Parrots, at least Umbrella’s, are extremely destructive. I have to, on a daily basis, repair old toys or make new ones to keep Lemon (Umbrella Cockatoo) busy while he is in his cage during the day. His favorite medium’s are paper and wood!

In the bottom of his cage I put in a section of newspaper which he will shred in just one day.

One day I got the idea to take scraps of heavy cardstock and make my own paper shredders.

While these were very simple to make Lemon destroyed them before the day was over!

Take heavy cardstock and cut into rectangles.
Fold in half then cut into strips leaving the top area uncut so you can punch a hole and tie it to beads and rope.

For this one I used a pillowbox template and heavy cardstock.
Punched holes in the top, sides and bottom and tied with short pieces of raffia.
Each pillowbox has a few edible goodies inside!

Our cockatoo also has a hunkering for Fred Meyer Snickerdoodle cookies. Since we want to feed him healthy stuff I found a whole wheat Snickerdoodle recipe HERE and made some over the weekend.

Hubs gave him one yesturday and reported back that Lemon didn’t like it. We will continue to give him one until they are gone hoping that over a few days he will develop a taste for them.

In the meantime I found Avian Organics (we’ve added their link to our blog) and see that they have quite a few interesting treats that I will be ordering!

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com

Most small birds can get away with eating a high quality seed specific to their species with a little fresh fruit thrown in for good measure.

The parrot family however requires a tad (understatement!) more work!

Lemon came to us as a seed parrot as he had been fed only seed for the last year. He will now eat flavored oatmeal however he does not do this on a regular basis. He has no clue that he is supposed to eat fresh fruit and vegetables but we put them in his feed cups anyway hoping…someday! (and no honey…Snickerdoodles don’t count!)

To entice his taste buds I had purchased several types of premade mixes (rice, noodles, bread) and to date he just isn’t interested in eating any of them. My guess is that he just doesn’t realize it’s food!

I made him some homemade bird bread. Sliced it then froze the slices. We thaw out a few slices each week and keep the rest in the freezer. I still have not seen him eat any of the bird bread but we keep putting it in his cage either in his food cup or on his skewer.

This is the recipe I used. It makes two loaves that are extremely heavy.
I improvised the recipe a little and it turned out fine!

And don’t worry about the family eating any…It really does not look very appetizing to humans with all them damned veggies in there!

Jardy’s Banana Nut Bread

3 1/2 c. flour
2 t. cream tartar
1 1/2 t. baking soda
2/3 c. applesauce (or 2 apples chopped finely) (I used apples)
1 1/3 c. sugar
4 eggs, well beaten
2 c. ripe mashed bananas
1 c. chopped baby carrots (I used frozen mixed veggies, thawed)
2 c. pecans (I didn’t have any)
1 jar baby food, winter squash or sweet potato (optional) (I had some cooked frozen sweet potato that I used-2 ice cube size)

Bake 350 for about 30-33 min makes 6 mini loaves or approx 1 hour for 2 large loaves

Parrot Bird Bread

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com

When I started this blog a few years ago I had no intention of boring you with company only information/promotions.

I wanted to share things that interest me and hopefully you by offering links to cool products, recipes and eco-friendly (or not-so-friendly) articles.

As of today I have added yet another category – Birds!

As some of you know we have had finch for about a year and a half. Currently we are up to 13 finch including Zebra, Societies and Gouldians. My husband recently made a huge finch aviary which you can see here. (youtube)

In October hubs and I obtained a 4 year old, male, Umbrella Cockatoo.
Needless to say the last few months have been a learning experience!

Lemon came with a painfully small cage so we purchased a brand new HUGE one and a play stand. He has so much room in the new cage that he is busier in that than when he is out on his stand!

The previous owners had Lemon for a year and in that entire year they only fed him seed which is a huge no-no! We have slowly converted him over to commercial parrot food and have been trying to get him to eat fresh fruit and vegetables. Over the last week I have been able to get him to eat oatmeal with fresh bananas mashed in. It’s a start!

Toys……We do, almost on a weekly basis, buy him toys either from a local pet store or online. In addition to that I have taken to ordering toy parts and make our own toys….which he tends to either take apart or totaly destroy in the same day. It has become a nightly event repairing/remaking toys for the following day!

As you have noticed I have added a Bird Info and Shopping Links category over on the right. I have had first hand experience with each and every one of those companies, with the exception of Kraft Mobile Avian Vet (thank god no need for that service…yet!) and can personally vouch for each one.

Warning:
There is one online store in particular that I want to warn you against. This store has had many issues over the last few years and before I found out about it I placed an order….and never received it even though our credit card was charged. After many emails and attempted phone calls (mail box was always full) I did a charge-back through our credit card company and was refunded the entire amount. Many, many people still have not received their order nor have they received any refunds (always pay via credit card not paypal!!!) and according to the Better Business Bureau they have an F rating! Do NOT order from The Perch Store!!! You will not receive your order!

Here is a video of Lemon shortly after we got him. He is on top of his old cage which had a playtop. His most favorite toy is the plastic ball he is playing with. Unfortunately he destroyed that ball within a few days and I cannot remember exactly where we got it!

In the months to come I will be posting under the Bird category with pictures, videos and toys that we have made!

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com