Purina has recently come out with a new line of parrot/bird food. They sent me a PetSmart gift card to pick up a bag of the Parrot and Large Conure Mix and asked me to write a review.
There are 4 different mixes in the line.
Canary and Finch
Cockatiel and Lovebird
Parakeet
Parrots and Large Conure
Marcia had a hard time finding it on the shelf. She had to look at a picture of the bag on her cell phone to identify the product on the shelf. The sales person couldn't find it either and didn't even know it was new. The 4 pound bag of food cost $18.39, including sales tax.
She brought it home and opened it up. Inside the bag was sunflower seeds, various pellets of different sizes, shapes, and colors and peanuts in the shell. She poured about a 1/2 cup into my bowl. I immediately began eating the seed and didn't stop. I ate every single seed, all the pretty little pellets were left in my bowl and I climb up on my perch to take a nap.
Getting me to eat a new pellet could take weeks, if not months. So, she was not surprised that I didn't eat them. I normally eat an organic pellet and the rest of my diet consist of fresh veggies, fruits, grains, and beans. You can find more info about my diet here.
Several things bothered Marcia in the list of ingredients.
1) The amount of seed. A small amount of seed in the diet is fine, but, this was just way too much and to convert a parrot to this diet from basically a whole food diet would be a step in the wrong direction.
2) The peanuts. Peanuts in the parrot diet is very controversial and lets just say, I am not a peanut fan and would much rather have an almond or a pecan.
3) These 3 ingredients:
Dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product
Dried Aspergillus niger fermentation extract
Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product
From the research Marcia did, these ingredients are used in dog food. They are added to assist with digestion, they help simulate the natural bacterial and enzyme content in a dogs natural diet. Excuse me, I'm a parrot! I don't eat the same things that a dog would eat. Why would I need this in my diet?
4) Menadione dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite (source of vitamin K) - This ingredient is banned in human food. If humans can't eat it, I'm certainly not going to eat it! I get my Vitamin K from leafy greens like spinach, collards, and kale.
5) Color Added (FDC Yellow #5, Blue #1, Red 3#, Red #40, Yellow #6) - No thanks, I prefer NO artificial color.
Here is the list of ingredients in the mix:
Safflower, Red wheat, White millet, Red milo, Rolled corn, Oat groats, Black oil sunflower seeds, Black stripe sunflower seeds, Whole corn, Soybean meal, Shelled peanuts, Wheat middlings, Split green peas, Ground corn, Whole peanuts, Flax seed, Calcium carbonate, Dehydrated carrot, Chili peppers, Dehydrated banana chips, Buckwheat, Salt, Dicalcium phosphate, Coconut oil, Soybean oil, L-Lysine hydrochloride, Algae meal, Potato protein, Ground oats, Wheat flour, dl-Methionine, Fructose, Ground raisins, Wheat germ, Dried egg product, Ground coconut, Ground dried papaya, Ground dried apricot, Ground dried banana, Ground dried sweet potato, Ground dried pineapple, Ground dried apple, Ground dried spinach, Ground dried broccoli, Ground dried carrots, Ground dates, Cane molasses, Choline chloride, Vitamin E supplement, Ascorbic acid (source of Vitamin C), Isoleucine, L-Threonine, L-Tryptophan, Biotin, Yucca schidigera extract, Zinc oxide, Manganous oxide, Calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, Vitamin B12 supplement, Niacin, Copper sulfate, Pyridoxine hydrochloride, Riboflavin supplement, Magnesium oxide, Ferrous sulfate, Vitamin D3 supplement, Beta carotene, Active dried yeast, Brewers dried yeast, Rosemary extract, Mixed tocopherols (a form of Vitamin E), Dried Aspergillus niger fermentation extract, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, Dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, Menadione bisodium sulfite complex (source of Vitamin K), Calcium iodate, Menadione dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite (source of vitamin K),Thiamine mononitrate, Citric acid, Sodium selenite, Zinc sulfate, Cobalt carbonate, Cobalt sulfate. Color Added (FDC Yellow #5, Blue #1, Red 3#, Red #40, Yellow #6).
You can read more about the product on the Purina website.
If your parrot is currently on an all seed diet, I highly recommend you convert to an organic pellet and supplement with a whole foods diet rather than a pelleted diet full of seed.
Rated: 2 Toes Down
* Disclosure: I received a free gift card from Purina to try their new Purina® Garden Recipe® bird food and treats. All opinions given are my own.
