{"id":1216,"date":"2023-08-31T15:59:49","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T15:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oz0sgulpdx.onrocket.site\/?p=1216"},"modified":"2024-02-02T08:00:27","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T08:00:27","slug":"slow-and-steady-bird-diet-conversion-switching-foods-at-a-gradual-pace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zupreem.eu.com\/cs\/slow-and-steady-bird-diet-conversion-switching-foods-at-a-gradual-pace\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cSlow and Steady\u201d Bird Diet Conversion: Switching Foods At A Gradual Pace"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By Dr. Laurie Hess, DVM, Diplomate ABVP (Avian Practice)<\/span>
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Converting your bird from an unhealthy, high-fat, all-seed diet to a nutritionally balanced and complete\u00a0<\/span>pelleted bird food diet<\/a>\u00a0can be stressful \u2013 not only for the bird, but also for you. Birds are creatures of habit who often prefer sticking to what they\u2019re used to, rather than trying new things. Some birds would rather starve themselves than taste a new bird food, and others are too afraid of new bird food to even approach it. Fortunately, our\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSlow and Steady\u201d bird diet conversion method<\/a>\u00a0was formulated for birds who need to take their time with pellet conversion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Cut Back On Bird Seed to Add More Pellets<\/strong><\/h2>

The idea of \u201cSlow and Steady\u201d is to gradually reduce the unhealthy, familiar food while slowly increasing the new, pelleted food. Your bird\u2019s behavior will dictate the pace; every bird is different. Some birds take to the new food in a day or two, while others may not touch it for two weeks or more. The key is to progress gradually, initially removing the familiar food at night, so that the bird wakes up hungry and more apt to try the new pellets.<\/p>

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Keep It Familiar<\/strong><\/h2>

It helps to offer the new pellets in your bird\u2019s usual dish in the same spot, so that your bird knows where and how to expect food. If your bird approaches the new food, actively praise him by saying his name, scratching his head, or whatever else you can do to reinforce the pellet interaction. The first morning after removing the old food, be sure to encourage any interest your bird shows in the pellets (even if he doesn\u2019t eat them!). If he hasn\u2019t acted positively towards the new pellets after four hours, offer him a small amount of his familiar food in a separate cup \u2013 but don\u2019t take out the new pellets and never mix the two.\u00a0<\/p>

Initially, he may not touch the new pellets for up to four hours, but that\u2019s okay; a healthy bird can go four hours without eating. Once your bird starts to interact with the pellets, add two-hour increments to the times he has access to the new food only, until he is fully transitioned. If he shows no interest in the pellets, try moistening them with warm water or fruit juice to tempt him. Just don\u2019t leave the moistened pellets in the cage for more than a couple of hours or they may spoil.<\/p>

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Watch Your Bird For Weight Change<\/strong><\/h2>

Birds transitioning to pellets commonly lose weight, especially if they were eating a high-fat seed diet previously. Don\u2019t panic, just remember to monitor your bird\u2019s weight as you transition him by weighing him daily on a gram scale. If he loses more than ten percent of his body weight, be sure to alert your veterinarian.<\/p>

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The \u201cSlow and Steady\u201d conversion method is great for conure-sized or larger birds that typically eat with their feet and therefore may be more apt to picking up pellets to investigate. This gradual method also works well for nervous or shy birds who may be timid around new things. Remember, birds can take several weeks to transition to a new diet. Stay calm and be patient; getting your bird to eat a nutritionally complete pelleted diet<\/a> has many health benefits, and will certainly be worth it!<\/p>

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More Bird Diet And Nutrition Resources<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tZuPreem Website Wins Industry Recognition Award\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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In this article, avian expert, Dr. Veronica Pardini dives into the basics of cockatiel care, including diet, enrichment, and common health concerns. <\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t

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In this article, avian expert, Dr. Veronica Pardini dives into the basics of cockatiel care, including diet, enrichment, and common health concerns. <\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t

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In this article, Dr. Veronica Pardini examines important factors to consider when choosing the right cage for your pet birds. <\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t

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In this article, we’ll dive into the basics of budgie care, including diet, enrichment, and common health concerns. <\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Laurie Hess, DVM, Diplomate ABVP (Avian Practice) Converting your bird from an unhealthy, high-fat, all-seed diet to a nutritionally balanced and complete\u00a0pelleted bird food diet\u00a0can be stressful \u2013 not only for the bird, but also for you. Birds are creatures of habit who often prefer sticking to what they\u2019re used to, rather than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bird-health-nutrition"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zupreem.eu.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zupreem.eu.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zupreem.eu.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zupreem.eu.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zupreem.eu.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1216"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/zupreem.eu.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1222,"href":"https:\/\/zupreem.eu.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1216\/revisions\/1222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zupreem.eu.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zupreem.eu.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zupreem.eu.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zupreem.eu.com\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}