Parakeets / Budgies Food

Budgie Information ... Bird Nutrition

The key to a good parakeet diet is variety. This may sound easier than it really is. Parakeets can be picky especially if they are not familiar with a particular food item. It is easier if they have been used to fresh foods from early on. But if they did not have that advantage, it does time, patience and persistence! to get them to accept healthy food items.

Formulated Parakeet Diets Available Online!

Recommendations for a good parakeet diet:

• Base Diet:
  
  
  • I would start with a good quality (if possible organic) parakeet seed mix. Dr. Harvey's Bird Food Mixes or Lafeber are convenient options that lack the harmful additives that are commonly found in commercial mixes and have a great 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. However, our biggest grievance with their products is that they use sulphurated dried produce (a process which also requires chemicals), but it is very difficult to find mixes with unsulphurated fruits and veggies. You could just buy the seeds, nuts and grain mix and buy human-grade unsulphurated dried produce / greens as well as bee pollen and mix them in. Even organic trail mixes (WITHOUT CHOCOLATE!) work great. With a little creativity you can put a mix together that offers superior nutrition without the chemicals typically found in commercial brands.
    
    
  • A good quality formulated diet. Vets often recommend Harrison's -- which is a good diet, but mostly available at vet's offices and as is the case with pellets in general, acceptance may be an issue.


• Vegetables, fruits and greens should be part of a pet bird's daily diet. This includes apples, grapes, many garden vegetables such as spinach, watercress, field lettuce, poppy, chickweed, dandelions, carrots, corn on the cob, peas, endives and sweet potatoes.
  
  
  • Convenient Sources of Fruits / Veggies:
    • Baby Food: Human baby food with fruits & vegetables (i.e. Gerbers)
    • Dry Fruits / Veggies: When fresh fruits and vegetables are not available, dehydrated fruits and vegetables work wonderfully. Many birds love their crunchiness, or they toss them into their water dish (creating a "soup" of some sorts) and then eat them once they are rehydrated. Be prepared to change the water more often throughout the day. Dried fruits & vegetables have the advantage that they don't go off. You could literally leave them in their cages for days (unless they get wet, of course). This surely comes in handy when traveling. Dried fruits & veggies also help convert "seed junkies" to a healthier diet. When you are at home, you can moisten the dried fruits & veggies with warm water to rehydrate them. Birds tend to LOVE warm fruits & veggies, maybe because it gives them flashbacks to the times when they were chicks and were fed warm regurgitated food by their bird parents.
      • It is important to keep in mind that some companies add artificial coloring to their dried fruits and veggies to make them visually appealing.
      • Only purchase naturally dried fruits without any sulfur dioxide, as this preservative is known to increase hyperactivity, aggressiveness, feather shredding or picking due to allergies.
  
  
  • Sprouting is an excellent method (and most certainly one of the most cost-effective) of providing nutrient-dense (living) foods to birds. Sprouted or germinated seeds are usually more easily accepted by "seed addicts" than fresh fruits and vegetables.
    • Sprouted seeds are healthier as the sprouting changes and enhances the nutritional quality and value of seeds and grains. Sprouted seeds are lower in fat, as the process of sprouting utilizes the fat in the seed to start the growing process - thus reducing the fat stored in the seeds.
    • Sprouted seeds will help balance your bird’s diet by adding a nutritious supply of high in vegetable proteins, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and chlorophyll.
    • Soaked and germinated "oil" seeds, like niger and rape seeds, are rich in protein and carbohydrates; while "starch" seeds, such as canary and millets, are rich in carbohydrates, but lower in protein.
    • It is an invaluable food at all times; however, it is especially important for breeding or molting birds. Sprouted seeds also serve as a great rearing and weaning food as the softened shell is easier to break by chicks and gets them used to the texture of seeds.
    
    Sprouting is easy -- this webpage has step-by-step instructions. Simple Sprouts is an excellent sprouting mix, but you can also buy the ingredients at your local health food store and mix a batch yourself ... You can also germinate the sprouting mix - rather than going through the process of sprouting, which may be somewhat intimidating initially. Germinated seeds offer their own unique sets of valuable nutrition and are quicker to obtain and less likely to spoil.
  
  
  • Superior Nutrition Food:
    • Medicinal Herbs (an excellent herb mix with numerous health-supportive properties -- that birds actually like!)
    • Healthy Dried Fruits & Veggies

Never feed: caffeinated drinks, alcoholic beverages, chocolate, pits of most fruits, avocado ... More on "toxic foods"

Formulated Parakeet Diets Available Online!