Dedicated to the Birds of the World

 Harrison's Bird Diets Adult Formulas:

 Greg J. Harrison, DVM, Dipl. ABVP-Avian

http://www.hbdintl.com

Excerpted from The Proceedings of the International Aviculturists Society Convention, January, 1997,

Fort Myers, FL

 I think the most important action for the bird food industry right now is consensus-building. The question should not be: Who has the best formulated avian diet? That is an argument that is 5-10 years away from resolving. But, what is the true "enemy" of the aviculture community? The point right now is that 90% of the breeding birds in this country are not producing to their true potential. I say this is mainly because they are still being fed seed-based diets, and the "enemy" is seeds. An equally important fact is the aviculturists don't use veterinarians in a preventive mode. These in my opinion are the issues that need to be the focus of the bird industry. As for manufacturers of formulated foods, we should all get together and agree that birds do better on formulated diets than they do on non-formulated diets. How can we get bird breeders and pet bird owners on to formulated diets? That information is not known. We need to consensus-build. The companies need to work together to promote formulated diets.

 How All Formulated Diets Are the Same

 1) In general birds do better on a well designed, high quality formulated diet than on homemade alternatives that vary in nutritional composition.

 2) Overall, feeding a formulated diet is cheaper. No matter how much the formulated diet itself costs, it is far less expensive to feed than the combined costs of seeds, fruits, vegetables and other supplements plus the labor (peeling, chopping, mixing, washing bowls) involved in their preparation. And aviculturists sometimes neglect to include in their consideration the potential loss of income from non-producing birds.

 3) No one knows the specific nutrient information as it applies to each species. It would be nice to know, but we are not going to get those questions answered in the near future. (The current nutritional research is mainly coming out of the University of Hannover, and these studies cover fewer than thirty birds from six species.)

 There is less feeding mess with formulated diets.

How Harrison's Bird Diets Differ From Other Formulated Diets

We cannot say to people, "On a nutrient-by-nutrient, species-by-species basis, this is why you need to feed Harrison's Bird Diets." We can only say, "This is how HBD is different from other bird foods on the market." I can discuss the philosophy of how and why it was developed, and tested, utilized, and marketed by veterinarians.

1) Harrison's Bird Diets formulas originated as successful parrot foods that became viable and commercially available. They weren't developed from chicken requirements and then modified into a parrot food. For us this translates into prevention and/or clinical improvement of common problems seen in birds fed other diets.

 2) Harrison's Bird Diets are made from certified organic ingredients.

As a major consequence, this characteristic reduces the stress on the liver of a bird in an attempt to detoxify the effects of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, additives and preservatives found in non-organic products. The bird can then use the available nutrients to enhance its production, appearance, behavior and overall well-being.

 3) Harrison's Bird Diets are sold only through practicing veterinarians.

 This is a very significant point. I feel veterinarians are the most qualified people to evaluate how any diet is working. I have worked with aviculturists for over 25 years and unfortunately, very few of them keep accurate records. For example, they don't really know what percentage of their eggs hatch or are infertile.

 Many of the most well known aviculturists in this country are proud to show their birds off and write articles about their "successes," yet they may have only 1.2 babies on the perch per pair per year. We are getting birds to produce 3-4 weaned babies per pair.

 Back in 1987, Isabel Taylor conducted an informal survey that was published in the Smoky Mountain Cage Bird Society Newsletter. The results showed that aviculturists who worked with veterinarians had 30-40% better results in the number of babies produced.

 Veterinarians in this study taught their clients the significance of isolation, quarantine, husbandry and testing for problems. For example, I used endoscopy, biopsy and various disease tests to evaluate Isabel's flocks and I taught her how to do her own Gram's stains. We ended up separating species and narrowing the numbers of species. We reevaluated the birds endoscopically every couple of years until the results were excellent. We also spent a lot of time working on diet. Another veterinarian in the study taught aviculturists how to do their own gross necropsies. There wasn't one particular way the veterinarian worked with their clients, but as a result, aviculturists had a much higher percentage of their flock producing viable offspring. The breeders who did not consult regularly with veterinarians attained less than 30-40% of their potential production rate -- it doubled their production results to work with a veterinarian.

 One reason to work with vets is to monitor how they are doing. If you take some well known large aviculturists, they produce wonderful papers on birds they have studied but the birds are abnormal and produce one baby per pair if that. Their veterinarian works full-time treating malnutritional diseases: crop hernias, cripple bones, bacterial infections of the gastrointestinal, respiratory and reproductive systems. These problems are no longer seen in flocks that use primarily formulated diets. Most people with malnourished birds don't really know it until their birds are put on a formulated diet and significantly improve, such as having a bird that hasn't laid eggs in years start to lay.

 Future Goals for Aviculture

 1) There needs to be an industry-wide program for improvement. Perhaps the bird clubs and organizations should cut back on their support to outside research and conservation for a couple of years and direct these funds to themselves, and produce some real aviculture management studies. Perhaps they could hire a full-time student at a major university (eg, California, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida) to develop a self-evaluation program based on their studies (basically to put "teeth" in MAP and analyze the results. They could start looking at, "How do you evaluate a flock of birds?" Breeders should not think that a new diet will solve all their problems. They should learn to say, "What are my problems now? Is it possible that problems that show up when a new diet is introduced aren't just related to the diet?" I'm sure there are very few flocks in which a diet change by itself precipitates a problem.

 2) An important goal is for aviculturists to actually make a living raising birds. Very few can say they make money in this field. Many of the well known aviculturists breed birds because they are wealthy and they can afford to lose money or just break even. There are other people with beautiful, showcase places who raise some babies but are not making money in the bird breeding business. Many people who even have a number of very exotic, endangered species do not have good nutrition and are not producing good breeding results. A full time veterinarian for such a breeder spends 100% of the time correcting malnutritional disorders in the nursery.

 3) Incorporate a formulated diet into a total management plan. The challenge is not in selecting the "right" formulated diet. It is knowing how to use the formulated diet in a total preventive health program including evaluation of the quality of the husbandry and other essential factors.

Harrison Bird Diets -Evaluating a Handfeeding Formula

http://www.hbdintl.com