Why Does It Seem So Complicated???

Who am I, and what makes me think I'm qualified to write on such a subject? Well, I'm just a parrot owner of multiple birds, and I'm probably no more or less qualified than any other parrot owner. We all do the best we know how for our birds; we all (I would hope!) have done the research and not simply taken any opinion (from vet to usenet) and based our birds' well-being on it; we have all examined the various options and feed our birds according to what makes the most sense. Maybe we don't all make our living doing something that we not only LOVE to do, but that benefits our own birds as well and many thousands of others as I do, but certainly any of us could do what I've done, with the right experience, motivation, and circumstances!

My flock's diet consists of 90% my own products. I recently lost my first parrot, a cockatiel, at the age of 28. The remainder of my flock consists of some lovebirds, some cockatiels, a conure, a couple of pionus, a couple of poicephalus, and an african grey. I'm sure I'll write more about them later. For now, suffice it to say that my flock eats a natural diet, no chemicals, no nutrient-wanna-be's with names I can't pronounce, and no colored kibble. They get real food.

Feeding parrots isn't rocket science, although there are those who claim special knowledge and would like us to think that we can't possibly know what is best for our own birds. Most of them have an interest of once sort or another - financial gain, usually. Or, for all their degrees, they simply don't know any better because they've been "educated" by peers who have such an interest. But we don't need a degree to feed our parrots (and other companion pets!); we just need a thirst for knowledge, and the common sense to weigh all of the opinions* out there and the confidence to make our own choices.

Do I have a financial interest in how people feed their parrots? Sure, I do! Am I going to tell you how to feed your own birds? Nope. I'm not even going to try and sell you my products. I may mention them now and again, eventually, but I always have been and always will be out there with my thoughts and ideas: (1) I put forth opinions; if I offer facts, I will also offer cites; if I offer the opinions of others, I will identify them as such. (2) I won't use this blog as a platform to sell my own products - I have plenty of vendors selling them who already promote them. (3) It's all about the birds, not making myself seem to more important or knowledgable than I am, or anybody else for that matter.

The plan: To share what I've read and what I've learned and my own thoughts and opinions on them...and to share my own experiences, successes and failures, and hindsight thoughts on those as well. So that you can add it to everything else you've read and heard, and make the most informed choice you can when you are feeding your own birds.

*There are those who confuse opinion with fact, especially if the opinion is their own.