Vitamin Sources - Parrot Vitamin

Fresh vegetables and green leaves are the major source of required vitamins. At any greengrocer, one can purchase a number of items which will be rel­ished by a wide range of members of the parrot family and which will supp­ly the necessary vitamins. Carrot, for example, is inexpensive and a great favourite of many birds, including the true parrots, parrakeets and certain small lorikeets. Many large parrots are fond of celery and it is offered to mine daily. Carrot and celery can be cut into pieces or grated and added to rearing foods.

Raw onion has a reputation as a health food and a pair of Palm Cockatoos which were known to me consumed it avidly, but I have never been able to persuade my parrots to sample it. Some parrots will eat the stalks of cabbage and leaves from Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, but not with the enthusiasm that they show for most greenfood.

The most popular cultivated food is, without doubt, spinach beet or per­petual spinach. It can be grown with ease in any fancier's garden or even in a window box. Its great asset is that it grows throughout the year; thus a few rows will provide even a large collec­tion with a constant supply of fresh greenfood. The owner of only two or three birds will find it worthwhile to plant a row. Spinach beet is an excel­lent rearing food.

The owner of a small number of birds who is not able to obtain other forms of greenfood will find that a bunch of watercress, with the stems in water, will keep fresh for several days.

Wild greenfood is becoming increas­ingly difficult for many fanciers to gather, but those who are able to ob­tain chickweed, dandelion, sowthistle and seeding grasses from uncontami­nated areas should take full advantage of this source of supply. One must, of course, be certain that no crop spraying has been carried out in the area as greenfood so treated can prove fatal to birds.

The only greenfood I know which is relished by all parrots is chickweed and it is of great value for birds which are rearing young. However, it should not be offered to the latter in large quan­tities unless a supply can be located which will last throughout the rearing period. Following wet weather from early spring until early summer and during the autumn, chickweed can be found growing in immense quantities on some areas of waste ground. 'The whole plant can be used. Enough can be gathered to last for a week, pro­vided that it is stored in a sack in a fairly damp place. To ensure a supply of chickweed during the winter, some fanciers even go to the lengths of grow­ing it in a greenhouse.

Many kinds of grasses, too, can be offered, but annual meadow grass (Poa annua) is generally the most favoured. It is also the easiest to collect, as some other grasses have very strong stems.

When greenfood is fed, no more than can be eaten the same day should be provided. Warnings are often given about the dangers of stale greenfood but it is unusual for parrots to show any interest in it when it becomes limp. Feeding small amounts of greenfood several times daily when birds - especi­ally parrakeets - have young, stimu­lates the male into feeding the female and young more often than he might otherwise.

Some parrots, especially cockatoos, are reluctant to sample fruit but this fact should not give cause for concern if the birds will eat greenfood. Non­starchy vegetables are generally richer in protein than fruits, although banana is an exception. Fruits, however, like vegetables, contain a wide range of mineral elements and, of course, they help to add variety to a bird's diet.

Apple is the most widely used fruit for parrots and most species will eat it. To avoid wastage it should be cut into narrow slices or chopped into pieces. For small, non-destructive birds, like Hanging Parrots, half an apple can be impaled on a nail on a branch and the birds will derive enjoyment from eating it in this manner. Contrary to popular opinion, apple does not have to be sweet.