Pickles The Parrot Returns: My Continued Adventures with a Bird Brain (4 page)

I remember posting on a parrot forum and
telling people about Hemp Seed when someone replied that they would
never give their birds Hemp Seed because it was too high in fat. I
was at a loss because, from everything I’d read, it was the most
nutritious food known to man and animal. I had even read an article
that told of a shipwreck on an island in the middle of the ocean
where there was no food or fresh water available and the crew
survived for weeks on nothing but Hemp Seed. I’ve done research,
Googled for harmful effects and have never found anything negative.
Indeed, it is labeled as a ‘Super Food’.

So, when confronted with the fat issue, I was
at a loss to respond but Neil was able to put it into perspective
in these terms … Fat is essential in our, and our bird’s
diets.  We couldn’t live without it and in fact, our brains
are 60% fat - it’s just that there’s good fats and bad fats. 
Carbohydrates are responsible for the fat deposits in our bodies
although harmful fats in our diets play a role as well.

Healthy fats are the same for birds and
people: non-essential fatty acids (can be produced in the body) and
essential fatty acids (cannot be produced in the body and must be
included in the diet).  Omega 3 and Omega 6 essential fatty
acids must also be in balance.  Deficiencies or unbalance will
affect health or cause death in both humans and birds.  Of all
the sources of Omega 3 and 6, hulled hemp seed offers the most
perfect balance.

There is a lot more to nutrition than two
essential fatty acids and there is a ton of information on avian
dietary requirements but in the end we rely on a few simple
rules.  Understand our bird’s natural wild diet and try to
mimic it as best as possible with what’s available in our
location.  Fresh is best.  Whole, unprocessed foods, for
both bird and owner – after all, our birds’ long, healthy, happy
life depends on our health.

Essential fatty acids can also be found in
things like palm oil, nuts and some seeds – along with hemp.

For the first few years, we sprinkled the
Hemp Seed in Pickles’ birdie breads but just recently, Neil set the
twist-on bowl on the counter next to Pickles and dumped the Hemp
Seed in first while he prepared the birdie bread in the smaller
bowl. Pickles dove right in with an ecstatic tail shake and inhaled
every crumb of Hemp as fast as possible. We hadn’t realized he
actually
liked
it, we had assumed it needed
to be hidden because the first time we ever offered it to him, he
had turned up his nose at it. So now he gets to eat it while he’s
helping on the counter, or he gets it on the side of his birdie
bread. Now, when he’s ‘helping’ us, he stands next to his bowl and
when we pour it out of the jar, he puts his head below and tries to
get it in his beak while we’re pouring – kinda like drinking out of
a tap. This is great because he doesn’t always eat all his supper
so we knew we were wasting a lot of the Hemp Seed.

It’s no wonder he always got so excited when
we brought out the little spice jar we keep it in for easy pouring.
Snatching the jar from our hands always seemed so important to him
and he was always up to the challenge. He fancies himself a pretty
good log roller so one time he managed to grab the jar, throw it on
the counter and attempt to ride it. Things went pretty good – for
about a quarter of a second – then the jar suddenly shot out from
under him causing him to do a face plant in his supper bowl. He lay
there on his belly, face in the bowl, wings splayed beside him and
legs straight out behind while still clutching the jar in his
talons. It looked, comically, like someone attempting to raise
barbells by the ankles. No way he was going to let go of that jar
but no way could he stand back up without releasing it. His eyes
rolled helplessly toward me, unsure of how to remedy the situation
and you know me, I wasn’t about to help. You can’t buy tickets for
entertainment like this, so I waited and watched.

He pushed his head against the bowl, braced
his wings to help raise his body so that he was on his knees, so to
speak. Now it looked like he was doing push-ups - and this worked
for a moment, until the beak pressure sent the bowl flying out from
under him. He tried a couple more push-ups before he finally gave
up and let go of the hemp jar. I didn’t have the heart to snatch it
away from him after all that, and not sure that I could have anyway
because he was up on his feet, turning and lunging for it faster
than a duck on a bug so he was able to reclaim it by pushing it
into the corner with his beak. There he sat, back to me and face to
the corner, cooing at the jar as if nothing had happened.

But, I digress. One thing that always bugged
me was that you always read how good spinach is for parrots but the
trouble is, spinach (as well as some beans such as kidney, chickpea
and pinto) blocks calcium absorption so we need to be careful of
that. We’re fortunate where we live because at one time, Logan Lake
was rated third best water quality in Canada. I’m not sure if we’ve
dropped down in that list the last couple of years but the water is
exceptional and chocked full of calcium.

Pickles also gets his calcium from almonds,
dandelion greens (no shortage of
them
in
our yard), yogurt, blackberries, cherries and raspberries. Most
other foods that contain calcium, he won’t eat. He likes spinach
but we rarely give it to him and there are always alternatives.

I’m not going to go into all the nutritional
information that we have learned over the years but I HIGHLY
recommend
www.holisticbirds.com
for the most excellent
information on everything from nutrition to behavior – almost
anything you can think of relating to birds. There is even a search
option to find past and present articles. It’s a MUST for parrot
owners and will clear up some common miscontions.

I’ve found that skewers work great for
getting Pickles to eat fruits and vegetables that he doesn’t like.
You can buy skewers from bird toy companies or you can just thread
some rope, or something you can hang, through the vegetables. This
keeps Pickles busy ripping and throwing food so it works both as a
toy and a feeding/foraging tool. He may not always eat the veggies
but at least he can’t help but get some in his mouth and you know
parrots, they can suddenly change their mind after getting a taste
of something. He especially likes it when I punch the skewer
through a small pumpkin or squash and hang it for him. You need to
be careful that you don’t buy those ornamental ones though because
I think they’re treated with something to make them last as
decorations. The pumpkin seeds are an added bonus when he gets to
them.

All in all, I think Pickles has a decent diet
and he has always maintained his weight of 500 grams. We have a
scale and a special little perch that sits on top so that we can
weigh him often. He’s definitely a finicky eater but we do our best
to get the proper nutrition in to him.

“
Next time someone tells you
"that's how the cookie crumbles", tell them you don't know what
they mean and ask them to demonstrate for you. Then, eat all the
cookie crumbs.  And when they get upset that you ate their
cookie, tell them "well, that's how the cookie crumbles - get over
it."“

“
My daddy's a great cook
& an awesome baker. He's learned to cook low fat, low sugar,
low salt meals & treats which means I get to eat most of what
he cooks. Mom? Not so good at cooking or anything wifely. I mean,
who uses a smoke alarm for a timer?”

“
I like cats but I don't
think I could eat a whole one.”

“
The people at the grocery
stores must wonder why mom always buys like, 10 grapes, 3 brussel
sprouts, 4 cauliflower floret’s, 1 small broccoli head, 1 celery
stick.  I bet they're thinking she eats like a bird but
probably sneaks whole cakes when nobody's looking”

“
I like rice pudding. But I
like my pudding on the side. So, I guess I like rice and I like
pudding but not rice pudding. Forget I mentioned it.”

“
Don't you hate it when your
toes smell like garlic all day?”

“
Mom's been so busy getting
ready for Xmas & house guests.  That means I’m busy too
cuz I have to supervise the cleaning & bark out all the
orders.  While we were listening to Xmas Carols &
decorating, I asked mom if I could have a cat for Xmas but she said
- no, you'll have turkey the same as the rest of us.”

“
Eggs give my mommy
gas.  I'm glad she didn't know me back when I was an
egg.  She might have taken one look at me and
farted.”

“
Your body lets you know
when something's wrong.  You should listen to your body. 
Especially when it tells you you're dead.”

“
Sometimes, when mom cries,
it makes me feel really bad.  I start wondering why she's so
sad.  Then I start wondering where tears come from.  Then
I start wondering why they're salty and not peppery.  Then I
find myself wondering what's for lunch.”

“
Is there anything more
awesome that a beautiful fresh banana, and it's dancing in the air
in front of your eyes?  And soft music is playing as it
sensually and slowly peels its skin to reveal it's lovely
flesh.  And then it slinks into a bathtub of Jello and lays
waiting for you to join it.  And also, you just got
high from one of Mom's heavy-duty prescription
painkillers that you mistook for a mint.”

“
I thought it would
be really funny when I landed in that gigantic bag of flour
dad left open on the floor, but it went over about as well as a
shark attack in a kindergarten.  Did you know that if you jump
in flour with wet feet, you stick to your perch after it
dries?”

I’m going to place some recipes in this
chapter – tried and true recipes that Pickles loves. Your parrot
may or may not like certain items but you can easily substitute for
things your bird likes, or bake them as written to get your bird to
eat things he normally wouldn’t. The trick is, all of the birdie
breads should be almost of bread dough consistency so if you are
substituting something like berries for apples, you will probably
need to add more flour or cereal etc. because berries are juicier.
Or if you are adding drier ingredients, add more liquid. If in
doubt, tend toward the drier, rather than wetter side of dough
consistency.

Don’t be afraid to experiment and substitute
anything your bird doesn’t like, or you’re not comfortable with.
Many people don’t like to use flour, they think it causes yeast
infections when in fact, it’s yeast in regular bread that they’re
worried about and from what I’ve read, yeast doesn’t
cause
infections but it can promote further infection
in a bird who already suffers from infection – but again, that’s
yeast, not flour. Some people don’t like using white flour but I do
sometimes because that may be all I have in the house at the time
however, we use un-bleached, all purpose. There are many types of
flour you can use – rye, whole wheat, potato, rice, corn flours
etc. Or, if your bird doesn’t like pellets, you can put them in a
processor, grind and use them for flour, and as a way to get them
to eat pellets. Start out with smaller amounts so that you don’t
turn the bird off with the taste then add more the next time and
eventually your bird may eat them whole and right out of his dish.
You can also grind or smash up something like Cheerios for
flour.

When making birdie breads, you need butter
for consistency but I use nut butters instead – peanut butter or
almond usually but any will do – or I will often substitute with
yogurt, applesauce, hemp oil, mashed banana, mashed
potato/squash/sweet potato/yam or sometimes just Canola oil. Baby
food (preferably organic) is great too and it comes in all kinds of
nummy flavors.

Liquids can be water, juice, coconut milk,
rice milk or lactose-free plain milk – since our birds are lactose
intolerant.

I sometimes use brown sugar but usually, if I
need to sweeten, I use honey. Most breads do not need to be
sweetened or if you’re using fruits, that’s good enough. Being
Canadian, I’ve been known to add a bit of maple syrup at times.

I usually add spices to the breads and you
can use anything – just be careful about using too much if you are
unsure of the spices your bird likes. If you add too much of a
spice that they don’t like, it might turn them off the entire
bread. Sometimes I add whole cardamoms, chopped up fennel, cloves
etc. but you can use either dry or fresh spices and herbs. Pickles
also likes hot peppers in his breads.

If you are using something like papaya,
peppers, pumpkin that contain seeds, add the seeds into the mix
too. Just make sure you don’t add things like cherry pits or apple
seeds which are toxic.

Sometimes I add vanilla. Don’t worry about
the alcohol as it dissipates when cooked.

Your bird may like big chunks of veggies or
fruit but Pickles prefers everything chopped fine. The foods he
doesn’t like at all, I practically puree.

I like to add chopped up nuts to each bread
and usually try to get something like grapenuts, oatmeal, beans,
rice or some sort of grains into them. I always pick up bags of
12-grain mixes from the health store. Anything you think is healthy
for them – add it. Some people like to add the shell when adding
eggs – I just do it some of the time.

Your cooking times may vary as we live in
high altitude country so check the breads at some point before the
listed time of baking. You may also want to half the recipes until
you know if your bird likes it or not.

When the breads are cooked, I let them cool
right down and then I cut them in rows and cut the rows into
squares. I then wrap each row in Saran Wrap and throw them in a
large plastic baggie and put them in the deep freezer, keeping one
row for the fridge freezer. Each night, I snap off one square for
Pickles’ supper. I keep about 7 breads going at once so he gets a
different one each night of the week.