To Chop or Not to Chop?

Most parrot owners want to provide the very best nutrition for their parrots. The concept of chop is something that is excellent for pet owners. It is a combined mixture of finely chopped fruit and vegetables. Chops can be altered to suit a certain life stage- for example low fruit to reduce hormones. It means that parrots consume the bulk of their fruit and vegetables, rather than tossing them on the floor or choosing what they do and do not eat.

This is excellent! It does however have it's downfalls-

 

Chop became a fad in the captive parrot world a few years back. Similar fads are giving tea, coconut oil, pellets and sprouts. Once it gets hold, it becomes standard practice and almost an expectation of companion parrot owners to provide it. 

It seems ideal right? It does have its issues however.

The issue with chop is around its delivery, it is basically the equivalent of feeding a grown human baby food for their entire life. The majority of a birds day should be spend foraging and looking for food. When served in a bowl,

 all chopped and served to them it takes them very little time. Most parrots spend their time search, cracking, ripping, tearing whole foods even consuming unripened fruits. Some parrot native foods only the seeds are consumed not the flesh. Therefore, it really depends on the food type what part is consumed. When providing these foods in captivity a $5 pomegranate that two bites are taken and it is tossed on the floor isn't great on your pocket or for the bird as it doesn't get the full nutrients provided from the pomegranate.

Most parrots in the wild use their feet to hold or rip their food. They use their beaks to rip, bash and crush other items. This may take a parrot half an hour just to get to the seed or the flesh of that one food item.

So how can you deliver both a nutritionally balanced diet, whilst also allowing them to exhibit their natural behaviours? 

The process of learning to consuming whole food items in captive parrots may take some time. They need to recognise the green round thing as an apple, rather than the white pieces delivered beautifully in their bowl. Cutting holes in it to start them off, cutting a slice in one side, getting the seed (if that is the preferred food item) out and spread it over the outside hinting as to what is inside are all good tips to start feeding whole food items.

The best thing to incorporate whole food items into a balanced diet is to serve portion of their diet as whole food whilst still providing a chop with the remainder of the good fruit and vegetable mix. Giving foods such as apples, sweet potatoes, carrot, passionfruit, broccoli, capsicum and chilli whole (on a skewer can help prevent them tossing the food).  If your bird doesn't toss, you may consider doing an entire chop of larger sized pieces. Stainless fruit and vegetable baffle cages can also aid in making the food take longer to consume. Using leaves of celery, kale, bok choy to cover the fruit inside can add to the time taken foraging for food.

Whole nuts, fresh millet spray, whole native safe branches with flowers are also whole foods that are a good addition to the diet. Even safe flowers such as hibiscus provide enrichment. Species such as Lorikeets and Eclectus love to reach the nectar at the middle of the flower.