Converting Your Bird from Eating Seeds to Pellets

An all-seed diet is poorly balanced and unhealthy for most types of pet birds, especially parrot species. They will often pick out what they want and not eat the rest. Formulated diets are increasingly available and are now being designed for specific species. Ideally, this should make up part (but not all) of the diet for most pet birds.

Technically, the term "formulated diets" is more accurate than the term "pellets," since these diets are available in many forms, including pellets, crumbles, nuggets, and more. Many birds are less than enthusiastic about switching to pellets, but with patience and persistence, almost any bird will eventually accept a formulated diet. The transition to pellets may take a few weeks or a few months, and some or all of the following strategies may be used.

Health and Safety

Most importantly, never try to starve your bird into eating pellets; this could be dangerous to your bird and very stressful. If at all possible, you should monitor your bird's body weight throughout the conversion period to make sure weight loss is not occurring. Avoid converting a sick bird. Only try this if your bird is healthy. Carefully monitor the number of droppings and the bird's body weight. If the number of droppings is diminishing and the bird's body weight goes down by more than 10 percent in a week, back off on the new foods and offer more of the old diet.

Easing the Transition

If you are raising a young bird, start it on pellets as soon as possible. Younger birds are usually much more willing to try new foods than older birds who may be "set in their ways." If your bird is not used to a variety of foods, you might want to work on introducing some new vegetables and other foods before introducing pellets. Getting your bird used to new flavors and textures may help the transition to a formulated diet. It is possible to introduce other new foods along with pellets, but avoid overwhelming a bird with too many new things at one time.

Determining How Much Food

Measure how much your bird eats in a whole day (amount given minus the amount left at the end of 24 hours). Add up the amounts eaten every day for seven days, then divide by seven to get the average daily intake. This daily average determines the total amount of seeds and pellets (combined) to feed each day. During the switch, you will gradually reduce the amount of seed fed, and make up the average daily intake with pellets.

Schedule for the Transition

Ideally, your bird will readily accept the new pellets and you could make the switch quickly using a schedule such as this:

• Week one: Feed 75 percent of the calculated daily intake in seeds and substitute pellets for the other 25 percent.
• Week two: Feed 50 percent of the daily intake as seeds and 50 percent as pellets.
• Week three: Feed 25 percent of the daily intake as seeds and 75 percent as pellets.
• Week four: Reduce the seed component even more for larger parrots.

For pickier birds, the switch may need to be much more gradual. For the average bird who is not used to eating pellets, you may need to try the following:

• Offer a dish with pellets first thing in the morning.
• A couple of hours later, offer the seed mix, but substitute a formulated diet for only 10 percent of the seeds. Mix the pellets with the seed so your bird has to work around the pellets to get to the seed. You may want to grind some of the pellets and sprinkle them over the seed so the bird can get accustomed to the taste of the formulated diet.
• Once your bird has at least tried the pellets, start to decrease the seed and increase the pellets in small increments until you get to the desired amount.
• If your bird is still reluctant, you can offer the seed mix for only an hour or two a couple of times a day, with a dish of the pellets available all the time.
• Be patient. For stubborn birds, the gradual shift may take months rather than weeks.
• If your bird is in the stubborn category, keep a close eye on its weight (invest in a small gram scale and weigh regularly).

Success Is Possible

For smaller parrots such as budgies and cockatiels, once you achieve a diet that is just 25 percent seeds (25 percent seed, 50 percent pellets, and 25 percent fresh foods) you have succeeded! For larger parrots, continue to decrease the seeds a bit more so that the diet is only about 10 percent seeds overall (with about 50–60 percent pellets and the rest made up of fresh foods and treats).

Making the switch may be difficult, discouraging, and time-consuming (not to mention the wasted pellets until your bird accepts them). Just remember, your effort is worth it and you will be rewarded with a healthy bird on a well-balanced and nutritious diet.