To switch birds from their current diet to a Mazuri diet and Colorful Companions bird seed blends, do a gradual changeover, starting with 90 percent of their current diet and 10 percent Mazuri diet.

Increase the amount of Mazuri diet by 10 percent each day and decrease the amount of the current diet by the same amount.

After 6 days, your bird should be consuming 40 percent of its former diet and 60 percent Mazuri diet.

At this time, begin to introduce Colorful Companions bird seed blends as a supplemental food item at 10 percent of the diet. Continue to reduce the amount of the starting diet until you achieve 50-70 percent Mazuri diet and 10-20 percent Colorful Companions bird seed blends. You may also provide 5-20 percent veggies and fruits as treats and enrichment during this time.

It’s important to watch the color of the birds’ excreta during the transition: If the bird is not eating, the amount of excreta will be reduced and the color will become dark green. If this happens, return to the previous day’s level of original diet and Mazuri diet and continue at this level until the excreta returns to normal volume and color.

Finally, it is always useful to offer the complete pellet to your bird in the morning and reserve the supplemental seeds, veggies and fruits for the evening, after your bird has eaten its pellets, and when you can enjoy the enrichment of feeding seeds and fresh produce to your bird.

Better Than All Seed Diets

While seeds, fruits and other food items may be preferred by your birds, they are not nutritionally complete. Nutrients that are lacking in these diets include amino acids, calcium and vitamins — which are all essential for growth, breeding, health and well-being. Even with vitamin and mineral supplementation, birds may not get what they need. Our research data demonstrates better success when birds are fed pellets along with supplemental seeds and fruits.

Feed Mazuri pellets at 50-75 percent of your birds’ diet, along with 10-20 percent seeds and nuts and 5-20 percent veggies and fruits to provide the best nutrition possible while enriching your birds’ life!