Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 6/4/2006

Question
My parakeet has so far laid two eggs, and their diet has been seeds, carrots, and broccoli, along with a cuttle bone. Do you think she is getting enough nutrients? Or should I get some vitamin drops to mix in with their food? She has had mostly seeds until I saw her first egg, in which I immediately started giving her those vegetables after that. I'm worried that she isn't getting enough vitamins, but I'm really not sure.

Answer
Hi, Kelly.  Thanks for posting.

Your keets needed to be on a good, healthy diet BEFORE they started laying eggs so the babies will be healthy, and so the parents would be healthy during the process of laying and raising their offspring.  Seed is low in nutrition and high in fat, which is a terrible diet.  If your keets eat carrots and broccoli (this is good), they might enjoy other nutritional foods as well.  You can try vitamin drops, but don't put in their drinking water.  As soon as you add something to the water, bacteria start growing, which can make your keets sick.  Your best bet would be to offer your keets healthy, nutritional foods every day, along with pelleted food for keets.  You can still provide seed, but sparingly.  However, this is not the time to change your keets diet too much.  A diet change can stress your keets out and upset their tummies if the change is too drastic, and they don't need this right now.  Therefore, I'd increase the amount and variety of veggies you offer, you might also try cooked brown rice, corn bread, whole grain cereals (no sugar) and whole grain breads, to name a few things.  These types of foods will help your keets stay in good health, as well as be easier for the parents to feed their babies.  Also, the babies will grow to like different tastes (types of foods) because they will be used to the variety (easier to wean them when they are ready).  I've known keets on all-seed diets to be just fine and raise normal, healthy babies, so not to worry much.  The more variety your keets have in food, the better off they will be.

Come back if you need to.  My website might offer more information for you:

http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Chrys