What To Feed Your Lovebird?

The easiest way to feed your lovebird is to provide a seed only diet…..that is also the worst! Seeds are high in fat and a seed only diet leads to vitamin deficiencies and obesity and inevitably fatty liver disease, so common in pet lovebirds. The consensus is clear, it doesn’t really matter who you ask, the healthiest thing you can do for your lovebird is provide a varied diet. They do need seed, but they also need veggies, fruits, and (are you sitting down?) live foods.

Yes, you should feed your lovebird some seed. I suggest finding a quality bird store in your area and looking at the choices available to you. If you don’t have a store close enough to drive to, then shop on the internet, most sites will show a picture of the seed mixes and list the ingredients so you’ll have a good idea of what’s in them. They nearly all have pellets of some sort in them. Pellets are one way of helping to get extra nutrients into your lovie but a lot of folks are concerned that the pellets are too concentrated and should be given in small quantities to lovebirds for that reason….remember, lovebirds are pretty small and anything in large concentration could be harmful. That includes preservatives used in pellets, many believe these to be very harmful, if you are also concerned, you want to look for an organic pellet and a seed mix free of pellets. I am feeding Volkman’s “Featherglow” for small hookbills, it has a large variety of ingredients including pellets and is generally available at stores that specialize in birds and readily available on the internet. Don’t ever leave their food dish without checking it!!! A lovebird food dish will only empty if they actually throw the food out, after they eat they leave crumbs and hulls in the container making it look full of food but it isn’t. If the food is basically clean you can blow out the crumbs and hulls while pouring from one container to another and reuse, but always be sure your lovie has plenty of food available.

Fruits and veggies are a must. It can be hard to provide a variety of these, though, when you only have one or two birds, but everyone has a freezer and while that’s not as good as freshly picked it is better than nothing. Making a ‘mash’ of veggies  then freezing in small portions is an excellent way to be sure your lovies get a variety. It is recommended to blanch foods that you’ll be freezing but I steam all my veggies well to aid in the ‘mashing’ process. You can cook grains and legumes to add as well but be sure the legumes are thoroughly cooked as they can be very toxic. I prefer not to add legumes myself as they will cause the mix to go rancid very quickly once served. You’ll need a processor and the counters all cleared in the kitchen and a big bowl (or several, depending on how much you make) for mixing. The process is simple, buy fresh veggies and fruits (I’ve even heard of folks using canned or frozen to easily add greater variety), organic if possible if not then you may consider peeling skins, clean thoroughly, steam or blanch as preferred, then put thru the processor and mix together, then package in serving sizes that will last about a week and store them in the freezer until use.   Some really good things to use in the mash are red bell peppers, any chili pepper, kale, collard and turnip greens, broccoli, wild and brown rice, whole oats, mung beans,   sweet potato, squash, and carrots. Avoid processed foods like ‘pearled barley’ or white rice as they have already lost too many nutrients, instead find whole barely or brown and wild rice (I get a great mix of this at Sprouts). Fruits are good but in high in sugar so should not be used in any great proportions; guava, papaya, and citrus are good ones to use. Some foods to avoid are

Chocolate isn’t digested by bird. The darker the chocolate the more toxic.
Caffeine is also metabolized differently.
Avocado some are also toxic to birds with the skin and pit being the most toxic parts
Onions are known for causing hemolytic anemia in dogs… there is not enough research in feeding it to birds. But it should still be avoided
Salt will cause an increase in water consumption which could be difficult on a birds kidneys
Alcohol should also be avoided.
Apple seeds contain cyanide, remove them before you give them to your birds
Mushrooms have a potential of being toxic as well and cause stomach upset.
Dairy is not digested in birds because they don’t have the necessary enzymes to process it.
Dried beans. cooked beans are fine but raw beans contain a poison called hemaglutin which is very toxic to birds. To avoid exposure, make sure to thoroughly cook any beans that you choose to
Tomato leaves, vines and stems. Any plant from the nightshade family, potatoes, peppers, eggplant. The fruits of the plants are fine to feed, just not the green parts.
Raw Peanuts in Shell-Peanuts in a shell can harbor fungus, aspergillosis. Really not a safe food to feed your birds.
Rhubarb
Spinach-should be fed in moderation due to the oxalic acid inhibits calcuim absorption

If in doubt about whether a food is safe or not….please take a minute to try to find out, there are many forums on the internet that discuss food toxicity on a regular basis and it just takes a quick search to find info on anything.

Live Foods? Not worms and grubs of course, but sprouts!I know everyone’s heard of the virtues of sprouts at least once in their life, it’s a super food right? All the possibilities of the plant squeezed down into a tiny sprout, full of trace elements, minerals, vitamins, and oodles of things that I can’t spell, things that promote a healthy immune system, digestion, and overall health. As soon as a seed or grain starts to germinate all the stuff in them that is hard on a bird starts to break down and turn into pure good stuff so there’s very little required to digest them with little fat to digest or store, they’re like nature’s vitamins. Sprouts sold for people are fully sprouted plants and that might be a little intimidating to think you need to produce that for your birds, but in fact you don’t. Even soaked seeds are better for your birds than the unsoaked seed, soaking overnight is all it takes to start the germination process. That makes it a good idea to try to keep a seed only mix on hand in addition to a mix with added things as any mix with added pellets or vitamin coated seeds, or even dried fruits and veggies are not good for sprouting or soaking. Sprouts are actually at their most nutritious when you first see a tail coming out of the hull, the whole process taking about 2 days.

Soaking

Sprouting Sunflower Seeds

Wheat Sprouts

Sprouts Ready for the Fridge

Here’s what I do, firstly I put a tiny bit of diluted bleach into a small container (I keep a bottle of water and bleach at a ratio of 10:1 under my sink for daily cleaning of birds’ dishes) to head off any bacteria that might be there to produce fungus later, then I add filtered water (I always use filtered water for my birds), then add whatever I am soaking. Let that soak for 12-18 hours then I pour into a small colander with small holes (mine are from the dollar store) and rinse thoroughly. I place the original container under the colander to catch drips and cover the top with a wet paper towel to prevent drying out. I rinse about 3x each day and do this for about 2 days. When you decide they are ready to be stored in the fridge you want to be sure they are very well-drained, if they are wet they won’t keep long in the fridge. I put mine in a plastic baggie and squeeze out as much air as I can, these can stay in the fridge for up to a week  if they are not too moist, you can smell when they start to go bad. My birds don’t like the barely germinated sprouts as much as ones that are a bit more sprouted, so I never serve soaked for mine but that doesn’t mean yours won’t like them. You should serve a variety of stages of development to see which they prefer. I also recommend you start with wheat berries, they are inexpensive and readily available in bulk at Sprouts. I have never heard of any lovebird not taking to wheatsprouts right away, they really just love them. By far that is the all time favorite around here and they’re all waiting every morning for their daily sprouts, the wheat is always the first to get attacked. Other great things to sprout…….brown and wild rice mix (takes longer to soak and germinate), sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, whole lentils, pretty much any whole grain or legume but keep in mind the size of your lovies….they like small things. Mine used to like sprouted mung beans and now don’t, I think they prefer them a bit more sprouted. Whole Foods Store has a vast selection of whole grains and seeds in their bulk section: Japanese field rice, buckwheat, 3 or 4 kinds of wheat, mung beans, adzuki beans, other things I know I’m forgetting, but I’ll go in there and get a large variety and mix them together when I get home and that’s my sprouting mix. You can also sprouted wild bird food….millet is great for sprouting and even milo which is not so good normally. You can sprout any seed mix that doesn’t have extra stuff in it.

Playtime is an excellent way to introduce new foods. Give your lovie a bit of millet during playtime, once that’s a habit and expected, start adding something extra- a bit of apple, cooked egg, or some whole grain cooked pasta. Older birds can be very phobic about anything new so immediately start moving things around in the cage more often and changing out toys, your lovebird will get used to seeing new things. The best time to introduce new foods to an older lovie is in the morning, first thing, so remove their regular food that they have all the time at bedtime, then in the morning add some new foods to try, go ahead and put their regular food back in after about 2 hours.

Providing a good, varied diet is a part of the fun of having a lovebird. I love finding more ways to keep my birds healthier and this is only the beginning really. There is the psychological aspect of foraging that will help keep your lovebird engaged and promote good mental health of your bird. Lovebirds are natural foragers and believe me they love it. It can be as simple as giving them a handmade toy or store bought that you hide food in, laying out a mat with shredded paper and loose millet, a bucket with small beads and findings in it…and a treat in the bottom. I made a braided net out of t-shirt material and sunflower seeds fit perfectly in the braid. Foraging doesn’t have to be all about treats or food, either, it can be about play, because they do love to play and they play with their mouths so anything that they can put in their mouths and maneuvered or chewed on that can be found, they will enjoy. You should try lots of things…you’ll quickly find their favorite things to find lol

As with anything concerning your lovebird, always be mindful of ways they can be injured or poisoned, so many things we use in our home release toxins that can easily kill a small lovebird, Febreeze and Teflon are the 2 that always come to mind for me because they seem so harmless, sp please, think before spray!