Einstein Reviews the Purina Garden Recipe Bird Diet

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.

My Play Perches

Ever Since I was in the DVD and CD ROM combination set entitled, “Train Your Parrot To Talk”, a lot of you have been asking me about my play perches.  I really like them and if you're crafty you can probably build them yourself.

The pictures are in thumbnail,

so click on them to see the "BIGGER" Picture!

My Kitchen Perch

My human, Jeff made this perch for me when I was a little chick.

It is made from an unfinished bar stool (24" tall) and a plastic plant saucer (22" diameter).  Marcia bought the toy hook from a company that is now out of business and she can't find anyone who makes one like it these days.  It mainly stays in the kitchen but can be rolled into other parts of the house.  The saucer is bolted to the stool, so it can be taken apart.  This is the perch we take to the bird sitter and when we go for a road trip in the car.  

My PVC Perch

This perch purchased at a Bird Mart in May of 1998.  It was built by the man who was selling them.  He had a whole bunch.  Marcia has never seen him at the show again, so I guess he went out of business too. 
 
I hope these pictures and measurements help you build one.  1" PVC pipe and fittings were used.  The measurements indicated are the cut lengths of the PVC pipe before you glue the fittings on.  I don't know what kind of glue was used.  Just be safe and be sure it doesn't "off-gas" and hurt your birdies. The measurements are close, but not exact. For example, I measured the poop tray as 17" x 25" and it's really 18" x 26".  The poop tray is a baking sheet and can be purchased from any restaurant supply. They can also be found on Amazon.com Click Here I suggest starting with the tray and build everything out from there.

 

   

Underside of Bowl

Tray and Tray Frame

Tray frame rests on intersecting supports



 

To make the PVC pipe less slippery, it looks like it has grooves gouged into it.  Most likely done with a Dremel tool.  All of the perches that I use are textured like this and I have no trouble getting around on them.



There are 10 stainless steel screw-eyes for hanging toys.  They are indicated with a red dot in this picture.



Have fun with this project and send me a picture of the perch you build!







A Day With Einstein

My Human, Jeff usually wakes up first. He takes me to the shower with him. Sometimes I will get wet. Sometimes, I just like to sit on the edge of the shower and I enjoy the steam and sometimes I take a little nap.

As he gets dressed, I'm talking. This is when I talk the most. I practice practically my whole vocabulary. Then Marcia wakes up (could it be because I'm so noisy? You think?) and we go to the kitchen. She feeds me breakfast. It is a grain mixture of Cooked Kashi (Whole: Hard Red Winter Wheat, Oats, Rye, Barley, Triticale, Long Grain Brown Rice, Buckwheat, Sesame Seeds), brown rice and mixed veggies. It's yummy! She cooks all my food in large batches and freezes them in small batches. That way it's easy. All she does is warm it in the microwave. (Recipe and tips are noted at the end of this article) I imitate the microwave beep sound, so I'm usually beeping way before she even gets up in the morning! I eat and I make a mess. Then, I take a nap for a little while because I'm pretty worn out from all my morning talkin' and breakfast was so good!
Marcia cleans up my mess after I eat.

Then about Noon it's time for lunch. If Marcia is busy and not at home, I get a muffin that she bakes for me. They are easy to make and so yummy! If she is home, I get a warm meal on my perch. It is a cooked concoction of beans, pasta, grains, veggies, and sweet potatoes. Again, very yummy! I also have pellets available and I eat those too, but Marcia's cookin' is so good! I prefer it. I eat and I make a mess.

Marcia cleans up my mess after I eat.

Then I usually want to play on the towel drawer. This is a new activity! Marcia and Jeff let me go over there one day and I had the BEST TIME! Now I beg to go over there almost every day!
As you can see Marcia has removed everything from the counter, otherwise I would throw it on the floor. (I like to see things fall.) She also put bird safe paper and some toys in the drawer for me. I had the best time tearing all that up! Good Job!

Sometimes Marcia has to go out, so I go to my cage. I just hang out and play with my toys, or I nap.
When she comes home, I usually start talking a lot around dinner time. Marcia cooks the human dinner and I help by making the microwave beep. Sometimes she goes over to the microwave and nothing is in there! That's because I made the beep and tricked her!!! I LOVE Doing That To Marcia! One time she was preparing a new and complicated recipe. I was taking so much that I really got on her nerves! She said, "Einstein, please! Can you just be quite for 10 minutes!" So I started to count to 10! "One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten!" After all, isn't that what she wanted? She was laughing hysterically and seemed to be in a better mood after that!!!

When Jeff comes home from work, we all eat dinner. I usually get the same thing that I had for lunch and also I get a little of the human dinner too. (Providing, that it is safe for me. You see there are some things I can't eat. But it is OK to feed me some people food.) I love chicken! (I prefer dark meat.) Salmon is good too! All veggies that don't have salt or butter on them. I love pasta with tomato sauce. And anything spicy! LOVE Mexican! (But please no avocado. It is VERY TOXIC for birds!)

After dinner, Jeff and Marcia clean. Marcia cleans my perch. She gives it a good scrubbing and Jeff disposes of all the dirty paper under my perch and vacuums the kitchen floor.

Then after dinner we all hang out. I watch Jeff work on the computer, or we all watch TV.

Right before bed I get a treat. "Wanna Nut?" is what I always say around 10PM. I get a pecan and a couple of almonds, and a few pistachios. I'm such a lucky BIRD!

"NIGHT - NIGHT!"

Recipe and Tips

Breakfast Grain Pilaf

Lightly oil an 8" by 8" Pyrex glass pan with olive oil. In the prepared pan, combine
1/2 cup brown rice and 1 package (1 cup) Kashi Grains
Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil.
Pour in 2 1/2 cups boiling water.
Cover tight with foil and bake in a 375 degree oven for 1 hour.

When grains are cooked, lightly steam or boil about 8 ozs. of any frozen vegetable. I usually use organic mixed veggies (corn, carrot, peas, green beans) Then add them to the cooked grain mixture. Mix well.

I Love to eat all the products from Avian Organics The cooked mixes, the sprouts, and the birdie bread. I also enjoy the birdie bread from Momma Bird's Cafe.
Other cooked mixes that I like are: Cream of Tweet and Caribbean Crunch by Beak Appetit. As well as, Original Corn Bean Mix, Noodles-N-Nuts, Kung Fu Yum and Polly Pasta by Crazy Corn.

When feeding fresh or cooked foods, remove the food item from the cage/bowl after 2-3 hours. Bacteria may grow that will be harmful. Use common sense. If you wouldn't you eat it, then your bird shouldn't eat it and it should be removed!

Marcia likes to cook, so it's not a bother for her to do it. However, I would rather eat Marcia's cooking than my pellets and I'm totally spoiled in that regard! Another thing Marcia has found useful are those little 2 oz. single serve containers.

They are great to portion the food and freeze. When it's time to eat, 30 seconds in the microwave usually does the trick! You can usually buy these at any liquor store, because people use them to make jello shots. (Personally, I'd much prefer food in them!)

For more information on my diet and more recipes, go to my website!