Lafeber Premium Daily Diet

[GouldieFledge]

I've been trying every pet store for my finch pellets and can't find it. I finally asked the pet store I always get it from what was up...she said they were "discontinued" and pulled from shelves because the nutritional facts didn't line up with the actual nutrition.

Anyone else come across this yet?

[cindy]

No, you can order directly from Lafebers

[Sally]

It is still listed for sale at the manufacturer's website:

https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/birdfood/finch-granules/

Also found it on Amazon.

[Stuart whiting]

I'll argue this till I'm blue in the face,

It clearly shows that pellets are not worthy and serve no actual purpose for seed eaters,

For a company to take the whole range off of the shelves because of the incorrect nutritional value says it all

I have a motto.....stick with quality seed

[cindy]

and here it is just the opposite, Avian vets say either use pellets with seed Or use a complete vitamin, mineral and amino acid supplement with seed as directed by the manufacturer. It is a personal choice...mine eat pellets, they love the lafebers, one of the best.... they will eat zupreem and Roudybush. I see excellent results with mine, the vet said my birds are in excellent condition, good muscle tone. There is no way to ensure captive birds get everything they need so best to give a variety. If unsure your birds are eating enough pellets then supplement with a complete vitamin, mineral supplement once a week, no more.

Seed alone especially for larger bet birds is an incomplete diet.

[Nerine]

I like the lafebers pellets....they seem to be the only pellet my finches took to right away.

Lafebers is available on amazon, and is also on the shelves in the pet stores here in Ontario, so I don't believe it has been discontinued.

[cindy]

I have noticed in both Petco and Petsmart they have limited their finch supply/food selection. I just picked up some for fledglings so it is still very much available

[Sally]

I'll argue this till I'm blue in the face,

It clearly shows that pellets are not worthy and serve no actual purpose for seed eaters,

For a company to take the whole range off of the shelves because of the incorrect nutritional value says it all

I have a motto.....stick with quality seed

The company has not taken the whole range off the shelves, it is still available on Amazon, directly from the company, and in other pet shops. To jump to conclusions is wrong, we should not assume from one pet shop employee/owner statement that the product has been recalled/discontinued.

Each person is entitled to his/her own way of feeding their pets. There is nothing wrong with feeding pellets as a supplement/adjunct to feeding a seed diet. It is incorrect to say they are unworthy.

[Stuart whiting]

cindy

Std seed eater diet would consist of dry hard seed and small amounts of green food being various vegetables and wild seeding green food
Along with some egg food given now and again,

Breeding diet would consist of the normal hard seed mix and perhaps with some cod liver oil added, soak seed, millet spray soaked or dry, green vegetables, wild seeding green food, egg food and live food.

What baffles me is that I've never ever heard of pellets being used to rear birds of any discription,

Just as an example take a look at how serious Australian finch fanciers keep and breed their birds,
Most would use a quality seed diet, soak seed, wild seeding green food and live food, no mention of pellets what so ever

I've done some very extensive research on this subject over the last few months and have at first given them the benefit of the doubt but after hearing what other very experienced breeders and exhitors of England, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany and Holland etc have said about them as being of no value and purpose has seriously turned me even more away from em

[cindy]

Stuart, research has also been done by vets, research scientists on diets for ALL kinds of pets including birds. One thing stressed by one of my avian vets when I had my Gray was that she saw so many birds coming in that were malnourished, overweight from a seed only diet... pellets help to balance the deficiency.

Some say it is unnatural but where in nature are wild birds fed a variety of greens, fruits and veggies they normally would not eat in the wild. Where in the wild are they eating plates of grated boiled egg with all kinds of additives included in it.... no where. Where in the wild are birds drinking water with water cleaner in it... no where but it is done in captivity.

These are domesticated birds in our care, a variety of foods are offered to try to come close to a balanced diet, the pellets are just one of the steps to try to provide that.

I have used pellets for a very long time, blood panels run on birds to see if they are getting the nutrients they need, have had necropsies done on birds that have passed and not one report has come back claiming pellets ruined the health of my birds... instead it was quiet the opposite.

To me the pellets are an option either do them or not. Those that do use them should not be judged for doing so.....I can name at least 10 products on the market claimed to be good for birds that should not be used yet they are pushed on a regular basis.

Did a little experiment in my grasskeet room.... usually I blend the pellets in the seed this week I served seed in one dish and roudybush in another.... guess which was eaten the most.... Roudybush.

As far as waste powder at the bottom of the dish... for each cage use a small dish of dried or fresh egg food and blend it in.

[cindy]

I'll argue this till I'm blue in the face,

It clearly shows that pellets are not worthy and serve no actual purpose for seed eaters,

For a company to take the whole range off of the shelves because of the incorrect nutritional value says it all

I have a motto.....stick with quality seed

The company has not taken the whole range off the shelves, it is still available on Amazon, directly from the company, and in other pet shops. To jump to conclusions is wrong, we should not assume from one pet shop employee/owner statement that the product has been recalled/discontinued.

Each person is entitled to his/her own way of feeding their pets. There is nothing wrong with feeding pellets as a supplement/adjunct to feeding a seed diet. It is incorrect to say they are unworthy.

Thank you Sally.

In some cases I have had birds on pellets only because the seed caused issues for them....I did not have to worry whether the bird was malnourished, we had blood tests don to make sure the needs were being met.

[Stuart whiting]

Sally@cindy

Please neither think that I'm deliberately trying to be awkward and criticise in any way about how anybody uses the pellets,

At the moment it's really difficult for me to grasp this,

Over the years I've been very lucky and successful in all of my bird breeding, none of my friends would never entertain the use of such pellets because we've all done very well without the need for em because we all use more natural foods,

It was mentioned that birds can't find such food items as greens , vegetables and fruit but of course all birds can find these items in the wild,
We only really use egg food as a substitute to live food because of the protein content

But again we all wander where the use of pellets fit in,

near enough every night for the last few weeks I've been in conversation with 6 freinds in Belgium and Italy who are very rated breeders about this debate and think that I'm crackers for mentioning about the use of pellets as none of them would ever use em because they say that they have no purpose,

I've noticed that it appears to be mainly American bird fanciers that seems to like using pellets but have also noticed that many of the seed companies that have pellets in the mix are virtually all American companies.

I'd definitely be interested and intrigued to know of the true value and more importantly the whole purpose of these pellets

[cindy]

No worries Stuart.

There are a ton of products out there and weeding through them at times is a challenge.

There is one type of pellet soak that has come over from Europe to the states.... it makes claims to replace germinated seed and prevent black spot..neither claims I buy based on the ingredients since nothing can replace sprouted/chitted seed and black spot is a liver bleed typically caused by internal parasites or bacteria.I avoided that particular product.

Want to clarify... as far as fruits and vegetable served in captivity. some of what is given is not common for certain finches to find or eat on their own in their native lands. Not sure how many finches search out cucumbers, cabbage, kale, broccoli, carrots romaine, etc.

And yes egg replaces bugs.... again it is not what they would eat in the wild the way it is/we serve in captivity.

Dogs and cats are fed kibble, no one blinks an eye at that.... but good kibble has been designed to meet the nutritional and health needs of dogs and cats.

[GouldieFledge]

I also saw it listed on the company's site, which is why I was so confused. I hadn't jumped to any conclusions yet, I was trying to see if other people had run into this issue.

I enjoy using their pellets and believe they're beneficial, so I was worried I was losing them.

[Barbara]

I also use these pellets for all my finches,canary,and keets.They also eat a variety of other things I always keep a dish of lafebrs in there cage at all times and have seen them all eat it occasionally,I have one pair of gouldian's that love them along with other foods.If you can't believe the label on this product why should we believe on other products.I know petco and petsmart still sells them here in MA and NH,the only thing is they really do not sell much variety for the smaller birds,so I buy on Amazon very convenient shopping and shipping is free.