Since the nutritional needs of a parrot cannot be provided by a dry seed-based diet, and pelleted foods lack stimulation for your bird, it is suggested that you offer a mixture of pulses, fresh fruit and vegetables, and some seeds. The pulses have to be soaked, and preferably sprouted in order for them to be edible. The seeds also have a higher nutritional value when soaked and sprouted. The following diet is therefore recommended for grey parrots.
35 per cent soaked/sprouted
beans or bean mix (chickpeas,
black eye beans, mung beans etc.)
25 per cent soaked/sprouted seeds and
cereal grains (sunflower, safflower, hemp,
millet, wheat, oats, rice, maize etc).
40 per cent fresh fruit and vegetables,
such as apples, bananas, grapes,
pomegranates, carrots, celery, sprouts,
green/French beans, peas in the pod, sweet
potato, corn-on-the-cob, broccoli etc.
Grey's preferences do vary, but try grapes, apple, banana, pomegranate, celery, fresh peas, carrot, etc. If your bird is actually eating a varied diet as described, there is little or no need to supply any other supplements. However, greys that are habitually kept indoors may need a liquid calcium and vitamin D3 supplement added to their food. You can get this from bird food and supplement suppliers.
35 per cent soaked/sprouted
beans or bean mix (chickpeas,
black eye beans, mung beans etc.)
25 per cent soaked/sprouted seeds and
cereal grains (sunflower, safflower, hemp,
millet, wheat, oats, rice, maize etc).
40 per cent fresh fruit and vegetables,
such as apples, bananas, grapes,
pomegranates, carrots, celery, sprouts,
green/French beans, peas in the pod, sweet
potato, corn-on-the-cob, broccoli etc.
Preparing your bird's food
You might find it easiest to first mix your pulses (35 per cent of food) and seed mixture (25 per cent of food) together as a dry food and store it in this way. To prepare it, soak one day's amount of this in water for 12 hours. You can use warm but not hot water, as the heat would kill the mixture and prevent it from sprouting. The daily amount of food to be soaked will vary from one bird to another, but usually about 25-30g of dry food will be enough (its weight will double after soaking). It is quite normal for the beans to smell during this process. After 12 hours you can feed the soaked mixture, but it is best to sprout and germinate the mixture following another 12 to 24 hours.Getting the mix to germinate
To germinate the mixture, just keep the food moist at room temperature (not soaking in water) and rinse it thoroughly several times in cold water to prevent any bacterial contamination of the food. When you see a tiny white shoot appearing, the food is in the best condition to be given to your bird. Don't keep this food for more than one day after it is ready to eat; throw away all leftovers. Don't cook any bean/seed mixes, nor keep them in a refrigerator; just feed it raw. In addition to this mixture, the bird should always have fresh fruit and vegetables every day.Grey's preferences do vary, but try grapes, apple, banana, pomegranate, celery, fresh peas, carrot, etc. If your bird is actually eating a varied diet as described, there is little or no need to supply any other supplements. However, greys that are habitually kept indoors may need a liquid calcium and vitamin D3 supplement added to their food. You can get this from bird food and supplement suppliers.
A mixture of seeds before being soaked (above left). The same mixture after 12 hours of being soaked is shown (above right).
The same mixture of seeds after a further
24 hours, sprouted and ready.
24 hours, sprouted and ready.
