Reigning Zupreem

I'm REALLY happy! All of the birds have made the successful conversion to pellets. I have been slowly trying to convince them that pellets aren't the food of the devil for the last year. The boys have always been really good about eating what I put in front of them (typical men) but Apache is my seed junkie and fought me claw and beak everytime I tried to switch to pellets. She would literally go on hunger strikes and make herself ill, holding out for her precious seeds. I feared Teika and Trinny would be difficult to convert since they had never really been introduced to pellets either so visions of "Apache like battles" flitted through my mind. Trinny's increasing weight problems and Teika's stress bars and uneven beak convinced me that a better diet was desperately needed. Silver and Taxi aren't slim chickens themselves and could benefit from a lower fat diet. Patchie and Neo's suppressed immune systems would definitely benefit from the added vitamins of a pelleted diet so my mind was made up. These guys were going to eat pellets, come hell or high water! They've always "dorked around" with them, but cried if they didn't get their seeds too. UNTIL I found the Avian Entrees brand of Zupreem. Okay.. So the pellets are colored. Not touted as "The Best" by pellet geeks in the avian world, but I read the ingredients and they don't have the BIG NO NO preservatives that Kaytee and LaFabre brands do. The pellet geeks insist that "all natural" is the ONLY way to go. Fine.. So they should eat Harrisons. They've tried Harrison's Pellets. Should I say, they DIDN'T try them. They turned their beaks to them. I liken Harrisons to Grapenuts cereal. BLAH! Who wants to eat that all day long. ::: Yawns::: BUT.. this Avian Entree.. OMG! It has dehydrated veggies in the mix... Peas, peppers, and lots of goodies! I open the bag and it smells so good, I want to pour a bowl of it for myself! Its no wonder its such a hit with the birds! They dig in with gusto, usually reserved only for seeds. I've been able to completely phase out seeds and they don't even miss them! The only down side, is they've become complete goblins! They eat and eat and eat, constantly! Perhaps the pellets aren't as filling as the seeds? I come home from work and check the dishes and have to fill them up because the little pigs have completely wiped out their supply. So far, Trinny has lost 4 grams. She's lost it gradually rather than over night, so that's good. It wouldn't be healthy for her to drop the weight really fast. It also seems that Taxi has curbed her hormonal ways, I'm happy to report. Perhaps knocking out her seed supply has helped, along with reducing her daylight hours. She laid only two eggs. HOORAY!

SO, that's the latest!