Pelletized food is probably the single most important structure of your bird’s entire life. Unlike seed, pellets contain incredible amounts of proper and balanced nutrition through vitamins and mineral supplements. Seed does not. Let me explain. If you have a five year old child and you were to put ice cream on one plate and meat, potatoes and vegetables on another plate, I think we all know what the five year old child is going to eat first. The same holds true for your pet bird.

Seed is basically a candy and I really don’t care in what quantities and what mixtures they come in. Some breeders believe that if you have a good mixture of various seeds your bird stands to have a healthier and more productive life. In my opinion, this is false.

First of all, you would have to get your bird to eat all the variations of the seeds placed before it. We all know that that is not going to happen. If you replace that dish with a pelletized product, and now here comes the interesting part of this. The bird will sit there, look at it and try to determine what it is, will kick it out of its dish to see what its favourite seeds are and determine there are no seeds. Eventually the bird starts to taste the pelletized product and discovers that the pellets have the taste of some of the seeds and therefore, it now starts to eat them and soon stops looking for his favourite “ice cream”.

In a short while, you the owner, will start to see changes in the feathering, the clarity of the eyes and overall appearance and energy of your bird. You will also find that this can have a positive on the bird’s attitude and personality, to the betterment not the detriment.

You will also notice that when your bird is on a pelletized product, the mess factor starts to diminish. There will be no seed scattered when it flaps its wings or discards its less favourite seeds from the dish. You’ll find the droppings from the bird will be firmer and less runny. You will find that the bird will drink more. This is a direct result of the iodine in the pellet which is necessary for the health of your bird.

If you feel that you still want to maintain your bird on seed, that is your choice, but also be forewarned that over the past three to five years, farmers in Alberta and Western Canada are using more sprays, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides and ammonia. More ammonia was used this year than in the past five years according to Agriculture Canada. I personally am selling more medicated product to veterinarians that Roudy Bush produces in the past year than I have since I started to carry the Roudy Bush product.

Please do not hesitate to contact me at my business at 466-8277 or fax me at 490-4434. I am always happy to answer any questions you may have. This is based on 35 years of being a self-made bird nutritionist and breeder.

Note: Paul Baker owns Baker's Feed & Seed. Web site: Baker's Feed & Seed