Opinions on my pellet/seed brands?

[elysianblight]

My boys eat Zupreem Natural pellets, some Volkman's Avian Science seed mix, and their chop.  

The Zupreem and Volkman's are what their breeder weaned them onto, so that is what I bought to bring them home. After I got them I did my own research into pellets and I saw a lot of mention of Roudybush and Harrisons.

I bought a Roudybush sample because the pellets are softer and when they were young it seemed they struggled a bit with the harder pellets. But by the time it arrived they were not really interested in it and never seem to do anything with it but crumble it into a dusty mess. 
I haven't tried Harrisons, but after looking at the ingredients I initially couldn't see much difference between that and the Zupreem. 
I've since heard a lot about TOPS, which people are touting because it doesn't have any corn or soy in it like the others, but at that point I was a little overwhelmed to look into why corn and soy might be bad. 

I looked into both of our local bird rescues, who are very stringent about a lot of things, and found they both feed Zupreem.. so I was satisfied it was good. 

Recently though I've seen people referring to Zupreem as "trash for any bird". Looking into again, I do see that Zupreem lists sugar as an ingredient. Even the natural colorless ones    I am not sure why they would put sugar in the pellets. 
Now I'm confused again. 

What does this community think? Zupreem, Harrisons, Roudybush, TOPS? 

What about the Volkman's?  Researching seed mixes is such another bag of worms..

Ugh  

[Hezz]

Can't give an opinion on any pellets, but if you have a tame vet, why not ask their opinion?

Also, I wouldn't simply take the word of any individual off-hand. My experience is that many people won't do their own research but will simply sprout the opinions of others (found this particularly on FB groups), and can't give any reasoning behind their statements.

Your bird rescue places may well be working on a very tight budget and often these places will have a company providing them with supplies at cost.

I don't know your seed mix either, but it is quite high in fat content (min 8%) where 4-5% is more acceptable. I always find it interesting to read the negative reviews - from the ink you provided:
Some nasty Ingredients. Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2020

This birdseed was recommended by the previous owners of our bird, and my son and I were super disappointed to see there is added sugar and the worst, added dye color on the ingredients. I have been teaching my kids about health, and my 8 year old no longer wants to feed his bird this seed as it contains these two ingredients, the dye is red dye 40, and the blue and yellow dye. If they are detrimental to humans, how can the not be detrimental to a tiny little bird?? Why need to add these colors? And even the sugar? It just goes to show EVERYTHInG in the world is tainted by this processed generation. It is supposed to be top quality bird seed, but this does not make it top quality for us. We will no longer purchase this seed.

[yellowfacedviolet]

<<What does this community think? Zupreem, Harrisons, Roudybush, TOPS? >>

I've used Harrisons for years and I'm delighted with the results. Mine seem to prefer the Superfine size.

[Marianne Marlow]

Never used pellets, but I was recommended harrisons superfine by a vet too.

EDIT: when I say never used, I did try and convert one budgie to them but to no avail, and then left them out in a dish until I finished the packet, never got eaten, just chucked about.

[elysianblight]

Thanks for pointing out that review Hezz!
Yuck, I hadn't even noticed the seed mix had sugar too. I know I looked at what KINDS of seeds were in it, but I missed that completely.
It was actually your response to someone with a sick budgie regarding the fat content in their seed that re-opened my questioning of their food.

I like taking a sampling of forum opinions vs just my own research because there are so many petstore sponsored sites, it makes my head spin trying to sort the real info.
I feel silly for not asking my vet though! I keep leaving her out of my thought process on these things because its so weird that I've never even met her face to face. Message sent.


Marianne and Hezz do you mostly just feed fresh food and seed then?

[elysianblight]

Sept 14, 2020 21:20:50 GMT yellowfacedviolet said:

<<What does this community think? Zupreem, Harrisons, Roudybush, TOPS? >>

I've used Harrisons for years and I'm delighted with the results. Mine seem to prefer the Superfine size.

So I remembered why I didn't try the Harrison's!  

The smallest bag they sell is 1lb, and they say to use them up within 6 weeks.  
My initial 2lb bag of Zupreem lasted the boys well over 5 months (I actually only JUST started a second bag), even using some for bird bread and with me dumping and refreshing their bowls in the morning and the afternoon. 

Do you have trouble getting through the Harrisons? 

[Hezz]

Yes; my boys get a small amount of seed each day but I'm in a rather unique situation in that I can supply them with fresh grasses every day (unless it is bucketing down). Not many can, in enough quantity, anyway. With the amount of seeding grass that they get, I've found that they tend not to bother much with their veg unless it is something really enticing such as sweet corn or snow peas.

It would be the added extras that have the sugar added, with your seed mix. As I recommended to the other posted (re your fat content comment), I use a finch seed mix. It has all the same millets and canary seed as a budgie mix, without the oats (fatty) and a lot of the oil seeds.

[elysianblight]

I'm going to go ahead and order a bag of Harrisons for now and mix is wtih the zupreem, see what they say.
TOPS seems like it is missing too many things.

I'll start looking for better seed mixes too, worse comes to worse I can just use whats left of this one to see if any of it sprouts.

[yellowfacedviolet]

Sept 14, 2020 22:34:37 GMT elysianblight said:

Do you have trouble getting through the Harrisons? 

I don't really. But even if I did, I'm so impressed with the results that I'd willingly throw out any extra and consider it a small price to pay for 100% organic and preservative-free food that delivers such reward.

Having said that, I've seen posts elsewhere from numerous Harrisons users who, like me, keep the bags in the fridge and use it beyond the recommended six weeks-- and without consequence.

I see  from a later post  that you've decided to take the leap. If you haven't already found it, there are lots of useful tips at Harrisons website.

www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com

[elysianblight]

I got a message from the vet who said she does think zupreem is perfectly fine despite the sugar, and I'm guessing since my boys dont eat ANY fruit that it's not hurting them to have a bit.
That's good because it makes switching not anything too pressing - but I'm definitely going to see if they like the harrisons. She did recommend it too.

Eventually I want another bird and that one might eat fruit, so best to have the flock on a brand everyone can be their best on.

What "results" did you see from harrisons?

[yellowfacedviolet]

Sept 15, 2020 3:19:37 GMT elysianblight said:

What "results" did you see from harrisons?

No more weight issues (i.e. obesity), no more tumors, no more liver issues, no sudden deaths, not a single respiratory issue for 5 years (knock wood), etc, etc. I dealt with all of those things in the years leading up to my making the switch and just accepted it as the norm.

In fact my only two vet visits in all this time were for injuries.

[elysianblight]

Oh wow!
What were you feeding before?

[yellowfacedviolet]

Sept 15, 2020 13:30:33 GMT elysianblight said:

Oh wow!
What were you feeding before?

Seed mix, veggie chop, occasional egg food-- the usual.

I still feed veggie chop with the Harrisons, per their recommendations.

[tweetiepiesmom]

I avoided reading this for a while because these discussions just send my head spinning. I've been looking for a better seed mixture. My guys eat seeds, freeze dried chop and sprouts and fresh grass/basil/other herbs. They are pretty good about eating all of that. I have been trying to get them to eat some pellets because I want to make sure they are getting good and complete nutrition.

Pellets - My vet gave me a sample of the Zupreem natural and Zupreem Fruity. They ate it but when I looked at the ingredients neither seemed good. I had read that corn as the first ingredient could lead to crop yeast build up. I then tried the TOPs mini-pellets for hookbills. Buddy nibbles it but Tweetie Pie won't eat it. I have been mixing it with seeds. Recently a local breeder recommended Psittacus Micro pellets. I ordered a small amount to try. The ingredients seem to be good. I'll let you know how they take to it. I had tried the Harrison's superfine on Tweetie Pie when I first got him but he wouldn't eat it so I tossed it. To be fair I didn't give it a good try.

Seeds - I have been feeding them Volkman's Super Parakeet seeds but I'm concerned with the ingredients. I looked at the Volkman finch seed after I read Hezz recommendation in another thread. Unfortunately, it has even higher fat content. I recently got the Hagen Budgie seed but wondered if it was complete enough. At least it doesn't have the sugar and artificial ingredients and only 4% fat. Has anyone used that? I haven't feed it to the yet. Any other recommendations that can be bought in the US?

[yellowfacedviolet]

Sept 16, 2020 20:08:29 GMT tweetiepiesmom said:

I recently got the Hagen Budgie seed but wondered if it was complete enough. At least it doesn't have the sugar and artificial ingredients and only 4% fat. Has anyone used that? I haven't feed it to the yet.

Yes, I have. Hagen was my brand before i made the switch. I even used it for sprouting and it had a very high germination rate, which was reassuring.