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Quick Tips for Conversion to Harrison’s Bird Foods
Some
birds will readily eat Harrison’s while others may
require a little help. If your bird exhibits
resistance to conversion try the following tips:
1. Use of
AVIx Bird Builder® (contains
iodine and trace minerals) 2-3 weeks prior to diet a
change may stimulate a healthy appetite resulting in
the bird’s willingness to try something new. Stop
using Builder once the bird is fully converted.
2.
Harrison's Bird Bread Mix can be used
as an extremely effective conversion tool. Food that
the bird currently eats can be added to the mix and
baked in the bread. Gradually reduce the amount of
that food and replace with the appropriate
Harrison's formula.
See
Article:
Budgie
Conversion made easy with
Harrison's Bird Bread Mix.
3. Change the bird’s environment.
Try moving your bird to a new enclosure, such as a
box, aquarium or even a new cage. Remove all the
toys, perches and bowls and offer
High Potency™ on a solid
surface of the floor.
4. Use a mirror or white paper.
Sprinkling food over a mirror or sheet of white
paper placed on the bottom of the enclosure works
especially well for budgies. A bird old enough to be
socialized may eat to compete with the “rival” bird
in the mirror. A white paper background may draw
attention to the food particles.
5. Slowly “wean” your bird from seeds. In
the evening, offer seeds from the food bowl for only
1 hour. Then, remove the seeds and replace with High
Potency.™ The next day, give your bird seeds for
only 30 minutes in the morning and evening. The
third day, reduce the time to only 15 minutes twice
a day. And finally, offer only High Potency™ on the
fourth day. Watch the bird’s droppings.
6. Feed your bird at mealtime. Place the
food on a plate, move it around with your finger or
a spoon and pretend to eat it in front of your
bird.
8. Use a converted bird as a role model.
House your bird near another that’s already eating
Harrison’s Bird Foods, or use a “trainer bird” in
the same cage as a role model for eating.
9. Heat or moisten the food. Heat the High
Potency™ slightly or moisten it with a small amount
of fruit juice or
AVIx Sunshine Factor.®
10. Schedule a supervised diet change with
your veterinarian. Some birds do not recognize
Harrison’s as food, and placing the bird in a clinic
where monitoring can be done will help keep your
bird healthy through the conversion.
11. If the conversion steps don’t
work the first time, you can feed the familiar food
for a short time and then try again. The effort is
worthwhile for the long term health of your bird.
The
bird’s weight (in grams), body condition, attitude
and droppings should be monitored carefully on a
daily basis in small and medium birds and at least
twice a week in large birds.
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How to Evaluate Your Bird’s Droppings
Clean white paper or other smooth surfaces
can be used to collect the droppings. The normal
appearance of the feces is usually soft and brown
when the bird is eating a formulated diet but may be
abnormally dry and black, yellow or green with a
seed diet.
The normally clear urine may be increased in amount
due to excess consumption of fruits and vegetables.
Normal urates are creamy white waste from the
kidneys and are often suspended in the liquid urine
or are “wrapped around” the feces.
Any color change in the urates is abnormal. A sick
bird may show a change in the volume, color,
consistency or frequency of droppings.
Feces from egg-laying females, baby birds on
hand-feeding formulas and the first void of the
morning may be larger than normal, and urine output
may increase when the bird is nervous or ill.
If any of the following
should occur *(behavior, droppings, weight), or
you are unsure about your birds health call your
avian veterinarian and reschedule the diet
conversion:
BEHAVIOR:
appears cold, listless, fluffed-up or reluctant
to play or talk.
DROPPINGS:
very loose or significantly reduced feces, while
the amount of urine/urates has increased, or the
feces changes color to yellow or dark green (a
color change to brown is normal due to the
formulation diet).
WEIGHT:
monitor progress by weighing your bird daily
with a gram scale. If he loses more than 10% (3g
= budgie or 10g = cockatiel), resume feeding the
previous diet and call your veterinarian.
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Storage & Shelf Life
HBD is committed to protecting your bird from
artificial preservatives. Here are some suggestions to
keep your food fresh:
• Smell the product for freshness prior to feeding.
• Squeeze all air out of the bag and zip it shut at the
top.
• If the zip lock gets removed or damaged, fold the top
over several times and close with a clip.
• Keep food in original bag. The Harrison's bag has a
foil barrier that blocks oxygen permeation. The outer
kraft paper barrier blocks light that damages the
vitamin content. Do not repackage food into plastic bags
or Tupperware as the food will remain much fresher for a
longer period in the Harrison’s bag.
• Use contents within 4-6 weeks of opening bag.
• Purchase Harrison’s foods only in their original
packaging.
• Refrigeration after opening may help maintain
freshness.
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Nature Dictates the Appearance of Harrison's
The appearance of Harrison’s Bird Foods may
fluctuate from bag to bag. As Harrison’s is a certified
organic, whole grain product, we do not incorporate the
kind of artificial processing nor do we use the type of
milled white flours or byproducts that yield a perfectly
uniform appearance with every batch. It is nature
itself that dictates the color, look and texture of
Harrison’s Bird Foods.
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