Chris' Birdie Mash

[my-africangrey-echo]

You can really add what ever is currently available at your local grocery store. I happen to have a dry goods store in a small town about an hour away. My husband & I will go there for breakfast and the dry good store is right next door. So I pick up stuff when out there. But you can find the beans etc in any grocery store.

What you want to do is have a good variety of stuff in the mix.

First I start with several types of beans.
Such as Lima, kidney, lentils, navy, and if you can find them dried peas. Just add what ever is available in your store.

1. Wild long grain rice (Must be cooked)
2. Vegetable macroni cooked very al dente
3. Yams steamed but only for a few minutes so they are still firm and don't turn to mush when you chop them
4. Frozen corn, peas carrots etc.

Here's where you can use your imagination. Keeping in mind what nutrients your bird needs like my greys need calcium rich foods.

You should always have some citrus in your mix it will help keep the mash from spoiling as quickly.

This is the fresh fruit and veggies I added this time.

Kiwi, cantaloupe, apples, peaches, pears, strawberries, oranges, grapefruit, seedless grapes, (my two like the red grapes the best), papaya, mango, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, sugar snap peas, green beans & brussels sprouts.

NEVER ADD AVOCADO it is poisonous to our fids

Chop everything to bite sized pieces except the grapes I leave them whole. Mixing everything together can be a sticky messy job. I have found just mixing with freshly washed hands work the best. I bag it into sandwich baggies with a few days supply in each. I have glass loaf pan with a lid that I use to thaw it in the fridge. Keep in mind how much freezer space you have before making your mash.


The beans must be soaked over night then rinsed covered in cold water and brought to a boil for about 10 minutes. Cool and rinse them before dumping them in the mix.


And here is the finished product

[tkirsch9368]

Awesom, I am going to try it! Thanks a bunch!

[jenseits]

That looks fantastic!

I'm still getting my guys used to the idea of mash. They do like it and will eat it as soon as I put it out, but never a lot at a time and I worry about the food spoiling if I leave it in their cage too long. I guess they're never hungry enough to have a meal's worth since they're used to having access to their pellets all day.

Here are photos of my guys face down/tail up in their mash (cute birdie butts!!):




And another one of Stewie where you can see the contents of the bowl (this particular batch had green beans, corn, whole wheat spaghetti and sprouts and a handful of leftover dried veggies that I tossed in at the last minute):


They complain that my taking pictures of their tushies is not very dignified.

[my-africangrey-echo]

Try giving it warmed up a little at first. They will like that. Also give it to them for breakfast when they first get up in the morning. I always take the bowls out and wash them @ bedtime. Therefore if they don't have anything else in the cage at that time they will start eating it. It took about a month to completely switch them over and now they wont even touch the pellets. Vern was a mostly seed fed bird a year ago when she came to me and will gorge herself when I feed her in the morning.

[shellbeme]

Mmm I really want to try this with Chico, I have the hardest time getting him to eat veggies but with something warmed up like this, he might like it alot.

[chapala]

Do remember that many legumes contain antinutrients and produce gas (creating bubbles in the digestive system of parrots and can be seen in bubbly feces). If someone is going to feed the non-recommended kinds, it's very important to soak for at least 12 hours, discard the soaking water, add fresh water, bring to boil, boil 10 minutes, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until done. The non-recommended types of legumes should never be sprouted. For cooked or sprouted I use just the more digestible legumes: mung, adzuki, lentil, garbanzo and whole dried pea. (For sprouting, lentils and peas must be whole, not split; okay for cooking if split.)

For complete protein (complementary amino acids), whole grains need to be combined with legumes in a ratio of two parts grains to one part legumes. So rather than a mish-mash, it helps to work out the diet a little more carefully to ensure good nutrition.

The vegetable pasta is likely made from white refined flour rather than whole wheat or other whole grain. I prefer to use whole grains when making Shauna's Mash diet (Feeding Feathers forum) rather than pastas even whole grain versions. Wheat berries, kamut, spelt, buckwheat, quinoa, barley, oats, millet are all excellent to use. Brown rice is fine for part of the grain portion, but is one of the least nutritious whole grains. If the longer cooking whole grains are soaked overnight, like the legumes, they cook in about 1/2 the time.

[my-africangrey-echo]

Thanks for the input Chapala! I did neglect to state to soak the beans didn't I.

[kristy29]

Sorry to be pulling up an old thread, but I noticed in this thread and another one that couscous is not mentioned on the ok grains list. Is there a reason for this?

[chapala]

Originally Posted by kristy29

Sorry to be pulling up an old thread, but I noticed in this thread and another one that couscous is not mentioned on the ok grains list. Is there a reason for this?

Couscous is usually made from white, refined flour. Harder to find, but there is whole wheat couscous out there. The whole wheat version would be okay, but I prefer to feed mostly whole grains, not processed whole grains, as in whole grain pasta or couscous.