Another (possibly dumb) pellets question

[Jane]

My turn to ask a possibly dumb question ;D

How many pellets should a pair of birds eat per day/week?
Oh I should add medium size parrots ie Princess or Superb and small ie Scarlets & Turquoisines

As you probably read I am trying to get my breeding birds to eat pellets. So now they are seperated into pairs for breeding season I can observe closely how much a pair is eating and I don't think they're eating enough, although they have 2 fresh corn cobs a week, mixed vegies and buk choy and bird cake every day.
Because even if the pellets have better nutrition if they don't eat them it can't help
Oh and they have cuttlebones and Calcivet and I put some Soluvet on their mixed vegies.

[farseeker]

Hey Jane!

First step is to make sure that they are actually eating the pellets, which is mostly through observation. Don't just rely on seeing them mouth at them though, cause sometimes they'll be grinding them up but not actually eating them. Pellet dust is pretty normal in their feed container if they're eating though.

I can't give any specific advice on how much they should be eating. My budgies get two food containers with enough pellets in to just cover the bottom. They get through maybe half of that in a day, sometimes more if they've been very active. Trouble's food dish is bigger, and he gets more than just the bottom covered, cause he's a little piggie.

My suggestion if it's possible would be to weigh them every day. Also, unless you are 100% certain that they are eating the pellets make sure you offer seed at some point during the day. My guys always chow down a bunch in the morning, so I would make sure that they had only pellets available then, and once it hit somewhere between 10am and noon I'd put in some seed for a while, and again in the evening. Having seed in with them all day gives them no reason to eat the pellets though, so you have to find a balance.

I hope this helps a little. Mostly it comes down to judgement. Unless you feel certain they are eating the pellets and eating enough, just make sure to offer an alternative during the day at some point.

[Jane]

Thanks Farseeker I'm having such a hard time finding that balance. I might put smaller dishes out so I can tell better how much is gone.

[farseeker]

It's no problem. Trouble and Jedi both took to pellets straight away, but my budgies have given me a harder time. They both eat them but I'm not sure that Anath eats enough either, which is why they still have seed put in a couple of times a day. I'll be getting some electronic scales on Monday hopefully though, so I'll know 100% soon. Since she's so small losing any weight is a bad thing so I've been really really cautious haha.

I just had another idea - it's so simple, I don't know why I haven't thought of it before now.

I'm assuming weighing them daily isn't an option, so perhaps you could weigh the food dishes before they go into the cage and at the end of the day? That way you would be able to see if they've had a decent go at it.

[Jane]

Hey good idea ;D That would be easily do-able ;D

[Jane]

I should report that one day I didn't give them anything else to see how the pellet eating was going and wow they eat alot of pellets if that's all there is They do clean up everything else I give them each day but I am confident they are actually eating the pellets now.

[farseeker]

Yeah, I found this too but they settled after a bit - I recall reading somewhere that it's common when they come off a seed diet, because it's going from a very high-energy diet to a more balanced one, so initially they eat more to make up the difference. You'll probably find that they drink more water too, because it's a drier diet.

It's good to hear that they're definitely eating them though - and being encouraged to eat their vegies to boot!

[Jane]

Yes I'm happy about it now