Dr T. J. Lafeber
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The story of pet bird
nutrition in America is, in many ways, the story of Dr. T.J. Lafeber and
pet bird care in America. Dr. Lafeber graduated from the veterinary
college of Iowa State University in 1949. Early on, much of his
practice, in the suburbs of Chicago, was devoted to dog and cat
medicine. In the early 1960's, Dr. Lafeber was asked by the A.V.M.A.
(American Veterinary Medicine Association) to chair their newly formed
avian medicine committee. Dr. Lafeber agreed. For many years, in the
late 60's and early 70's, Dr. Lafeber's pet bird hospital was the
largest in the United States.
As Dr. Lafeber treated
hundreds of pet birds over a period of years, a common problem kept
appearing: most birds he was treating were dying of malnutrition. Dr.
Lafeber investigated the current bird foods on the market and soon
discovered many bird owners had little opportunity to provide their
birds with a nutritious diet. Most of the foods were simply various
types of seed mixes, all of them deficient in certain vitamins,
minerals, and protein.
In the early 1970's, Dr.
Lafeber began experimenting with a pelleted food for birds. Initially,
he made the pellets on a small mill in the rear of his animal hospital.
Gradually, he began dispensing the food to bird owners to improve their
birds' health. The results were very good. The vast majority of birds
did very well on the new pelleted food.
In the late 1970's,
Dr. Lafeber bought five acres of Illinois farmland from his father. On
this acreage, the Lafeber Company started to grow. Dr. Lafeber's desire
to provide pet birds with a high-quality, nutritious diet became the
driving force behind the Lafeber Company. At first,
pelleted
food was the only thing
manufactured. In the early '80's, however, Dr. Lafeber developed
Nutri-Start
baby bird food. Shortly after that,
Avi-Cakes
were introduced.
In the fall of
1990,
Nutri-Berries
hit the pet bird market. Nutri-Berries
represented a giant leap for the Lafeber Company.
Nutri-Berries solved three
major problems faced by all pet bird owners:
- nutritional
completeness
- easy acceptance by
the bird
- ease of feeding
Throughout the
history of Lafeber Company, quality has been the key to success.
Attention to the ingredients used in the
product line
along with a strong focus on the needs of our customers have helped
Lafeber Company establish a reputation as one of the premier companies
in the pet food industry. Our mission to this day revolves around the
simple premise Dr. Lafeber established many years ago:
Working for the health of
birds |
