Hi,

I have been browsing this site as I am about to set up my own aviary. I have read that in addition to feeding my budgies seeds and fresh fruit and veg, I should be feeding them pellets. Excuse my ignorance but, what type of pellets, where do I buy them (i saw nothing at the supermarket) and are there reliable brands?

 

Cheers

Lesa :feedbirds:

http://www.wombaroo.com.au/granivores.htm will give you some ideas.

There has been some contriversy regarding an all pellet diet.

 

Eccess Calcium Hath found this very interesting piece. It's worth reading.

I feed mine Harrison's, which is a completely organic pellet with no icky preservatives. They get the superfine and the mash, but the pellets probably only comprise about 15-20% of what they eat. Maybe 15% is made up of dry seeds (they don't get them every day), and the rest is a combination of cooked foods (Beak Appetit), fresh vegetables, sprouts, and wheatgrass. I think the greater variety you can get them to eat, the better.

 

Thanks for the link from hath, Daz, I had missed that one.

Thanks for the link from hath, Daz, I had missed that one.

 

No Problems

You probably won't find pellets in supermarkets. Most pet shops have them though. When you find them go for the finch/budgie crumbles over the larger pellets.

I have been feeding my bird's Harrison's for a few years now, and they have done quite well on it. My older girl, in particular use to be a seed junkie. Conversion wasn't that difficult -- I just feed them the adult lifetime fine, and crushed it up, so it resembled seeds, and she took right to it.

Pellets are not as easily available to us here in Australia as they are in the States. Also way too expensive here. Nothing wrong with good quality seed, and all the extras....fruit and vegies and all supplements. If you can find pellets reasonably priced also check the ingredients as there is some very harmful additives in some of them.

Edited July 12, 200619 yr by Bubbles

I have had problems getting them lately, they are always "on order" and I have been to several places. No shortage of the brightly colored assorted ones although, wouldn't touch those with a 10 foot pole. They are expensive here in Canada as well.

The Harrison's site has an area that lists where you can buy from all over the globe. Maybe there is somewhere near you - I know there is a link to Australia. Or it might be possible to order directly from the manufacturer.

I remain unconvinced that pellets are the way to go, considering the fact that

1. They are hard to get in Australia

2. They are expensive

3. They aren't natural

My personal opinion and those that use them would think otherwise I am sure. Especially if you guys in the USA who get them at a reasonable price unlike us here.

 

Read the additives on the packs and make your own choices.

 

QUOTE " Heres the list of the common additives found it pellets.

 

PELLETS

 

Let's talk about the additives in pellets.

 

Ethoxyquin: Is listed and identified as a harsh hazardous chemical by OSHA. It was originally used to preserve rubber. This is not allowed in human food and some feel it is not a chemical that they want in their bird food. The FDA has asked manufacturers for voluntary reduction in its use in pet foods and is in the process of deciding whether or not to ban the use of it altogether. Bird’s bodies can not get rid of it like a dog or cat and it then builds up and causes problems. Ethoxyquin promotes kidney carcinogenesis, significantly increases the incidence of stomach tumors, enhanced bladder carcinogenesis and urinary bladder carcinogenesis. Cancers of this type are the most lethal and fastest acting, the swiftest effects being seen among animals.

 

Artificial Colors: Most people are aware of toxic side effects of artificial colors and flavors from coal tar derivatives such as Red #40, a possible carcinogen, and Yellow #6, which causes sensitivity to fatal viruses in animals. Artificial colors DO cause yellow feather discoloration in Eclectus.

 

BHT/BHA: These petroleum products are used to stabilize fats in foods. In the process of metabolizing BHA and BHT, chemical changes occur in the body. These changes have caused reduced growth rates and they inhibit white blood cell stimulation. In pets, they can exhibit reactions such as skin blisters, hemorrhaging of the eye, weakness, discomfort in breathing, a reduction of the body's own antioxidant enzyme, glutathione peroxidase and may cause cancer. According to Dr. Wendell Belfield, DVM, a practicing vet for some 26 years, both BHA and BHT are known to cause liver and kidney dysfunction and are banned in some European countries.

 

Propylene Glycol: Used as a de-icing fluid for airplanes, this chemical is added to food and skin products to maintain texture and moisture as well as inhibiting bacteria growth in products. It also inhibits the growth of friendly bacteria in the digestive system by decreasing the amount of moisture in the intestinal tract leading to constipation and cancer. It can affect the liver and kidneys and causes the destruction of red blood cells.

 

Salt: Added as a preservative, salt can irritate the stomach lining, cause increased thirst and aggravate heart and kidney problems through fluid retention.

 

Sodium Nitrite: Used in the curing of meats, this substance participates in a chemical reaction in the body that becomes carcinogenic. It is used also in pet foods to add color.

 

Sugar and other Sweeteners: The most common sweeteners in pet/bird foods are beet sugar, corn sugar, molasses and sucrose. They are used as preservatives and have the side effect of creating sugar addicts in pets. They require almost no digestion and are rapidly absorbed into the blood stream. These will provide sugar highs (just as humans experience) and subsequent lows (moodiness), inhibit the proper growth of friendly intestinal bacteria and they virtually shut down the digestive system while being processed. Sugar can also contribute to diabetes and hypoglycemia, cataract development, obesity and arthritis.

 

Go to your cupboard and get your pellets out and find out how many of these additives are in the brand you buy. If there is something else on the ingredients list and you don't know what it is, FIND OUT.

 

Do your research or ask questions of someone who can find out for you. Did you see the natural ingredients on your pellet ingredients list? Why not feed those items in their fresh, natural state instead?

 

How do YOUR pellets stack up?

(This list may need updating...check labels!)

 

Abba = ethoxyquin, artificial color, artificial flavor

Avian Special Needs = fish solubles, mineral oil

Avi-Sci =ethoxyquin

Breeders Blend=artificial flavors, salt

Hagen =salt

Harrison's = salt

Kaytee =ethoxyquin, artificial color, salt, BHT or BHA

Kellogg =ethoxyquin, artificial flavor, salt

Lafeber Pellets=ethoxyquin

Lefeber Nutriberries=ethoxyquin, propylene glycol

L&M Pellets=ethoxyquin, artificial color, artificial flavor

Pretty Bird Pellets=ethoxyquin, artificial flavor, salt, added sugar, BHT or BHA

Roudybush Pellets=ethoxyquin

Scenic=salt

ZuPreem=artificial flavor, BHT or BHA

 

UNQUOTE "

Great post very informative. I have been hunting down pellets this week and yeah sure are hard to find in Aus. I have found a place close by that sell Vetafarm. I have been to Vetafarm's website and they don't have a thorough breakdown of their 'finch crumbles' suitable for budgies. I will check them out tomorrow hopefully - I do agree with the well balanced diet of a bit of everything - just like humans - the trick being trying to find the bits that work best and little budgies will eat. If I had my way I would live on icecream :budgiedance: I wonder if budgies like icecream not that I am going to share mine :budgiedance:

I've seen that list of preservatives before. Thanks for posting it up. Everyone should know about them. The three most common - ethoxyquin, BHA, and BHT - are in most pellets you buy at the store. That is the reason I switched to Harrison's. If you do a google search about those preservatives, it will be a real eye-opener.

 

I checked the ingredient labels on my Harrison's, and sea salt is pretty far down the list so the amount used would be very small. It is a naturally occurring salt, not artificial. There are much worse things they could eat besides trace amounts of salt. I think whatever they would get from the pellets is negligible, and since our birds are supposed to eat as much variety as we can get them to accept it is not something I think about. I don't know if there are any pellets without any preservatives at all. I know it is very hard to find seeds without them too. I'll bet if you check the label you'll find more than a few seeds and maybe added vitamins on it unless you get organic. They are hard to find too. I wish feeding a well-rounded diet with a lot of variety were easier.

 

As far as them being unnatural, so is a good deal of what you find in the grocery store for people. We eat it anyway. :rip: I for one love things that end in "itos/eetos" ...like Doritos, Cheetos...LOL. Hmmm, Maybe I would be better off to eat the pellets!

Edited July 12, 200619 yr by Rainbow

I've been using the passwell pellets for awhile made into biccies for my indian ringnecks and just bought a pkt of the crumbles for Squidgee and Scully to do the same thing. Check the ingredients and all looks okay with Passwell. These biccies are an extra treat that my birds get with their fruit and veg. Otherwise it's seed. Thanks for getting me to check properly. I do it with the kids, should with the fids too.

I've just bought some granules (=pellets? ) - Hagen (Canadian) I think. In the ingredients is just salt.

 

They have very nice fruity smell and taste good too

 

I always mix just a little bit of them into the budgies seeds (even when they don't really eat them )

Edited July 18, 200619 yr by Zebra

Daz, there is no "controversy" over an all pellet diet. It is proven to be BAD. SOME pellets in the diet are good, provided they're high quality. The only brands I can really recommend are Harrison's, Roudybush, and TOPS (totally organic).

 

Pellets are not "the way to go." They're not a single answer. They're just a small PART of a balanced diet. Not something anyone should depend on for complete nutrition. There is no product that provides everything a budgie needs in one package though pretty much ANY food you buy will claim to do just that.

 

Not all pellets are created equal, let's stop throwing the whole deal into one category of "bad bad bad!" MOST people I've met don't even take the time to convert their birds to pellets and SEE the difference. But I can tell you that the two set of budgies I've seen that eat Harrison's are by far the healthiest birds I have ever seen in my life. I mean this in person. I have seen some of Rainbow's flock in person and they are absolutely glowing. My own flock outshines most budgies I ever see (in person) as well. It just can't be reflected in photos but you'd be surprised how much improvement comes after feeding a high quality pellet along with a variety of other foods.

 

And it's not just the pellets, it's the organic seed and the fresh food. Pellets just help round things out a bit.

 

By no means am I saying that you HAVE to feed pellets to have healthy budgies, I just believe that it adds a lot to the diet.

 

Of course, as with ANY food you feed, you can't just buy any old bag of budgie pellets and expect it to be ideal. In my search for a better dog kibble (for example) I found just how hard it is to get QUALITY in a prepackaged pet food. I won't even go into that, but most of you are probably feeding your dog something that it can barely digest. (Research, research, research! Stupid pet food companies need to learn this.)

Just a big note to the pellet discussion. Point one, pellets are not easy to get in Australia. I use Passwell because they don't have colours in them. I've tried Kaytees and the smell with the colours is just not my cup of tea. These are made into biccies for the ringnecks because they won't eat them in normal from. Planning on trying the same with the budgies.

Next point, I was colony breeding back 25 years ago. My budgies had seed, water, any seed grasses plucked out of my parents garden and the occasional bit of fruit chucked in. I lost very few babies and the main problem I had was overbreeding. This was solved by removing the boxes, and dealing with the loss of potential babies because of this.

Now, my question is, are we worrying too much about trying to introduce a balanced diet with pellets and the other hoohaa and in fact moving the birds away from what they would naturally eat?

Thank you Terri.

pellets are not that easy to get in the UK either - and they are very expensive. I buy harrisons over the internet and it costs me 12 pounds per bag.

 

I do think it adds a lot to the diet though, as Eterri said. :hap:

Daz, there is no "controversy" over an all pellet diet. It is proven to be BAD. SOME pellets in the diet are good, provided they're high quality. The only brands I can really recommend are Harrison's, Roudybush, and TOPS (totally organic).

 

Pellets are not "the way to go." They're not a single answer. They're just a small PART of a balanced diet. Not something anyone should depend on for complete nutrition. There is no product that provides everything a budgie needs in one package though pretty much ANY food you buy will claim to do just that.

 

Not all pellets are created equal, let's stop throwing the whole deal into one category of "bad bad bad!" MOST people I've met don't even take the time to convert their birds to pellets and SEE the difference. But I can tell you that the two set of budgies I've seen that eat Harrison's are by far the healthiest birds I have ever seen in my life. I mean this in person. I have seen some of Rainbow's flock in person and they are absolutely glowing. My own flock outshines most budgies I ever see (in person) as well. It just can't be reflected in photos but you'd be surprised how much improvement comes after feeding a high quality pellet along with a variety of other foods.

 

And it's not just the pellets, it's the organic seed and the fresh food. Pellets just help round things out a bit.

 

By no means am I saying that you HAVE to feed pellets to have healthy budgies, I just believe that it adds a lot to the diet.

 

Of course, as with ANY food you feed, you can't just buy any old bag of budgie pellets and expect it to be ideal. In my search for a better dog kibble (for example) I found just how hard it is to get QUALITY in a prepackaged pet food. I won't even go into that, but most of you are probably feeding your dog something that it can barely digest. (Research, research, research! Stupid pet food companies need to learn this.)

 

I can't argue with you terri I don't beleive in them either as a full diet.. I use a crumble mix but included them as a low percentage of my birds' diet and I do mean low. My Birds are fed on High quality Seed mix with low fat content as a base diet, Daily fresh vegetables and a High protein. They are also given regular minerals, Calcium and Iodine.

 

If I am going to spend high money on my birds they don't get rubbish.

 

Thanks for the post Terri, I think it's great. These are thing people should know.

Edited July 25, 200619 yr by daz

1. They are hard to get in Australia

That's what i thought at first too but now i know what i'm looking for they're in every pet shop i've been into around here.

 

2. They are expensive

Definitely if you have an aviary with 150+ budgies. But if you're like me and just sprinkle 1tsp over your budgies seed then a 450g bag of Vetafarm Finch and Budgie Crumbles lasts AGES and a bag is only $8 which isn't a crazy price seeing as it lasts a while.

 

i use a crumble mix but included them as a low percentage of my birds' diet

Crumble mix is pellets, crumbled up for little birds.

Here is my recepie for a protien mix using Budgie Crumble

 

 

Mix it up

 

1 part Oats soaked over night.

1 part egg and biscuit

1 part crumble

2 part Starter

 

Serve in individual dishes to breeding pairs and chicks.

 

End result - healthy chicks.

 

Whats left over serve to Flight.

Edited July 26, 200619 yr by daz