Avian Diet
Tom Nemerovsky,  2005

This is the diet we have used in our aviary for over 22 years and it has served us very well.

Quakers are prone to fatty liver disease and should not be fed any fatty foods. Foods that are high in sugar, fat or artificial colors and sweeteners in my opinion should not be fed to them. You are going to get some debate on the colors and sweeteners but they have been proven to cause allergic reactions in people and cancer in animals so why chance it. I have been feeding a 100% pellet diet to my birds for over 20 yrs and they thrive on it. If you want to modify this feed a good pellet (I feed Roudybush ) in the ratio of 80% pellets and 20% good choice treats like fruits and veggies. It is 20% of the TOTAL amount of food he gets in a day, so if he only eats aprx. 3 tblspns a day its not a very large amount of extras.

Absolutely NO chocolate or avocado which are TOXIC. No apple seeds or pits from fruits like peaches, nectarines etc. these contain cyanide . I also will not feed grape seeds for the same reason (also debatable but its easy to remove the seeds). Secondly there is really too much sugar in grapes for birds the size of Quakers. Excess sugar will cause digestive problems which can lead to yeast infections and crop stasis (sour crop) and make you bird very ill.

NEVER feed your bird anything that has been in your mouth,  your system has E. Coli which is highly infectious to birds digestive tract. It is common in ours but not theirs.

NO coffee, tea, or other caffeinated or decaf beverages. NO soda or beer. Milk products are not digested by birds in general and should not be fed with the exception of a very tiny amount (1//4" cube of hard cheese only or "plain "yogurt with no fruit or sugar added. This may seem like a lot to remember but its worth the extra precaution as vets say that most illness they see in birds is diet related and a little care in feeding will go a long way to keeping your bird healthy and happy.

Tom Nemerovsky is a bird breeder, mostly Quaker Parrots, in Florida. Tom has been breeding birds from his youth for over 45 years and has bred some of the most beautiful  mutation color quakers. See his web site at http://quakerman.com . Contact Tom directly at tomfun@aol.com for any questions about breeding quakers or general information desired.