Review on 🐦 Harrison's Fine High Potency Bird Food 5lb by Erin Dudley

Harrison Organic Pellets (whether High Potency or Adult Lifetime) are probably the healthiest and overall best possible primary food source for captive parrots/birds. You don't have to worry about possible dyes, pesticides or other nasty chemicals that could harm your bird. If you have a parrot that eats a seed and seed mix diet, he or she will most likely NOT like that food right away. Most likely reason number one: SUGAR. Sugar, at least in humans, has been shown to be a MOOD CHANGING SUBSTANCE, much like white flour and caffeine. I say, why should parrots be any different? My theory is that parrots can become addicted and develop a sugar tolerance just like us humans. Luckily, unlike MANY other "healthy" brands of pellets, Harrison Organic Granules contain no added sugars. So, like I said, let's say you have a parrot that thrives on a high-fat, high-sugar diet. In my humble opinion, the best way to change your diet is GRADUAL. If you simply replace the seed mix or whatever your poor bird has been eating with something as wholesome and wholesome as Harrison's, he or she will just wrinkle his nose because he or she WILL NOT USE PELLETS FOR FEED. Some birds are actually AFRAID of those strange new things you put in his or her food bowl. So how can you change your parrot's perception so that he or she perceives Harrison's pellets or other pellets as food? Put simply, you can't. BUT. There are some clever, creative ways to get your parrot to taste the pellets. There are different ways to do this. Whichever method you choose will require a lot of PATIENCE, so keep this in mind.***Step 1***Calculate as accurately as possible how much food your bird eats in a day, if you haven't already done so did it like that. You need to know the amount so you can control the seed to pellet ratio (more on that in a moment). Note that I said "how much food is HAPPENING to your bird", not "how much your bird is eating". I say this because we also need to consider how much food the bird is wasting, for example by dropping bits of food that fall through the bars at the bottom of the cage. And if you know at least something about birds, you perfectly understand that there is always a LOT of garbage. :) (Note: To get accurate measurements, it's best to have TWO separate cages for your bird: one for the day and one for the night (sleeping cage). And don't put food in the night cage. That way your bird won Don't eat anything you don't know about, at night, early in the morning while you're still asleep, etc. Also note: it's not cruel in any way...don't eat while you're asleep From my personal Researching, I've concluded (which is best to mimic natural conditions as closely as possible to ensure the best possible health for your bird) You can find this number by first measuring how much you roughly consume daily into your food bowl. At this point I guess there will be a lot of food left on the plate at the end of the day. Depending on the size of your bird, reduce the amount (measured) gradually, day by day or week by week if needed, until You reach the amount where the bowl is almost empty at the end of the day or at the end of the day. at least empty, except for bits of the "seed mix" that your parrot won't eat. If you have a small bird such as a budgerigar (parrot) or cockatiel, you can reduce the daily dose by 1 or 1/2 teaspoon at a time.***Step 2***Choose a granule size that matches your bird's size and your bird's personal preference ('Fine' is appropriate for cockatiels and other similar sized birds, although some budgies prefer the slightly smaller 'Super Fine'). As this brand recommends, start with the High Potency type; Major dietary changes tend to stress the birds and therefore require more nutrients at this time and during moulting etc. Since the ingredients are very similar, there shouldn't be much of a difference in taste or texture.) Okay, that's out of the way now. METHODS. In each of these examples I will be using my recovered Louie cockatiel. it takes about 8 tsp. "mixture of seeds" per day, including bits he didn't touch. The first week I will replace 1 tsp. Mix seeds with Harrison High Potency Fine Granules and mix everything. For 2 weeks I will replace another 1 tsp. Seeds mixed with granules, only 2 tsp. granules and 6 tsp. seed mixes. By this point, Louis has probably tasted the pellets by accident and finds them rather boring, so he doesn't eat them; He prefers high-fat seeds and colorfully shaped, fun, high-sugar "kibbles" (you know what bits I'm talking about; I believe they're made with wheat, corn, and high-fructose corn syrup). But when the 3rd week begins, from 3 tsp. granules and 5 tsp. Seed Mix, Louie gets hungrier and hungrier after all his favorite pieces of the seed mix are gone, so at the end of the day he'll eat a few pellets here and there, even if they're bland, just to get full. his hunger. Of course I keep doing this until by week 7 there is only 1 teaspoon of seed mix left and eventually only pellets at the start of week 8 and beyond. it was only, say, 5 TL. the seed mixture was left over and he was very hungry. We need to get a little more creative here. ***Method #2: Gradually Changing Proportions: Grinding*** With this method, if Louie's "seed mix" contains those sugar-colored "funny-shaped granules" I was talking about, then we're going to be having a tedious time spend trying to separate them from the rest of the mix. I grind Harrison's granules and sweet "granules" TOGETHER in a small food processor/blender or whatever, at a ratio of say 3/4 granulated sugar to 1/4 Harrison's granules. Then I mix the crushed granules with the seeds and add the right amount to Louie's bowl. Do this for a week. If Louie likes sweet kibble, he probably won't notice much of a difference in the taste of her shredded kibble. And he WILL TASTE them, most likely looking for the millet at the bottom of the bowl. Next week I increase the ratio of crushed granules to seeds so there are more granules this time. I do this for a week. The following week I change the proportions of the sweet "kibbles" back to Harrison's proportions, this time cutting them in half. Now it's clear where I want to go. Continue reducing the amount of seeds, increasing the grains, and increasing the proportion of Harrison's to gradually reduce the amount of sugar until no more sugar is added at all and he is only eating shredded Harrison's. After that, you can start inserting a small portion of Harrison's granules as a whole. It's likely Louie will appreciate crushing the pellet with his beak rather than scavenging for tiny crumbs bit by bit. Oh, but what if even THAT doesn't work? What if Louie's seed mix doesn't contain any of those sweet "granules" to use with this method? ***Method #3: Bundles of Pellets*** This method involves foraging in captivity. If you're already doing this for your bird, great. Unfortunately, most people don't do this at the expense of the health and behavior of their birds. For the first week, instead of just pouring the right amount of seed mix into Louis' plate, I do the following: I take coffee filters and a pair of scissors, cut the filters into pieces (4 or 6 pieces depending on the size of the filter) and about 1/ Measure out 2 tsp seed mixture by placing it on a piece of coffee filter. Then, carefully (so as not to tear) I wrap the food in the filter and gently twist the ends together. Now I have a bunch of seeds/products. I make maybe 2-4 of these and put the rest of the food in the bowl as usual. Then I pierce the food bags so Louis can see there's food inside and put the bags on a plate for the day. I do this for about a week or until Louis gets used to seeing food bags. Gradually work to ensure that all food is in food bundles. When Louis eats about 8 tsp. Seed mix per day I need about 16 half-teaspoon food packets. Eventually I'll stop putting holes in food bags, so Louis has to bite into them himself to get his food. Finally, once he's used to this type of foraging, I basically start with method #1: gradually changing the proportions of the seeds. to pellets. The granules can be whole or crushed if you feel the need to go even more stealthy. This method is the most effective in my humble opinion because if he bites off a bag of food HE CANNOT SEE THE FOOD. So he will randomly taste the pellets more and more. And of course the feed/seed kits eventually become the PELLET PACK. CONCLUSION: Changing your diet is difficult, but doable with patience and the right approach. Additionally, once your parrot/bird makes the permanent switch to Harrison Organic Pellets as its primary food source, particularly after switching from a diet to a seed mix, you should notice significant positive changes in his or her behavior, but most importantly, in his or her HEALTH ! With great confidence I can say that my cockatiel Louis will be with me for many years, and all because he has the right diet! (A cockatiel that eats a healthy, nutritious diet and is properly cared for its entire life can live up to 20 years! Unfortunately, most parrots eat seeds their entire lives, and therefore only subsist on a tiny fraction of their true longevity. ) I would highly recommend Harrison Organic Pellets to anyone looking to improve the quality of life for their birds. Proper nutrition is critical to the well-being of any bird! (Note: as healthy and wonderful as these pellets are, you should still supplement them with veggies and fruit!) Bon appétit, bird lovers! :)("fids" = feathered children)