PULSES DIET
PULSES DIETS
VERSELLE LAGA PARROT DINNER
The Puses mixe are soaked / cooked and fed alongside seed mixes) Pulses are a good way of providing breeding and pet parrots/parakeets with protien in their diet. We personnally prefer to mix the Pulses, seeds, fruit & Veg all together in the same pot, this is a good way to stop birds becomming selective feeders.
Below is a guide suggesting the daily diet of some of the popular pet parrots.however if you bird like the pulses,it will do no harm to give them more than shown below.
Approximate guide only:
SPECIES Seed: Fruit: Veg: Pulses:
AFRICAN GREY 65% 15% 5% 15%
AMAZONS 65% 15% 15% 10%
SMALL MACAWS 65% 15% 15% 10%
LARGE MACAWS 60% 15% 10% 10%
(Plus 5% Nuts)
WHITE COCKATOOS 65% 13% 10% 10%
(Plus 2% Nuts)
GALAHS 70% 10% 15% 5%
(Small Seeds)
PULSES
We now supply three diffrent pulses mixes for raising & feeding our parrots/parakeets on a daily basis.The standard pulses mixture is still available as usual, but this year (2011) we have introduced a brand new pulses mix which has an even better selection of pulses and beans, and also its a world leader.This new mixture is now available at the shop in 1kg bags, or it can be specially ordered from us in 20kg sacks.The price is a little more expensive than the standard mix, but as they say "you only get what you pay for" and this mixture, is simply the best you can buy. (Please note, we do not stock the 20kg sacks for resale, so you must pre book your order for 20kg sacks, as we import these from abroad ONCE monthly.
Verselle Laga have a germinating soak seed which is also available from us at the shop. it is avilable in 1 kilo bags, but again if you would prefer a 20 kilo sack, please pre order this from us so we can add a sack for you to our monthly order. This germination soak seed is a completely mixture to the pulses mixes. and is mixed using much smaller seeds which you can germinate by simply soaking in water for 12 hours, and then straining and leaving them to sprout on a window sill in a plastic dish or tub. If you choose, to soak and germinate, rather than just soak and cook, it improves the nutritional value to your bird completely different to when you soak and cook. Please note, soaking and germinating will take approx 2 - 3 days for these seeds to sprout, and you will need to rinse and strain them each day until they sprout, as they can dry out and this can stop them sprouting. It may sound like a lot of messing about, but once youve got the hang of it, its very simple. Then you just need to remember to have another fresh batch soaking also, so you dont run out. However you dont need to give sprouting seeds every day, maybe just a few times a week. Please note, do not cook seeds that have sprouted, if you do, you will distroy all there goodness, however as mentioned this seed mix can be just soaked overnight and cooked if prefered.
If you would like more information or help about soaking, cooking, or germinating/sprouting seeds, please feel free to call into the shop on a Mon or Wed and i will gladly explain these to you, and also explain the different benifits between soaking, germinating/sprouting and cooking pulses and seeds
kind regards
Tracy-Ann x
The Pulses need to be soaked over night and can either be fed the next day after rinsing well,or cooked in a saucepan for 20-30 mins.We personnaly cook our pulses ,as we find birds find them much more palletable. Verselle Laga also recommend cooking them, whilst cooking them it converts the starch into easily digestable sugars.
To feed cook pulses,we recommend adding approx 1 teaspoon - 1 tablespoon of E.M.P. egg rearing food (depending on how much pulses you are feeding) as a rule one medium sized bird would be approx a heaped teaspoon full, then add the correct ammount/type of seed for the species to the mix (2 - 3 handfulls for a medium sized bird, and the correct ammount of fruit & veg for the species. Mix well and serve. You may also add a little rice, pasta, cheese, white fish, tuna, or chicken, all of which are very good for them.
We feed Pulses EVERYDAY to ALL our birds, including the Parakeets, breeding birds & our pets. NO bird/Parrot/Parakeet can live healthly on seeds alone.
We also give "ZUPREEM" pellets to ALL of our birds including the smaller birds like Parakeets/Budgies. It is advised (by the worlds leading pellet brand) to feed All Parrots and Parakeets a pelleted diet of up to 80%, the other 20% can be seeds, pulses, fruits, nuts, and veg. However there is also a veggie, nut, and fruit blend of pellets available, so its even less messing around for you, and less mess for the birds to make. Each of the pellets in these mixes are a 100% complete diet (in each and every pellet)
Come in and see us, and we will advise you further on these wonderful diets
FREEZING PULSES
PLEASE NOTE: Pulses can be frozen after rinsing and cooling, but only the Pulses on there own, not with ANY egg based or citrus ingredients added to it. We recommend cookinG in bulk ammounts and freezing into daily portions. Once frozen you can take out the required ammounts needed, and thaw with hot water, or leave out to thaw the evening before feeding.
If the Verselle Laga Pulses Mix is not within your budget, we still sell and supply the Standard Pulses Mix are still available from our shop.
If anyone needs any more information about Pulses Diets, please feel free to contact us, as our aim is to help, and even educate others to feed healthy nutrional diets which in turn helps these wonderful companion pets to live longer healthier and if possible vet free lives
The use of soaked & cooked Pulses
What changes during soaking:
During soaking, biological processes develope under the influence of water, heat and oxogen that can have a favourable effect on the composition of the seeds. As a result of soaking, the grains become soft so that the birds take them readily. Soaked seeds are also easier to shell. Feeding soaked seed mixtures has positive effect on reproductive behaviour and enhances the brooding condition.
What changes during cooking:
During cooking too, a number of changes occur in the feed that improves its nutritional value.
Release of starch: during cooking, the starch is virtually completely converted to easily digestable sugars under the influence of temprature and water.
Breakdown of anti-nutritional factors: in many plants (especially vegatables) there are anti-nutritional factors (incl, trypsine inhibitors) These undesired components make the protien less available. Cooking inactivates these anti-nutritional factors and the protien becomes more easily digestable.
Microbial sterilisation: Cooking kills germs (bacteria, fungi, yeasts) present in the feed. This markedly reduces the risk of food related microbial contamination (one of the most important risks of soaking or germinating seeds)
Vitamins: The only draw back of cooked food is that a lot of vitamins are lost during cooking. Every well informed/experienced breeder knows that the dose of vitamins supplied by seed mixtures is low and that consequently vitamins and minerals must always be supplemented.
You can make and freeze enough feed for several days and defrost the required portion daily.
If you need more advise on soaking and cooking pulses, we will be gald to help you.