coccidiosis/Protozan infection

[cindy]

Debbie the lovebird is a single female hen that we thought was a male. She became very egg bound and the seed simulates single hens to want to lay eggs, she was brought up on pellets but recieved Nutriberries and Avian cakes both that had seed.

We almost lost her, it is a preventive measure for the love bird only...no seed just her pellets, fruit and veggies and once in a while a Cheerio or two or a bit of Rice Krispies for a special treat.

this is the thread involving what happened with Lucy aka Louie

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8450

My finches can have seed but also get Zupreem finch pellets which they all took to right away. It is provided in little egg cups, even my gold Breast love it, and they are fussy. I even ground it up along with some Roudybush up and added it to the dried egg foods I leave down for them daily. They feed this mixture to their young.

The assistant raises javas, her oldest pair is 10 years old and produced several healthy clutches on seed and pellets combined with fruit and birdie bread made with pellets and veggies.

I have discuseed this off an on with my vet and her assistant for years about pellets. My Gray got nothing but Zupreempellets and fruit and veggies and birdie breads, he loved the Nutriberry balls which were ok for him since there was no chance of egg binding for him! My vet has sat on boards and acted as president for a few years for one of the avian societies. I listen to her since she has done research on it. All my birds are nice and healthy, especially my lovebird.

Bird pellets is like giving your dog dry kibble, same idea. Most good kibble that is not loaded with fillers and junk is packed with nutrition. We had to come up with a way to feed our pets a healthy diet since we could not replicate what they eat in the wild by cooking it (trust me I've tried to come close but not only is it expensive to do so but it is time consuming) so scientists researched it and tried to get as close as possible in a form that was easily accessable and nutrionally balanced. Not all pet foods are equal so it is up to us to provide them with a diet that is nutritionally balanced since we are their caregivers.

Sorry Monotwine...again!

[MLaRue]

Not arguing for or against pellets but...
Let face it all animals live to reproduce. In good times they breed and in lean times they rest till food is plentiful again. Just makes me stop and think if a vet is telling you to feed pellets and stop giving seeds so they stop reproducing, are you not causing them to think it's lean times. And I have no doubt that there is enough nutrition in the pellets to keep them alive.
I understand the need to control their reproductive cycle especially when there is a problem, just makes me think.

I agree Deb - good point. Pellets are like us eating all our foods in a processed form to me. I just don't like them or the idea. I would prefer to give my birds fresh everything and let them forage for what they need or don't. I'm not against others using them - I just don't like them for Finches.

[CandoAviary]

I agree also... I offer several different brands of pellets and also many kind of seed mixes.(greens, eggfoods, sprouts also).. I let the birds eat what they want.... I find they eat more seed over pellets, understandably so. But I feel the vitamin enriched pellets is kind of like us taking a daily vitamin... just in case they are lacking something in thier diet. I also have noticed that fledglings can handle the pellets mixed in the seed well as a weaning aid. I DO NOT think bird's diets should be processed pellets alone.

[cindy]

In the lovebird's case I will follow the vet's instructions, she was never on a seeded diet except for the treats. If it keeps her from what happened last week then it is better to do so than risk her well being.

For the finches they get both seed and pellets. Zupreem does make a natural pellet if you do not want to use/try the fruited ones.

Taking care of birds, dogs, cats...all about personal choice!