Diet Conversion
This is a protocol I use to teach birds to eat new foods such as pellets or fresh produce. I often see people declare that they cannot convert a bird off an unhealthy diet because the bird throws new food, spits it out, or just "refuses" to eat it. Some of this is lack of persistence, but it can also be just a lack of knowledge of how to approach this conversion.
An example of what I feed my red front macaws. For a breeding pair, a richer diet (with more generous amounts of seeds and nuts) is appropriate, whereas for a pet bird I would limit these things to avoid excessive hormone production.
Most species* of parrots understand that things put in the bowl they've always eaten from are likely to be safe food sources. But that doesn’t mean they’re ready to dive in and try every random thing placed in front of them. Especially if they’ve been eating the same limited diet for many years!
My theory: Being cautious prey animals, parrots will favor familiar foods (staple diet) that they know will nourish them and do so safely. In the wild, it is a daily exercise to find safe and nourishing foods. If they know something is a given, they'll eat that first! This protocol is intended to replicate a wild foraging situation in the sense that we are presenting new foods through the day, while still offering that "safe" food for a limited time, too. In essence, the bird starts each day unable to immediately “find” those staple foods and must explore new ones.
This protocol is NOT designed to starve your bird until it eats. The goal is only to prompt the exploratory behaviors that would be exercised in the wild when staple diet is scarce. Some weight loss is acceptable and expected (assuming conversion to a healthier diet) in the case of an obese bird, but weight should not plummet sharply and body condition should not fall below 3.
CAUTION: This is NOT something that should be done with a bird that is sick, underweight, or otherwise in less than peak physical condition. While this process is intended to be fairly low-stress and should NOT induce weight loss, it may cause some emotional distress and is therefore not appropriate for a bird that is recovering from illness, injury, starvation, or other major physical issues. If possible, consider weighing the bird every other day (or daily) to ensure that little to no weight loss is happening.
OPTIONAL: Before beginning the protocol, you may introduce the target food by placing it in a separate bowl in the cage alongside the usual food so the bird has the chance to get used to seeing it. I would only do this if the bird seems genuinely fearful of the target food.
Steps:
At night, take away all food.
In the morning, provide ONLY the target food. At first, offer a small amount and check back regularly to see if the bird is eating any.
Leave the target food with your bird for most of the day.
About three hours before bed, provide the staple diet that your bird is accustomed to. Again, only provide about as much as your bird normally eats in a day so you can see how much is eaten at night. You can weigh or measure foods if this helps you track the amount consumed.
Again, take up all food at bed time.
Repeat this process until you see that the bird is consistently eating the new food and not losing weight. Then, provide any healthy foods from the original staple diet as well as the target food.
Your bird may throw food, scream, or otherwise act out during this process. It is very important to stick with the protocol! You will not be starving your bird this way. Your bird will simply get tired of holding out all day and learn to eat the target food.
If you see regression (ignoring the target food again), go back to the introduction protocol and then stick with target food in the morning and other foods in the evening for a few more weeks before going back to a regular feed routine.
Tips/Notes:
Having another bird within view that is already eating the target food can be a huge help, especially in the case of budgies.
When birds encounter new foods, they will typically pick it up, taste it, then shake their heads (and the food goes flying with this). This is NOT disgust/"spitting it out." This is just their reaction to something new. You will often see them do this and then take another bite!
Having a wide, shallow dish is an excellent way to discourage digging/throwing of food. This allows the bird to see everything in the dish and usually mitigates the impulse to fling food in search of something it will like better. The Lixit Bird Bath is a good option for many species and sizes of birds, though not recommended for more powerful species like large cockatoos and macaws. In their cases, I recommend a heavy ceramic bowl like you feed a dog from, if you have somewhere to set it.
For vegetables and fruits, try introducing different methods of feeding and presentation. Cut fine, cut big, leave a half or whole fruit hanging from a skewer... etc!
In the case of birds freshly acquired, I recommend waiting if you have their usual food on hand and letting them have at least a few days with that staple diet.
* One should use caution in this approach with budgies (aka parakeets in the US), as this is one of few species that will often gladly starve themselves rather than convert. I suspect it is because of how cautious they are, and how important a large flock is to them.
