as I do, just using Harrisons instead of Zupreem or is there some reason, because of the nutrients in Harrisons (or something?) that you should limit other foods strictly?

Oh yeah, and I picked up some Nutriberries from the store, just as a treat and to try foraging with, and the insert inside suggests it can be used as a complete bird diet? Near as I can tell it's just seads and protein, I don't know why a "vet" would recommend this as a complete diet :(

[jimpierce7]

I believe that the idea behind Harrison's is that it is a complete diet. I'm not certain tho.

[GreetingCardReligion]

Thats what I gathered too, but would it be harmful to continue feeding lots of fresh and cooked foods?

[Monica]

I think it would be more harmful feeding mostly pellets than mostly fresh foods.... and it doesn't matter how many times I've told that to Charlie, he aint listenin! He knows the difference between birdy food (doesn't matter what kind I make!) and human food!!! Only issue there.... is that the human food... tends to be most often.... a lot less healthier then the birdy food I cook up!

[jimpierce7]

a lot of vets, including mine, seem to push a 80/20 diet. Thats 80% pellet and 20% fresh. I figure if I'm going to take the time to make the fresh stuff and it has everything in it they need, I kind of reversed it. 80% fresh and 20% pellet mix. I have not tried Harrison's yet myself.

[kimtoo]

I have fed Harrisons with a supplement off fresh foods and some nuts for years and my birds thrive on it. I no longer feed anything else....They get fresh fruit and veggies, some kind of nuts, (almonds, pine nuts,walnuts, pecans, etc,) depending on the bird, some days they get birdie bread or a cooked mix like egg foo yum, and always have Harrisons available in a bowl at all times.

[Wiggi]

Personally, I think that a 80/20 diet is far too much pellets, and I know that a lot of vets beginning to reconsider the benefits of pellets.

I´m seriously considering giving up on pellets totally, since I believe it´s much healthier to serve only fresh food. Pellets mainly consist of soy beans (which can cause allergies), different kinds of cereals and artificial vitamins. Parrots are very intelligent animals and they need variation and a lot of stimulation, how interesting can it be to eat the same food with the same color and consistency every day?

Perhaps just pellets is better food for a parrot than just seeds, but in the end I still think that variation is the best.

[Monica]

Wiggi... actually pellets are just as bad as seeds are alone.... They can cause some of the same bad effects when that's the only thing in the diet.... they may not cause cancer and tumours, but like seeds causing vitamin deficiencies, pellets can cause vitamin toxicity. Thus, pellets can cause the same, and some of the opposite effects as seeds.

Thus, if your not feeding fresh foods (which should be a given must), a seed/pellet mixture is better than just one or the other... as you try to "even" things out.

[galaxee]

we feed casper harrison's high potency fine. she also eats carrots and red potatoes, cereal from my breakfast, rice and other grains, beans, lettuce, breads, steals bits of my bananas, you name it.

she's just fine.

i think it's a marketing ploy to sell more of their pellets. ya know... if you don't feed the bird anything else, you have to feed them more. like that.

[tielfan]

Many vets aren't particularly well trained in nutrition and all they know about it is what the pellet companies tell them. The pellet companies naturally go for a high percentage of pellets in the diet to boost their sales, but don't dare to recommend a 100% pellet diet because experience has taught them this doesn't work in the long run, and they'd rather sell an 80% pellet diet to a live bird than a 0% pellet diet to a dead one.

The truth is that no one really knows the exact nutritional needs of our birds. The pellet formulas are based primarily on research on poultry, which may not be ideal since the chickens are destined to end up on the dinner table at a young age rather than living into old age. On top of that, there are many different pet bird species whose nutritional needs aren't necessarily identical. This is why pet bird nutrition is such a controversial topic (right up there with clipping vs nonclipping). My personal philosophy is to offer some of everything - pellets, seeds, sprouts, veggies/fruits - and let the birds decide what they want. They're actually eating at least a little of everything too, although it looks to me like some of them are making more balanced choices than others.