Best way to get my bird to gain weight?

[bakerfamily]

When we got our GW we noticed that she was a little lighter than we expected her to be, and have been trying to get her to trust us enough to let us rub her chest just to see how much lighter she is than what she should be. And tonight she finally allowed me to rub her chest and I could feel her breastbone. She eats constantly but I wanna put her on a homemade meal plan. We were unsure what she was on before because her previous owners couldn't remember the name of her pellets and didnt have a bag to show us. They just said the one with banana chips. So we got her some and she HATES the stuff. Is there any good meal plan out there that I can put her on to put weight on her at a nice healthy pace. This is what I have been feeding her thus far:


Morning:

A mix of seeds (pumpkin, sunflower) with raisins, some green pepper, broccoli,carrots and blueberries. Sometimes I switch the broccoli out for spinach and the blueberries for strawberries.

At Lunch:

She gets excited when the boys get Peanut butter sandwiches, so I give her a piece of bread (whole grain) with a bit of peanut butter, and apple slices. And she eats some of the pellet mix.

Dinner:

She usually gets a little bit of what we have at dinner, depending on what we are eating but we usually have chicken so we make sure to save her some, along with the leg bones. She really likes the marrow. And some more veggies and a little bit of fruit.

For snacks:

She like almonds, ok let me rephrase that she LOVES almonds! So we give her these as her treats for training.

But she picks at everything! And most of what we give her ends up in her tray. So I wanna make something that is better for her, and will help add the weight that she needs.

Any recipes out there?

[maggy]

Her diet sounds pretty good but maybe a little light on for carbohydrates, you could include brown rice, pasta, couscous, or some soaked or sprouted wheatseeds, cooked sweet potato, cooked potato, parsnip and beetroot.

[brdfvr]

Remember, you don't want her to gain too much weight. If you can feel their breastbone that is alright (she might just be a small bird), it just becomes a problem when the amount of the breast muscle is too thin. If you can't feel their keel bone easily or they have "birdie cleavage" they are too fat!
Make sure she gets some good exercise to maintain her fitness so she gains the correct weight (not just fat).

[expressmailtome]

You could keep using the almonds for training but give other nuts regularly. Macaws need more fat than other birds.

Matt

[bakerfamily]

She is so picky about what she eats, and I havent found any other nuts that she likes. Thats where we fall into a problem, have you ever seen those women who obsese about what they eat to watch their figure. Well she kinda does this, anything that is considered a fat (good or bad) she doesnt want to touch. But give her a salad and she is in heaven. She likes peanut butter so maybe she will eat some peanuts. I just have to find some that are unsalted. They never seem to have them when I go to the store. Any other fatty food ideas. We are open to just about anything.

[expressmailtome]

Have you tried pine nuts? They are high in fat. If she is truly very under weight I found this product online: Formula One™ Quick Weight Gain Mixture . I have never used it though.

Matt

[bakerfamily]

I don't believe she is severly underweight just not quite where she needs to be. I havent tried pine nuts! And I even know a recipe that we can both enjoy with chicken spinach and pine nuts, I will have to make hers without the sauce and cheese but she might like that.

[some-budgie-loves-me]

What pellets do you give her? Orion has started gaining weight now that he's eating Harrison's High Potency pellets. (Of course, it could just be coincidence that he's started gaining weight now, but those pellets are for young, underweight & overweight birds.)

[tielfan]

You don't say anything about a vet examination. An avian vet is an expert on whether a bird is too thin, too fat, or just right, and it's best to get a professional opinion on whether she needs to gain weight. If she's already fine then you're not doing her any favors by getting her to gain weight. If she really is too thin the vet can give you advice on helping her gain.