Before we get into the subject matter of this post, let’s take a minute to talk about seed in the parrot diet…
In the wild, every parrot species consumes seed daily. It has many health benefits, which will be discussed further down, and yet in the world of companion parrots, it is utterly vilified.
The concerns are not without merit, however. Seed is high in fat and calories and when you combine that with it being a favorite food of parrots and often chosen over healthy foods we serve, it can become a problem in the diet.
It is not toxic. It is not dangerous. But it does have to be served responsibly.
The largest portion of the diet should still be reserved for produce and pellets. The seed portion should comprise no more than 20% (on the high end) - ideally 10%. If you choose to allow your bird access to seed throughout the day (free-feed), you should remove the bowl overnight to ensure they are hungry in the morning when you serve vegetables.
Another feeding method is to limit your bird’s access to seed by serving only what your bird can eat in late morning or early afternoon. You can determine this amount by weighing the dish before and after or by measuring the amount served versus what remains in the bowl once your bird walks away from the feeding. Seed must never get in the way of the other important meals.
We recommend that only the smallest species of parrot be allowed seed in their diets for one specific reason: their size. Small parrots cages tend to be roomier, proportionately speaking, and the human environment in which they live is much more spacious and allows more room for flight and other activity. A large parrot might cross a room with a few beats of their wings, a small parrot needs to work harder and they have the means to burn off those excess calories.
That said…
This is intentionally a very basic recipe.
Blueberry’s Seed Mix:
1/2 lb millet
1/2 lb quinoa
1 cup oat groats
1 cup hemp seed
1/2 cup whole brown flax seed
1 cup chia seed
1/2 cup rape seed
1 cup rolled oats
A good seed mix should contain only seed and grains. Too often commercial mixes add ingredients that have no place in a seed mix, have no real nutritional value or are just filler (in some cases, literally twigs!) - something cheap that takes up room in the bag to drive up weight and volume and therefore price. The ingredients are typically old and devoid of nutrition. You get to control all of this by making the ingredient brand selections yourself.
The seeds and grains chosen for Blueberry’s Seed Mix are just right for budgies, lovebirds and parrotlets - nothing too big or too hard for consumption by the little guys.
NUTRITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
The nutritional signature of most seeds are fairly similar - all have great fiber and varying amounts of calcium, vitamin E and omega 3s. Some have higher potassium, magnesium and protein than others but since your bird may prefer certain seeds it is best to combine a good variety for them to choose from. Their beneficial components of are nothing to play down.
FIBER: Maintains digestive health, helps keep cholesterol and blood sugar levels on target and helps maintain healthy body weight.
MAGNESIUM: It is impossible to overstate the value of magnesium. Aside from lowering blood pressure, regulating genes, muscle movement and the nervous system, it converts food into energy, it’s a major anti-inflammatory and plays a huge role in brain function and mental health. Seeds are a great source of magnesium.
POTASSIUM: Regulates the balance of fluids in the body, regulates muscle (including heart) contractions, protects against strokes.
VITAMIN E: Aside from being a powerful anti-oxidant, it boosts the immune system and is hugely important to brain function. For parrots, its most important function is its skin and feather health benefits.
OMEGA 3s: Hugely beneficial in preventing heart disease and protecting joints. It also promotes skin and feather health.
CALCIUM: Responsible for bone strength and muscle/heart health. Also, calcium is notably important for parrots as an egg laying species. Egg shells are made up mostly of calcium and when calcium in the blood stream is low it is drawn from the bones to form the shells.
PROTEIN: Increases bone and muscle mass, boosts metabolism, lowers blood pressure and helps the body repair from injury.
31 comments
Hello! For the millet you use in the seed mix, is it hulled? Unhulled? Do you rub it off a stem of millet spray? Thank you!
My Quaker will ONLYNeat pumpkin seed or sunflower seeds, also ramen, noodles, cheese, and potatoes like potato salad smh I have tried everything!!!! Im talking every fruit n veggie and seeds there are. He is so picky! Do u have a good Quaker food for sale or a recipe. I’m also broke taking care of my child who has special needs so maybe if I could make it myself ? I appreciate all of the great work y’all do!!! Thank u so much. God Bless yall, all our critters, and everyone and everything everywhere🙏🙌😇💙💚💜🌎✌🐦💥
My bird loves this seed mix and I love making it for her. I would love to be able to purchase it already mixed by you, but I can’t. QTPi loves to use the rolled oats as a frisbee and sends them sailing all the time. I solved the problem by putting the rolled oats into a tiny food processor and breaking them down into bite-sized pieces that she doesn’t send flying.
This mixture makes me so happy to make for my birds! Thank you!
I just made this mix minus the rape seed as it has been difficult to source in small quantities. Today I see you are selling it on your website. I am laughing at the timing! I am excited to have an organic basic seed option for my two parakeets. They are great little eaters so I expect they will love this as well. Thanks for providing the recipe! I am excited that you are selling a more affordable option for next time I need seed!
I wish you would post answers to these comments/questions as I would love to know the answer to many of them. I’m sure I am not alone. How often do you feed Blueberry the seed mix? Is it a subsistute for fresh chop or pellets? Thanks!
Hi. First let me say you guys are amazing. The amount of info I have learned from your video and online content is so helpful. Do you sell the seed that you use for blueberry. I can’t seem to find it. If not do you have a brand that you recommend? I saw the recipe was listed, but was looking to just buy healthy seed instead of making it. Thank you Nick
Hi, my bird is loving the recipe although he wont eat pellets anymore he starves himself to eat his seedmix at nights should i stop giving him pellets? Is it really necessary if he has the seedmix and veggies?
I’m struggling to find rape seed in an affordable form. If I include all the other seeds, is it ok to leave that out? Or to substitute bulk broccoli seeds?
I need a seed mix for a larger bird. I have a Regents Parrot and the seeds seem too small for him. Thank you.
Can I feed this to my budgies, even if they don’t eat pellets? They eat a store seed mix, fresh chop daily and egg food once a week. I would like to replace the store bought seed with blueberry seed mix.
Thank you for the recipe. We were really excited to use this mix with our newly weaned budgie. We bought your pellets and were mixing both crushed pellets and this seed mix together. Unfortunately, he now picks out only the millet and leaves the rest behind. We have added water and a tiny bit of applesauce to the mix, but still he goes only for the millet and throws the rest out of the bowl. He is starving himself only for millet now and is losing weight. We are at a point where he will only fill up if he gets more millet to eat. We are at a total loss as to what to do. He is so hungry and we are offering such quality feed. We have watched the transition videos, made crushed pellet bread balls and he won’t touch a thing but millet. We weigh him and he is slowly losing grams. Please consider taking millet out of this recipe. It caused an issue with our bird before we even had any other issues. He was newly weened and not yet in any bad eating habits, but now we have an issue.
I’ve been making this mix for about a year. I can’t get my 8 budgies to eat the rapeseed or flax. Is there a secret to get them to eat it or should i just replace with something else? Thanks!
Is there a good substitute for rapeseed? I can get everything else in my mom and pop organic food store, but those I would have to order online.
Please make blueberry’s food to buy !!
How do you know how much food to give daily? I use this mix now for my budgie but how much should I feed per day?
I wish you all had budgie premade food!! Thanks
For links to all the seeds in Blueberry’s Seed Mix recipe (including rapeseed), check out the BirdTricks Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/shop/birdtricks
I have been using your seed combination except for rape seed since I cant find it anywhere. I have one budgie. Is it important to get the exact amounts of ingredients? Also could you recommend other grains? My bird isnt crazy about China seeds.
Love your videos. I am from Canada, near our capital city, Ottawa. I was looking for a healthy recipe for my blue budgie, same as Blueberry. I read that a budgie cannot weigh more than 40 grams. Mine is at 41 grams. He likes some fruits and a few veggies, but is mostly on store bought seeds. This is a great recipe, can’t wait to try it. However, like many of you, I can’t find rapeseed, except the ones for gardening. Also, when I look it up on the internet, it says that canola oil is a substitute. What do you recommend we use instead of Rapeseed? Thank you. Carole and Roger (I named him after my Dad).
I tried this for my parakeets, and going well, but do you have more ideas for different seeds? I just want to add more variety, also what pellets do you recommend for parakeets?
Hi, I was left a cockatiel and parakeet housed in the same cage. There are diiferent ingredients in the recipes for each, respectively. Is there a good mix they can both have or is there anything one of the species should definitely avoid? Thanks!
Thank ou for sharing this receipe. I Am looking forward to take over two parakeets (both around 6 months old) from someone who has not the time to take proper care of them which made them start screaming a lot. Ideally I start clicker graining them from day one. I am not sure if I understand the difference between rolled oats and oat groats, could anyone help please? For hemp seeds you might look for pet stores selling food for rodents as well and allowing to purchase single ingredients. Thanks again for all the helpful and inspiring content. Best wishes from Germany
I found rapeseed at WinCo in the bulk food area (I live in the PNW). I looked at Market of Choice but didn’t see it there.
I do have your Healthy Holiday recipe book and sharing table food. Where the best place to get the seed for Quaker and is it the same mix as Blueberry,s
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