Parrot Nutrition – There’s No Secret – Variety Is The Key

It is a pretty well accepted fact that pet birds and Parrots require a varied diet, yet even some 30 years on after this discovery it is reported by avian veterinarians that malnutrition is still the underlying cause of around 75% of the medical problems they encounter.
 
Imagine if this was this was the case being reported by veterinarians for all the dogs and cats in the UK!
 
Catering for pet birds and Parrots may be seen as a specialised niche sector of the pet trade, but there are no secrets to a well run pet bird section in your store.


 
In this article let us take a look at how you can maximise sales, educating your customers and ensure their feathered friends received a varied diet so their birds can remain healthy.
 
It is now widely recommended by avian veterinarians, nutritionist and accepted by the wider pet bird keeping community that providing a formulated or pelleted diet as a base feed is the best way to start.
 
Formulated or pelleted diets are created to provide 100% of the bird’s daily nutritional needs, as are most dry dog and cat foods which we are so accustomed to selling. Many of the top selling brands such as Kaytee, Pretty Bird and ZuPreem all produce a range of these diets.
 
They come in many different shapes, sizes, colours and flavours to ensure mealtimes are stimulating, something the Lafeber Company has perfected with their NutriBerries range, feeding birds a complete diet no longer has to be boring as it is perhaps perceived.
 
A good portion of a bird’s daily diet should be made up with vegetables, especially those high in Vitamin A (essential for good vision, and known for aiding the immune system). Although there isn’t much on the market for you to sell here, simply offering good advice and educating your customer is all part and parcel of providing a great service and ensuring pets are properly cared for.


 
The remaining diet should be made up from nuts, seeds and high nutrition fruits with the occasional treat (treats include sunflowers and peanuts). There are an abundance of seed based diets on the market for pet birds and Parrots, so how do you know which ones to stock?
 
As with most products, trusted brands are a great place to start; they offer high quality ingredients (usually cleaned to remove dust), contain mainly only the edible parts (reducing waste) and tend to be low in sunflower seed and peanuts (which are high in fats and are considered junk food). 
 
There are many prepared nuts and dried fruits available, they can be added to the bird’s food bowl to increase variety or offered as a treat. Dried fruits actually contain virtually the same nutritional content as fresh fruits, plus they have a longer shelf life.
 
One other food source is soaking or sprouting seeds/pulses, these are proving to be ever increasingly popular with birds and owners alike. The Tidymix Pulse & Rice Soaking Mix is a good example of this kind of diet.
 
As you can see, offering your birdie customers a variety and choice of diets and explaining why really there is no ‘one food fits all’ solution, you can benefit from happier customers and increased sales.