Macaw Food & Treats
Macaw General Information ... Books, DVDs and Other Media about Macaws (Sold / shipped out of: 
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Nutritional Requirement for the Macaw:
To ensure good health, a variety of nutritious food items shoud be available to your macaw.
- Typically, a core diet of an organic and color-free parrot pellets and / or high-quality dry bird mix.
- Pellets: In the 90s, pellets were recommended by just about everyone; however, concerns have been raised about poorly balanced processed pellets and harmful additives. Still, many vets recommend one particular pelleted diet: Harrison's - which is mostly available at the vets' offices.
When discussing pellets with my vet, he felt that most people just don't offer a sufficiently varied diet and providing formulated diets, such as Harrison's, is better than risking a one-sided nutrition ...
Looking over the ingredients, Harrison's most certainly is superior to most other pelleted diets on the market.
- Please note: When feeding pellets to your pet, please be aware of the fact that overly feeding citrus fruits (including oranges) or vitamin-C-rich foods to your birds can lead to "Iron Overload Disease" as vitamin C increases the amount of iron absorbed from foods and supplements.
- Base Diet Mix: Not all parrots can be pursuaded to consume pellets and many bird owners, including myself - generally don't like to feed pellets.
- I feed Dr. Harvey's - This high-quality bird food mix lacks the harmful additives that are commonly found in commercial mixes and has an AMAZING variety of quality ingredients (including dried fruits, veggies, herbs / greens and even superfoods, such as bee pollen!) - in short: myriad nourishing ingredients that are not found in other commercially available bird mixes (click here for product info). This is definitely my pet birds' favorite base diet ...
- Another basic bird food that is commonly available at pet stores is Lafeber. It is better than most commercial bird foods.
- Please note: Seeds should be fed in moderation, and the seeds should always be clean and fresh.
- Pellets: In the 90s, pellets were recommended by just about everyone; however, concerns have been raised about poorly balanced processed pellets and harmful additives. Still, many vets recommend one particular pelleted diet: Harrison's - which is mostly available at the vets' offices.
When discussing pellets with my vet, he felt that most people just don't offer a sufficiently varied diet and providing formulated diets, such as Harrison's, is better than risking a one-sided nutrition ...
Looking over the ingredients, Harrison's most certainly is superior to most other pelleted diets on the market.
- In general macaws require a higher fat content in their diet which can be provided with some of the large nuts as a part of their regular diet.
- A large variety of fresh fruits and vegetables should be provided for both nutrition and mental stimulation.
- Convenient Sources of Fruits / Veggies:
- For days when I am too busy to prepare something for my pet birds, I always have available jars of baby food with fruits & vegetables (i.e. Gerbers).
- An inexpensive and convenient way of feeding living foods / greens to your macaws would be sprouted seeds. Even if you don't have time to prepare vegetables, spooning out some sprouted seeds for them is easy and quick. The best thing, however, is that sprouted seeds are extremely nutritious and I have not seen a parrot yet who didn't love them. Sprouted seeds are a good way of introducing greens to the stubborn eater.
- Don't want to go through the trouble of sprouting and would prefer an easier way to provide greens to your bird? You can also germinate the sprouting mix - rather than going through the process of sprouting, which may be somewhat intimidating initially. Germinated seeds offer its own unique set of valuable nutrition and are quicker to obtain and less likely to spoil.
- Convenient Sources of Fruits / Veggies:
- Superior Nutrition Food:
Generic Diets & Additional Food Items: Healthy Bird Treats & Snacks ... Superior Nutrition Food:Healthy Dried Fruits & Veggies - Make Excellent Healthy Bird Treats & Food! ... Medicinal Herbs Specifically for Bird Health ... Cooked Diets ... Splay Millet & Millet Accessories ... Mineral / Calcium Blocks & Accessories ... Converting Seed Junkies
Dr. Harveys Perfect Parrot Food / With Seeds Quantities below: 2 / 4 / and 15 lbs Dr. Harvey's Whole Foods for Birds use nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruits, herbs and bee pollen in unique blends that combine to give your companion bird the balanced nutrition that it needs to maintain health and longevity, vibrant color and remarkable plumage. Bee pollen is so packed with vitamins and amino acids that one tablespoon is the equivalent of three servings of fruits and vegetables. Ingredients:
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Dr. Harveys Exotic Parrot Food - No Seed Quantities below: 2 / 4 / 15 and 25 bs Dr. Harvey's Whole Foods for Birds use nuts, vegetables, fruits, herbs and bee pollen in unique blends that combine to give your companion bird the balanced nutrition that it needs to maintain health and longevity, vibrant color and remarkable plumage. Bee pollen is so packed with vitamins and amino acids that one tablespoon is the equivalent of three servings of fruits and vegetables. Ingredients: Mango, Papaya, Apricots, Pineapple, Raisins, Macadamia Nuts, Pine Nuts, Pecans, Pistachio, Walnuts, Almonds, Filberts, Brazils, Cashews, Soy Beans, Peanuts in Shell*, Peaches, Pears, Nectarine, Cranberries, Apple Dices, *Coconut Chips, *Banana Chips, *Carrot Dices, *Green Beans, *Broccoli, *Zucchini, *Garden Peas, *Orange Peel Strips, *Green Bell Pepper, *Red Bell Pepper. |
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Dr. Harveys Veg-to-Bowl for Birds - 1 lb Veg-to-Bowl is a fantastic way to provide essential vitamins, minerals and fiber for your companion bird. By adding the vegetables and herbs for digestion in Veg-to-Bowl every day, you give your bird the key to proper nutrition and a happier, healthier life. Veg-to-Bowl is easy to use! Just add Veg-to-Bowl daily to your companions meals. You can mix Veg-to-Bowl with any natural food that you are currently feeding. Veg-to-Bowl is also a great addition for those who are feeding a raw diet to their companions. Ingredients: Sweet Potatoes*, Carrots*, Diced Potatoes*, Zucchini*, Broccoli Florets*, Green Beans*, Peas**, Beets*, Parsley, Fennel Seed, Fenugreek Seed, Garlic, Ginger, Papaya Leaf and Peppermint Leaf. * Dehydrated ** Freeze Dried. |
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Dr. Harveys What's Cooking for Birds - 1 lb / 2 lbs / 5 lbs / 10 lbs. The food contains 6 certified Organic Grains, 13 vegetables, 5 fruits, whole food multi vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements. Ingredients: organic kamut flakes, organic brown rice flakes, organic spelt flakes, organic rolled oats, organic barley flakes, organic tritacale flakes, carrot strips, potato dice, petite peas, sweet potato dice, zucchini pieces, green beans, brocolli florets, leek pieces, beet dice, parsley flakes, chives, cilantro, green & red bell pepper, apple dice, rasins, apricots, peaches, pears, garlic, red clover, rosehips, alfalfa, oat straw, bee pollen, dandelion leaf, flaxseed meal, papaya, rosemary, peppermint, lecithin , ginger. |
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| Pretty Bird Large Daily Select Extruded Foods: Packed in Nitrogen flushed, Resealable packaging to insure freshness, cleanliness, and freedom from insects. This is an excellent choice for all types of Large Parrots. | ||
| Nutrition Plus Vitamin and Mineral Fortified Parrot Food: Formulated to provide the proper nutrition that your bird requires. Tough barrier laminate film combined with CO2 flushing protects product from infestation damage. Nutrition Plus is vitamin and mineral fortified seed. Especially designed seeds and grains used for parrots. | ||
| Treats should be fed in moderation only ... | |||
Dr. Harveys Avian Treats - 4 Pack - 8 oz All-Natural Avian treats formulated using 100 percent Human Consumption Ingredients for medium to large size birds. Ingredients: Nuts and Nut Butter formed into patties. Comes with one pack of Almond Tidbit, Delite, Peanut Butter and Cashew Pecan Goody. |
Peanut Butter | ||
| Cashew Pecan | Almond Tidbit | Filbert | |
Dr. Harveys Avian Treats - 2 oz All-Natural Avian treats formulated using 100 percent Human Consumption Ingredients for medium to large size birds. Ingredients: Nuts and Nut Butter formed into patties. |
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Dr. Harvey's treats (above) are superior to any of the others listed here or available at most of your local stores -- they are listed for completeness and variety, and may very well be eagerly accepted by some birds. I am, however, having serious reservations about some of the ingredients. If fed, please do so sparingly only. |
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| Foods to Feed Only in Moderation: |
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| Foods you may consider NOT feeding | *Peanuts are often contaminated with aflatoxin, a fungal toxin. Aflatoxin is carcinogenic and causes liver damage in birds and other animals. Roasting reduces aflatoxin but does not eliminate it entirely. North American peanut producers are currently working on eliminating contaminated peanuts from their products. Especially peanuts with dark spots on them should be considered suspect, but even those that look clean and perfect could possibly be contaminated. |
| Foods to NEVER Feed: |
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