Feeding Cockatiels
Feeding cockatiels is a topic that raises many different opinions and often arguments as to what is correct and what is not. I have my own ideas and have outlined these below. The feeding regime I use gives me healthy, happy, large birds that are willing breeders and wonderful parents. They do not have any health nor behavioural problems and are active, bright and alert. Having said this though, I am always eager to hear new ideas and am not adverse to change if it can be proven to me it will benefit my birds.
The birds diet is basically grouped into three main categories. Seed and pellets, fresh foods and supplements. They do get treats and extras as well but they are not a significant part of their daily nutritional intake.
NEVER FEED YOUR BIRD AVOCADO!
Seed /Pellets
The basic seed mix I use for my birds consists of a mixture of the following: White French Millet, Panicum, Canary, Jap Millet, Grey-striped Sunflower, Safflower and Hulled Oats. In winter I add extra Hulled Oats and Grey-striped Sunflower to fatten the birds up a bit so they don’t stress during the cold weather. It also has them in good health ready for the Spring breeding season.
I also give them sprays of Panorama and White French Millet a few times a week as a treat and to give them something extra to do I hang the millet in spots that require them to work to get it. They really enjoy the sprays and spend ages trying to access every seed. This helps alleviate boredom and reduces problems such as feather plucking.
I used to replace the seed daily but found by doing this they tend to pick out their favourite seeds like the sunflower and leave a lot they don’t like as much. I have recently changed that practice and now only give them fresh seed every second day. This means that there is less waste and they eat all the seed. I do however blow out the husks each day so only full seed remains.
All our birds from breeders to weaning babies get nutriblend mini pellets as part of their daily diet. I am not 100% convinced that pellets are good as a sole diet so we also offer seed and fresh foods daily.
My concern is not alone. After doing some research there are claims that a pellet only diet is just as harmful as a seed only diet as some of the percentages of nutrients ie calcium are too high for cockatiels. In Brazil and the UK there has been an increase in incidences of gout and liver problems in cockatiels being fed on a pellet diet.
Fresh Foods
Each day I feed some type of fresh food. By fresh food I mean vegetables, bread and sprouts. Every day they get sprouts but other items vary depending on what is in the fridge. I vary what they get every few days and each time there is always a choice of a few different selections. The different things I offer are:
Corn Flakes, Frozen peas & corn, Corn kernels, Silverbeet, Baby spinach leaves, Bok Choy, Beetroot leaves, Broccoli, Celery, Spinach, Grated beetroot, Grated carrot, Chickweed, Dandelion, Endive, Snow pea sprouts, Sprouting mix,Egg & Biscuit mix, Multigrain bread.
Most of these are purchased fresh from the supermarket when I do my family shopping. There are also numerous recipes available on the net for birdie bread or mixes you can make yourself. Personally I am not a cook and find the above list caters for what my birds need. This list is far from complete so by all means try other things but always check first to see they are non-toxic and safe.
With the exception of any dry foodstuffs all the fresh foods are cut up and served as a tossed salad. I find by serving it this way the offering is bright and colourful and will tempt almost any bird. Also by having everything in together it is easy to substitute items or add different things and the birds don’t notice the change. Often something new added to a birds cage will cause them to stress as they have no idea what it is. Curiosity will eventually win over and they will check out the new addition but this can take days. By having everything mixed together it remains familiar and so getting them to try something new that is added is a quicker process.
Sprouting
I sprout my own seeds for the birds and find it simpler and easier to keep a fresh supply at hand at all times. I am currently using a ‘Pigeon Mix’ to sprout that contains a large variety of seeds that easily sprout and are quickly devoured. I add mung beans and extra wheat to the pigeon mix to make it a more complete offering. There are specific sprouting mixes available but are very expensive compared to pigeon mix and really dont offer anything extra.
The method I use for sprouting the mix is:
1. Place required amount of mix in plastic container and fill with water.
2. Stir thoroughly to loosen any dust and debris and rinse.
3. Place mix in a strainer or colander and run water through mix until mix is clean.
4. Place seed back in plastic container and cover with warm not hot water.
5. Leave mix soak for a few hours so seed swells.
6. Next pour seed into strainer and rinse well.
7. Continue to rinse seed every few hours for next day or so until seeds begin to sprout.
8. Sprouts are ready to feed when sprout has just broken free of seed.
9. Sprouted mix can be kept fresh in the fridge for a few days.
Some people claim that an anti-bacterial solution should be added to the water such as Aviclens but I do not use it and have had no problems. It is important to rinse the mix regularly and you will tell that it is fresh by its sweet nutty aroma. If the smell changes then the mix has become tainted with bacteria and mould and should be discarded. Do not feed it to your birds if it is at all suspect.
Supplements
I do not feed many supplements to my birds and have not found it a necessity. Sometimes it often can cause more problems than it is worth by overloading your birds with extra things that they do not require. Too high a level of one substance can cause imbalances in others and it is often a snowball effect. You then need another supplement to fix that imbalance and the food bill climbs higher as your birds poop it all out.
The only supplement I use is calcium in the form of calcium/iodine blocks or cuttlebone. Calcium is especially important for hens when they are laying eggs and I have each of my breeder cages with a permanent supply of the calcium blocks and cuttlebone. I have only ever had 1 minor case of eggbinding which was quickly cleared up with a dose of Calcium Sandoz. That hen was 1 year old and it was her first egg that was the problem but since then she has gone on to lay with no further issues.
The only other extra I give my birds is fine chargrit which is charcoal and grit mixed. I do not however leave it available for birds feeding chicks as it has been known for birds to feed it to chicks and block the crop.
Autopsies done on wild birds have shown that small rocks and the like have been ingested by the birds and were present in the crop so it seems to be a natural requirement.
Extras
The only other thing I give my birds is fresh branches weekly. These branches are usually either bottlebrush, grevillea or lilly pilly and are cut from trees of my own or friends so I can ensure they are chemical and poison free. Within minutes of adding these to the aviaries the birds are busy chewing on leaves and bark and totally tearing it apart. I am unsure if there is actually any nutritional advantage to be gained by giving them branches but it certainly keeps them occupied. Within a day or so of putting the branches in all that is left is a pile of dried leaves on the ground and some well chewed sticks. I am sure they do ingest some of the leaves but regardless of this I find it helps relieve the boredom of being confined. They spend hours climbing through the branches and playing acrobat trying to get the last leaf or the biggest flower and plus it adds a natural look to my aviaries.
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