what is the best food for macaws?

It is proven the all-seed, all-nut diets are not as wonderful as the package states. Parrots shell their seeds, and all of those vitamin-enriched hulls fall straight to the bottom of the cage and do nothing more then make a mess.

As a staple in their diet, I propose you use ZuPreem. I have found it is a less costly, more nutient enriched food. However, if you want the BEST, La Fabres is the one, but it is X-PENSIVE! These kibbled diets have much more to them then anything else on the pet market, espescially if they are picky eaters and will not touch healthy people-food.

A varied diet of fruits, veggies and such is great. My Macaw loves hamburger patties (well-done, of course), fresh cooked turkey and chicken (not lunch meat), then there is rapberries, oranges, papya, strawberries, apple meats, canned (no salt/sugar added) corn, peas, carrots and green beans. Frozen fresh fruits and veggies are less expensive, but make sure there is not any added sugar or salt. This is also a great option because you can portion it out and thaw when you need to. Spinach, kale, romain lettuces are great, but stay away from iceburge lettuce and celery because it has a high water content and little nutition. Brown rice is good, just make sure it is completely cooked. Whole-grain wheat noodles and bread are wonderful, too, or just cut the crust off your sandwich and give it to them :)

There is also dandilion stems (while the flowers are still yellow), edible orchids, water chestnuts (they find these fun to eat :), bamboo and bean sprouts. These can be found at your local supermarket fresh or canned (a little salt is okay in moderation).

They also enjoy eggs, which are a great source of calcium with the shells left on with ground chili peppers in them. The occasional flamin' hot Cheeto is okay, just keep it to one or two, and not often. Parrots sometimes enjoy hot peppers, and those you can get fresh for them- just make sure you core them. Plain popcorn off the stove is great, and throw in the dried hot pepper- he'll have a ball! Unsalted, kettle-style corn chips are fine, too.

Also, keep away from mayonaise, Mirical Whip, ketchup, packaged mustard (home made mustard is okay, less salt)- basicly any condoment, sugar, salt, avaccodo (poisonous) and I have heard on the fly that endive and parsley are not that good for them, either. Starfuit and pomagranets should be avoided because of the amount of seeds, and make sure you pit, core and de-seed any fruit you give to them. Apple seeds, orange seeds, peach/necturine pits and cherry pits are poisonous, and many others- so just to be safe, just give them the meats of the fruit. Strawberries, respberries, blackberries- basicly fruit with the seeds outside are safe. Be sure to use a veggie wash on all fruits and veggies, and rinse well to remove pesticides. Do not give potatoes, rather yams. Less startch, more vitamins.

Whole-grain cereals ar great, but please keep in mind the added Zinc. Being a metal, it can cause heavy metal poisoning, which is fatal to a bird. All off your food nowadays are sectiond for human compsumption, not for animals. 3 flakes or two Oh's of a cereal are good for them, but keep it occasional- less then three times in a seven day period. Most other fresh foods have a natural, minute additive of zinc, anyway, so this is suggested to be kept to a treat. This was in a recent Bird Talk Magazine, April-may Issue, 2006. I have found my macaw will do anything for a Cheeri-o, so I use them as treats for training.

Nuts are also something to be kept to a minimum. The amount of protien is great, but there is a certain fat that can cause fatty liver, which, if not diagnosed early, can not be treated. They can also cause fatty limphoma, lumps that may be benign OR malignent, and need to be aggressively removed by surgury- and this is a costly measure for a treasured companion.

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Macaw Food

I feed our Illigers Macaw just about anything that doesn't have allot of sugar or starches.

He's a picky fella so he chooses what he really likes for treats and 'goodies' time.

Macaw food from the pet store should be okee-dokee, as long as it is fresh. Turn the bag upside-down and see what kind of stuff is left at the bottom. If it looks something like dust, don't get it from that store. Or ask them if they have any fresh.

If you hold the bag and kinda kneed it a little and see some 'live' things in it, (any live thing). Then, you don't want it.

It would be worth it to research and find out if there is a bird seed provider somewhere in your area. Thank goodness we have one right down the road. And we get it 3+ dollars cheaper too!

Everyday they should have a fruit and/or vegi. But trade off on what you give everyday. Nobody likes the same ole thing over and over and ........ well, you get the idea ;0)

Try some different stuff too, Like ours like mangos, and I can't stand them...but he gets them anyway...hahaha

Just have fun with the boid!

Macaws will eat almost anything. However-alot of what they like is'nt neccisarily good for them and can actually shorten thier life span. The best is a variety of nuts, fruits, and veggies. You can but pre-mixed assortments specifically for Macaws. Yes-it costs a little more-but it has been cleaned before bagging, which reduces the amount of mite larvae and dusts that are in the cheaper large bulk bags for wild birds. Avoid salted nuts. Wash all fruit, with apples, make sure you peel and remove those seeds. No avacados. They also love fresh veggies such as beans. The vitamins in green veggies is very important in thier diet and digestion. The book in the series "For Dummies", on Parrots is well worth $10.00 . Good Luck and have fun. Macaws are great.

What Do Macaws Eat

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Parrots can eat almost anything a human eats (without all the spices and salt, etc). Pasta, Bread, Crackers, Rice, Noodles, almost any Fruits or Vegetables, unsugared cereal and almost any nuts/seeds, etc. I have a parrot and she is on a pellet diet and gets a seed mixture as a treat. I feed her a little of what I'm eating/cooking each night. Tonight she had lettuce and bread off of my burger. Last night she had pasta and green beans and she loves Ramen noodles before you put the seasoning packet on them.

You just have to be careful and not overfeed them. Give them a wide variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, pellets and limit their seed intake to only a few times a week. Domesticated birds are prone to weight gain and Fatty Liver Disease. This is a disease that they get over time when their diets aren't varied. It is a serious disease and their is no cure, just prevention.

My macaw eats alot...but it loves i mean loves...chicken thigh bones it would break the bone and ea tthe marrow out of it....especially birds any parrot loves fresh pepper seeds...this is a myth from Vietnam that my dad told me but if u give a bird fresh peppers seeds it would talk more and learn more words...it seems that way with my macaw and it is a proven fact for the one black perrot in Viet nam

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