Harrison's Bird Foods: Budgies live three times longer

"Harrison's Bird Foods is a family of certified organic, formulated diets that were created by avian veterinarians and nutritionists with the health of your bird in mind. Our formulas require little or no supplementation."

Photo © Harrison's Bird Foods website

Dr. Greg Harrison, the main developer of Harrison's Bird Foods, is a certified avian specialist with 34 years of experience in bird care. The good thing about Harrison's Bird Food is that all the necessary nutrition is included in the same food mix: you don't need to supply your budgies with extra vitamins or minerals.

With Harrison's Bird Food, you can avoid a wide range of problems that are associated with the low nutritional values from seed mixes: breathing problems, obesity, calcium deficiency, breeding problems and early death.

My avian vet explained me how budgies and children are the same when it comes to "being picky about food". If you give them the choice between a salad bowl or hamburgers with fries and mayonnaise, you know which one they will pick. Budgies will gorge down any kind of seed mix, because it's like their version of fries and mayonnaise.

Seed mixes don't contain enough calcium, iodine and vitamin A, and they contain too much fat, which is harmful to your budgie's health and may shorten their lifespan.

In fact, Harrison's Bird Food guarantees a lifespan for your bird that is three times longer than the average life span of a domesticated budgie. Most domesticated budgies die between the age of 3 and 7, and this is often due to malnutrition. My avian vet told me this repeatedly and I think that all budgie owners should know, because she is right about this. I have read about the benefits of pellet mixes before, but I never realized how important they were.

My avian vet immediately told me to change my budgies' diet when I told her that Frodo and Isla are eating seed mixes. Nowadays, I feed them The High Potency Fine mix, and they happily eat it up.

Photo © Harrison's Bird Foods website

FYI: both the High Potency Fine and the High Potency Super Fine mixes are suitable for budgies.

I know this may seem like a huge eye-opener, even a bit shocking to a lot of people. I also was left with one big question at the end: why do they keep selling seed mixes in pet stores if this is so bad for budgies? 

First of all: not everything they sell at the pet store is good for your budgies. Think of all the sugar-loaded crackers and other treats that are more bad than good for your budgies' health.

Birds have been associated with eating seeds for centuries, but this is actually not how it should be. Budgies in the wild feed off grass seeds, plants and fruit. If they weren't exposed to so many dangers, they would outlive domesticated budgerigars.

People buy seed mixes for their budgies because they don't know better - and because everyone else does it - and because there's a beautiful picture of a budgie on the cover.

picture © comparestoreprices.co.uk

The people who manufacture these seed mixes don't know how bad this is for birds, and anyway, they have to do their job. They have a business to run. They have to make money.

When my budgies started eating pellets, I could definitely tell the difference after  a few days. They were more happy and chirpy than usual, they seemed to be more fit. Now, after one month, they are both in top condition. My mum already asked me to order the same pellet mix for her budgies.

In case you are interested, or if you want to read more, please check out their website: http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/index.html

Poll results: when do your budgies like to fly around?

Conclusion: budgies naturally are "morning persons"! After a long night's sleep, they feel rested and ready to start the day. Budgies in the wild start their day at sunrise and go to bed when darkness falls over the lands. I recognize this pattern in a lot of domesticated budgies, including my own. Well, that's a good thing, because the early bird catches the worm, as they say!

Photo © liam.jon_d on Flickr

If your budgie is more like an "evening person", it could simply be because you are too! Did you know that budgies do their best to adapt to your sleeping rhythm? When you are keeping them awake all night, they have to catch up during the day, while most budgies would be flying around. Keep in mind that budgies need 10-12 hours of sleep every night.

Do budgies get seasick?

Photo © parrot - heaven on tumblr

I started wondering about this after we bought our budgies a swing. Frodo is having a lot of fun with it and he keeps rocking back and forth, sometimes while he's hanging upside down. I know that if it was me, I would get seasick very quickly, as I'm very sensitive to motion. But is it the same for budgies? Here's the answer.

Like humans, budgies can experience motion sickness and they can throw up when it gets too bad. A budgie's brain can receive conflicting messages - from his eyes and the rest of his body - about whether he is in motion or not. There are certain factors adding to this problem, like stress and exhaustion or a lack of oxygen. Never feed your budgie right before you're taking him on a car trip.

If you need to travel somewhere, you'd better start with short distance trips to determine whether motion sickness is a problem for your budgie. Make sure to provide enough oxygen throughout the whole ride. It also helps to cover the cage and play some soothing music, so your budgie can relax more easily.

Food Intolerance

There have been fewer posts the last couple of days, because I haven't been feeling too well. I have had a lot of stomach/bowel problems since the beginning of 2011, and now it turns out I'm probably lactoseintolerant...!

Photo © elfguts on tumblr

Well,food intolerance also occurs among budgies. You know that these little birds can be very curious. While they explore our homes, they find things like exotic plants or flowers. When they land on top of the book case, they can start gnawing on the polished wood. Since budgies love to chew on things, they can easily get poisoned by accident. Some plants may cause severe pain and vomiting, so you have to be careful with what you keep in the house. Budgies who suffer from poisoning, often throw up food. It may cause a crop infection but that is not always the case.

Never feed these things to your birds!

• French fries or fatty food
• Rotten food
• Human snacks (like crisps, chocolate bars, candy)

As a general rule, you should never give any human food to your budgies.
However, they tolerate the following food:

•  Fresh fruit and vegetables
• Boiled rice or potatoes (unsalted)

Toxic plants for budgies

I had to call the vet over a second time last week, because Isla was throwing up again =(
This gave me plenty of reasons to worry, because she has been sick recently, and vomiting can be the cause of a few nasty illnesses.
The vet quickly found out what was wrong. He explained that budgies are in fact always busy cleaning themselves, because they want to be clean all the time. The problem is that Isla still had diarrhoea, and among other things, she has to clean her vent. By doing this, she accidently swallowed parts of the diarrhoea. Of course, no one wants to eat their own poop so it came right out again.

Photo © Erlend Alvestad

Now Isla is taking medication against diarrhoea and I have to clean her as soon as the poops start sticking to her vent again. It's almost like changing dipers!

Now my question is: where does this recurring diarrhoea come from? I have a theory. My budgies have been crazy over a certain plant we have in our room: a Dracaena Massangeana. Although it's not on any list of toxic plants for birds, I suspect that eating too much of it may cause diarrhoea. And my budgies are VERY addicted to the plant. Over the course of a few months, we noticed that Isla got diarrhoea/retching fits a few times, while otherwise she seems perfectly healthy. So we took the plant away from them (I felt bad because it's their favourite hangout spot) and now we'll wait and see if Isla gets better - for good. I'd hate to see my budgies on antibiotics again.

I caught Frodo nibbling the plant only a week ago. Photo © Erlend Alvestad

You can find a  good list of toxic plants and branches for budgies here.

Normal Droppings or Illness? (1)

Budgie droppings are not merely a heap of dirt. Sometimes, a closer look may reveal useful information about your bird's state of health. In this, not only consistency and color play an important part, but also the position on the cage floor. Normally, budgies stay on the same spot while they sleep at night. As a consequence, there should be a pile of droppings in the same spot. If the droppings are spread around on the floor, it's possible that the budgie has been disturbed by mites or other parasites while he was trying to get some sleep.

Photo © littleedenphoto on tumblr

What should we look out for?

Normal consistency: A normal dropping of a budgie consists of a dark, firm range and a white urine portion in the center. The urine portion can be a bit more creamy if your budgie recently drank or ate fresh food.


Sometimes the consistency varies a bit, depending on what your budgie ate or drank. There could be signs of indigestion (that go paired with retching or vomiting). If the consistency of the droppings is different from the normal consistency for a period of over two hours, it could indicate the start of an illness. Be careful with this.
 
Abnormal consistency - please take your budgie to the vet ASAP

Photo © Birds Online

The picture above shows the droppings of a budgie that has diarrhoea. The color is greenish and the consistency is rather wet. Wet droppings are never a good sign. If the urine portions contain more water than firm portions, your bird might suffer from a kidney problem. In both cases, you should not be afraid to take your bird to the vet because these illnesses are not taken lightly.

Photo © Birds Online

If your budgie's droppings look like the ones in the above picture, you should definitely be alarmed. The droppings have a rather voluminous consistency and the colour of the edge and the urine portion are the same.This points to a pancreas infection. You have to go to the vet immediately because this can be cured and save your budgie's life!

Garlic and Yoghurt

No, these are not new budgie names! :)

A week ago, our little Isla got sick for the first time. I noticed she was regurgitating a lot, but soon enough I saw that the "regurgitating" was actually more like "retching fits". At some point, she vomited once, but that was enough for me to go crazy. I started searching through my budgie books: could it be a crop infection? Psittacosis? Simply indigestion?

Image © toucanjam

I called the local veterinary and he came to our place to have a closer look at our bird. Isla doesn't like to be held, so she really bit his finger hard. The vet said that she had a few symptoms of Psittacosis, which made me go "aaaargh" and "noooo" but of course it's way too early to draw any conclusions. He added that it's more likely that Isla has some kind of infection in her crop, which often leads to retching.

So now they've been on antibiotics for a week - that's right, Frodo as well, because he has been taking such good care of Isla that he might be carrying the same disease now - and I can really tell there's a difference. Isla is living up again, she's getting more chatty and active than before. Frodo doesn't seem to be ill at all. He's too busy chasing Isla all the time!
Other than that, the vet gave me some tips that I never heard or read about before. But I can assure you it helps!

• mix a tiny bit of crushed garlic with the bird seed, and add a coffee spoon of yoghurt to each food tray. Make sure you get a nice, not too thick mix, so your budgies can still peck at the seeds.

As a result, you will get a nice, simple yet very healthy mix for your budgies. My budgies have been eating from it for a week now and they seem to really like it.

• I already mentioned apple cider vinegar before. The vet also mentioned it to me. A few drops a day in the drinking water should be plenty and it's very good for your budgies!

Bless you!

It's that time of the year again: cold and flu season has arrived in Belgium! Alas, I'm one of the unlucky ones.

Budgies are more vulnerable to cold and flu bugs than humans. Budgies can seriously suffer from what humans describe as a simple cold. Be extra careful when you have the flu, that can actually kill them when they are left untreated, or when their resistance is low.

Photo © imarocket-man

Stop your sniffling! How do I protect my budgies?

Rule 1: give them the right food

Let them eat their way to health during the Winter, with the right food and supplements

• brocolli and oranges strengthens their immune system
• a mineral block is also high on the list
• millet is also an immune-boosting snack. Use it wisely and don't overfeed them!
• daily vitamin supply to drinking water

Rule 2: keep your hand in front of your mouth

If possible, ask a healthy person to take care of the budgies for you. A veterinary once told me that a lot of budgies catch an illness through hand contact from humans. In any case, you always have to wash your hands with antibacterial soap before you handle the budgies. It's a good habit and reduces the chances of passing on your germs to the birds. Also keep your hand in front of your mouth if you have a cold, don't come too close to them unless you have to (don't touch them with your mouth) and don't sneeze or cough on them!

I know it's tough to keep a distance from your birds, but you have to do it for their sake. 

Photo © throughmycameraseyes

Rule 3: warm, cozy home

Budgies hate to be in a cold, moist climate. They thrive much better in warm and dry places. That's why I recommend you to keep them in a sufficiently warm room during day and night. You can also buy an Avian Sun, which is a lot like a UV-lamp, but for birds. It partially makes up for the absence of sunlight and vitamin D during the Winter.

When are budgies ready to breed? (2)

When budgies are older than one year, it is considered safe for them to become parents. Apart from knowing their age, you should also keep a close eye on their health.

Food regurgitation is a part of the mating ritual among budgerigars. Image © allaboutbudgies.com

In order to have a successful first nest, both the father and the mother bird need to be in tip top health. You have to make sure that there are none of the most common signs of illness:

• sitting puffed up continually
• discharge present on feathers above nostrils
• lethargy, quietness, listlessness
• vomiting or diarrhoea
• inability to balance
• accumulated poop on vent feathers
• itching all over, scaly face or legs; this may indicate mites

Female budgie in breeding condition. Photo © the Talk Budgies forum

If you're not completely sure, you can still take the birds to your vet to get a checkup.When both of your budgies are perfectly healthy, the breeding conditions are already favourable. There also has to be a strong bond between both budgies (not all budgies like each other!). Last but not least, you can sometimes tell from your budgies' ceres when they are in breeding condition. Females will mostly have a dark brown cere (or turning brown) while the males will have an even to deep blue cere.

Budgie Body Language (8)

Why is my budgie constantly yawning?

Photo © Heidi DS on Flickr

Frodo got me scared for a moment tonight. I noticed he was yawning, not once, not twice, but he just kept on yawning!

When a budgie yawns, you'll see his little beak open up wide, his neck stretch and his eyes close. Budgies usually yawn when they get sleepy, right before their nap or bed time. When your budgie yawns repeatedly, it could indicate one of the following things:

• lack of oxygen
• they need to get something loose, like when you are popping your ears
• they need to adjust their crop, because some of the seeds didn't go down properly
• there could be something stuck in their throat, like a seed shell or a small feather (nothing dangerous)

By the time I finished reading this online, Frodo had stopped yawning. We always ventilate our appartment well, so it couldn't have been a lack of oxygen in the room. I was so scared Frodo was choking on something, even though he looked very relaxed. So my guess is that he was doing one of the other things.



In extreme cases (if your budgie really doesn't stop yawning, or if he seems to be choking), don't hesitate to call the vet immediately, or just take the car and drive there! Budgies are in many ways like little children, they can't tell you what's wrong. That's why you always have to keep an extra pair of eyes on them.

Previous posts in this series:
Body Language of a sleeping budgie
Body Language of a preening budgie (Budgie Body Language 1)
Budgie Body Language (2)
Budgie Body Language (3)
Budgie Body Language (4)  
Budgie Body Language (5) 
Budgie Body Language (6)
Budgie Body Language (7)

Indian Summer

What's the weather like in your country?

We're having great weather for the time of the year, so I decided to let the budgies sunbathe a little bit as well. They were very excited outside, but they really enjoyed being there. Don't forget that vitamin D3 (what you get from the sunlight) is very good for them!

Cracked beak

Some budgies have a beak that shows a few cracks. My husband discovered it on Frodo this morning, so of course I had to find out what it is.

As you know, budgerigars wear down their beaks on toys, perches, anything chewable. It's normal that the beaks shows some signs of flaking or chipping after a while. But if the beak is cracked right through, your budgie is most likely injured and you have to see a vet immediately!

Photo © Squidoo.com

Apart from the few cracks, Frodo is just as happy and chirpy as usual. I checked him on injuries but he is perfectly fine. Also, he doesn't seem to have trouble while eating. So what is going on?

I soon found out that the actual cracks in the beak are caused by a vitamin deficiency. Fact is, budgies are picky eaters and some budgies simply refuse to eat fruit or vegetables. Frodo is like that. He probably never got any healthy food in the store where he came from. Budgies who never saw another budgie eating a piece of apple, might just stay away from it when you try to give it to them.

What can you do?

• Give your budgies a mineral block: it's soft enough for the beak and fun to chew on; it will supply your bird with necessary minerals
• add vitamins to their water, change their water every day to prevent bacteria from multiplying.
• Keep trying with fruit and vegetables: one day, they might just start liking it! Only save millet for special occasions; give your budgie more healthy snacks like carrot or apple.

Fresh air is a must, but is it safe?

How safe is it really to ventilate the room, when you have budgies in it?

We know that budgies thrive best in a warm and dry climate. We also know they are susceptible to drafts, especially during the cold seasons.

On the other hand, budgies get ill from living in cold, humid or musky places that never get any fresh air. So what should be done?

Image © Feathered Babies

You could move the budgie cage to another room and put it back after the other room has been ventilated. If you think it's too much work to move the budgie, you should definitely keep the room temperature at minimum 20°C (or even warmer) while you ventilate it. Of course, it is much safer during a warm Summer day. Then you can even keep your budgies outside for a little while.

Also, never ventilate the room when your budgie just took a bath! Wet feathers and a draft is a bad combination! Think of all those little kids who get a nasty cold from walking outside with wet hair...

Budgies and Showers

Bathing or showering is important to keep your budgie's feathers clean and healthy. Every budgie likes refreshment in a different way: some budgies love the simplicity of a bird bath from the pet store, some budgies like to roll around in wet leaves and some budgies like to have a roomy, shallow plate filled with water.
When it comes to refreshment, they don't make a distinction between drinking water and bathing water; as long as it's clean and fresh! (so make sure to refresh their drinking water if they decide to use this as a bath)

Image © Kurt Kolar's "Grasparkieten"

Some budgies enjoy real showers even more. If they are tame, you can take them to the water tap and let them take a shower. Budgies should be able to bathe or shower any time of the year.

A few simple rules for bath time:

• Room temperature should be around 20°C and there shouldn't be any drafts in the house
• Your budgie must be healthy, not suffering from a cold or illness (in this case, bathing could make it worse)
• Bathing time should be somewhere in between late morning and late afternoon, so that your budgie gets a chance to dry before bedtime
• Do not blowdry your budgie or use a towel, you could hurt your bird with this.

Read more about bathing budgies here:

Bathing time! (Budgies are Awesome)
Bathing Budgies (Birds Online)

Wash your hands

Image © Inetgiant

It's not just a must when one of your budgies has mites, but it also works as a prevention against the spreading of human diseases on budgerigars.

Even if you are not feeling ill, you should wash your hands with warm water + antibacterial soap before and after you are in close contact with your bird. A lot of budgies catch an illness from their owner. A regular cold, for example, can be fatal for a budgie, while we always recover from it.

Coconut Bowls

In the footsteps of my one-week food health project, I would like to post one more epic idea that your budgies would go crazy for: filled coconut bowls!

The coconuts are filled with a blend of apples, peas, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and millet.

All pictures are © Eyes Ever Opening & purpleglitter on livejournal.com. Thanks for sharing this!

Oooh... what's this?

OM NOM NOM!

Check out all the pictures on this link: http://neitherday.livejournal.com/1284609.html

Budgerigar food health week: day 7

Vegetable poll results

What vegetables are considered the best among our feathered friends?

Long before I closed the poll, I already thought it might be carrots. They are the absolute top favourite of my budgies as well! Let's have a look at the remaining top 5:

1. CARROTS
2. LETTUCE
3. BROCCOLI
4. BEANS / CUCUMBER
5. PAPRIKA / TOMATO

What I learn from this, is that a lot of budgies are crazy about carrots, lettuce and broccoli. I remember trying out lettuce on my budgies last week, and they were queuing up in front of it! It might be a good thing to know what vegetables are most popular among budgies, if your budgie is a so-called "seed addict" (a budgie who doesn't want to eat fresh food). You can most likely convince them by offering them small portions of carrots or lettuce to start with. In any other case, it's good to know how you can pamper your budgie in a healthy way! ;) Thanks again to all the people who voted! You helped me a lot!

Budgerigar food health week: day 6

The key to a healthy budgie diet is variation, but also patience. Some budgies namely are picky about food and find it hard to accept fresh fruit and vegetables. Do you have a little seed-addict at home? Perhaps the technique mentioned below will help your feathered friend to appreciate fresh food.

Sprouting
  
Sprouting is an excellent method (and also one of the most cost-effective) of providing nutrient-dense foods to birds. The so-called sprouted or germinating seeds are usually more easily accepted by "seed addicts" than fresh fruits and vegetables.

Sprouter with glass germinator and seed bags. Image © Renae on forums.avianavenue.com

What exactly is sprouting?

"Sprouting is the practice of soaking seeds overnight (1 part seeds to 5 parts water), draining them, placing them into a sprouting jar (a sieve propped up in a bowl to allow the water to drain will do just fine); and then rinsing the seeds several times a day until they start to sprout (they usually start sprouting after about 24 hours) - at which time they are ready to feed. For the next days, the seeds will continue to grow. The different stages provide different nutrients to your bird. For a few birds, a few tablespoons of seeds are sufficient. If properly attended to, the sprouted seeds will last for up to 5 days."

Information © avianweb.com

What are the health benefits of sprouting? 

• Sprouted seeds are healthier as the sprouting changes and enhances the nutritional quality and value of seeds and grains. Sprouted seeds are lower in fat, as the process of sprouting utilizes the fat in the seed to start the growing process - thus reducing the fat stored in the seeds.
• Sprouted seeds will help balance your bird’s diet by adding a nutritious supply of high in vegetable proteins, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and chlorophyll. 
• Soaked and germinated "oil" seeds, like niger and rape seeds, are rich in protein and carbohydrates; while "starch" seeds, such as canary and millets, are rich in carbohydrates, but lower in protein.  
• It is an invaluable food at all times; however, it is especially important for breeding or molting birds. Sprouted seeds also serve as a great rearing and weaning food as the softened shell is easier to break by chicks and gets them used to the texture of seeds.

"this is my private sprout plate. Wet kitchen paper, bird seed, wait a few days and a meal of fresh greens is ready." Image © mywestie.com

Information © avianweb.com

Sprouting is easy, you can make it yourself, or buy it online or at the local pet store. Visit this web page for more explanation and step-by-step instructions of sprouting: http://www.avianweb.com/sprouting.html

Budgerigar food health week: day 5

Daily bread

There always has to be enough food in your budgie's food tray. This sounds obvious to you, but some budgerigars actually starved to death because their owner didn't see the difference between the empty seed shells and the actual food. Budgerigars "crack" open the seeds you give them and only eat what's inside. They leave the empty shells lying around. 
In comparison to a lot of mammals and reptiles, budgies can't go long without food. They digest and use the energy from their food so quickly that they are already starving after one day. Therefore you have to make sure to refill their food tray completely every day!

Healthy seed mix for budgerigars. Image © parrotparadise.ca

 Budgie-sized portions

Fruit and vegetables have to be divided into small "boats" so that it's easier for your budgie to eat. Vegetables have to be washed thoroughly with lukewarm water. Your budgies have to eat it fresh - never give them anything that starts to get rotten. Serve them fresh fruit and vegetables in the morning, so you can remove it from their cage in the evening, when they're done eating. Never leave any pieces lying around in the cage. Your budgie can get diarrhoea very easily from rotten food.

Limmmme! Image © nlcafe.hu

 Quality takes time

A lot of fruit and vegetables you buy at the supermarket contain pesticides and absorbed poisonous fumes from all the traffic around. If you don't pay attention, your bird can get poisoned. The best you can do is buy biological fruit and vegetables and wash them more than once. Or you can buy your fruit at a farm in the countryside, far away from all the busy traffic roads.

It's always good to know where your fruit comes from. Image © folk.uio.no

 From the garden

Your budgies like plants like dandelions and shepherd's-purse. If it comes from your own garden, you can give your budgies the whole plant, roots and a bit of earth included. Don't give them the flowers, though! The earth contains minerals and stimulates your bird's digestion.

PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THIS: TOXIC PLANTS 

 Budgies cannot eat the following plants:

• Avocado
• Dieffenbachia
• Ivy
• Taxus
• Foxglove
• Tung tree
• Lobelia
• Mistletoe
• Larkspur
• Poinsettia

You always have to doublecheck for any toxic plants in the house when you decide to let your budgie fly outside the cage!

My list above is still incomplete. If you're in doubt about something, you can visit this link or consult the wikipedia article on toxic plants.

Budgerigar food health week: day 4

Hide and seek

Stimulate your budgie's curiosity to look for hidden things. Animals that live under the guard of humans should have enough entertainment and movement outside the cage.
You can choose to challenge your budgie a little bit when you want to give him food. That cures part of their boredom - yes, budgies do actually get bored easily when they're kept as pets! - and turns the usual food routine into a fun game of dinner-hunting!

It's important that your budgies always get to the food in the end, otherwise they won't trust you anymore.

Here is what you can do:

1. Every other day, you can give your budgies a little less food in the cage and instead put some on a couple of food plates, for example on the table in the living room.
2. Place the filled food plates within eyesight of the budgies. Soon, the first budgie will discover the food and the rest will follow him.
3. After three or four times, your budgies will know they have to be on the lookout for food. Now you can hide the food plates in a more remote spot of the room.
4. This is where the real challenge begins for your budgies. They will have a lot of fun in this hide and seek game. But you have to be sure that your budgies always get to the food in the end! They are already starving when they have to go one day without food! The game is meant as a fun addition to the daily entertainment you should provide your feathered friends.