I don’t know why this occurred to me, but it did. I was thinking about zip-loc bags and the integral part of they play in storing Chop. This innocent little sandwich bag has become a big part of my life. And from the email I get, it seems to have become a staple in the lives of many other people and their birds.

Chop in Snack-sized bags

As I was thinking about how to title this post, the phrase, “Zip-loc Life” kept coming  back and with it, the song, “It’s the Hard-Knock Life” from the Musical, “Annie” which shows you the direction my brain wanders every once in a while. So, seeing as we just went down Bizarre Boulevard, let’s take look in a few of the windows shall we?

First of all, I felt compelled to rewrite the first few stanzas of the song, and God forbid, if you want to sing along, here’s the link to music from the original song: Annie: The Musical

It’s the Zip-Loc Life

It’s the Zip-loc life for us!

It’s the Zip-loc life for us!

 ‘Steada Dicin’’
We unzip!

 We get kisses,

 They got no lips!

 It’s the Zip-loc life!

Got no woes to speak of, so,

It’s the Zip-loc row we know!

 Lotsa choices,

 It’s no bull!

 Comfy Bellies

 Aways full!

 It’s the Zip-loc life!

After getting that out of my system, I began thinking about some questions I’ve gotten regarding packaging Chop for the freezer.

I happen to have three Greys, so it’s easy enough to store their meals in a regular zip-loc. But I got an interesting question from a reader who has little, tiny, eensie weensie birds and only a couple of them. What is she to do when she is packaging up little tiny amounts of Chop for her mini-flock?

I ruminated about this and came up with a solution: 2×2 zip-lock storage bags:

You can find these bags at the  “Scrap Rack”

I think they would be perfect for small amounts of Chop and of course they are reusable if you wash and rinse them out, allowing them to dry thoroughly.  Of course, there are other sizes available as well, so you can not only tailor your Chop, you can modify the way you want to package it to suit your particular needs.

I guess what it comes down to is options. And the one thing you always have with Chop, are options- how to make it, what to put in it, how to package it and how to store it. If it works for you, then the more likely you are to continue making it and feeding it to your birds.

I’ve said before that Chop is a solution to the problem Liz Wilson pointed out at one time or another; that people simply have a difficult time managing their schedules to prepare fresh food for their flock twice a day, every day for decades. Chop is more of a response to a behavioral issue of humans. Yes, it’s great for the birds. But the real beauty of it lies in the fact that it sets up the environment for success. It’s difficult for most people to feed fresh food to the flock twice a day. And while making Chop is no walk in the woods, it’s easier in the day-to-day.

You may call me "Small Batch"

I don’t know what’s worse, having other people underestimate you or underestimating yourself. Both kind of blow. Sometimes you underestimate yourself, yet you find that you could indeed do whatever it was that you didn’t think you could do. That’s very uplifting and a hell of a confidence builder.

Having had other people underestimate your abilities or reach just tends to make me mad. And bitchy. Well, at least that’s how it affects me. I get kind of upset.

And then there are the things I wouldn’t dream of attempting.

One thing that always stunned me were my classmates from high school who simply picked up, got married and began having children when they were 19 or 20. How did they do that? The entire concept terrified me. Kids? A husband? At that age? I was mystified, not because the entire idea made me want to whack myself over the head with a cast iron skillet, but because it just seemed so hard. I mean, Good God, there are easier paths in life to choose than that.

I asked a classmate friend of mine who ended up with three kids, probably before she was 25 and her answer, although probably entirely truthful, stunned me. She said, “When you’re that age, you don’t know you can’t, and so you just end up just doing what you need to do.”

“So, you chose to do it?”

“Not really; it just seemed like, well, that was just what you did.”

Oh.

Then of course came the, “If I had it to do over again…blah,blah,blah…but I would never have skipped the kids! I adore my children!”

Well, of course she does.

Naturally, I thought the woman had lost her mind starting around the time she underestimated herself and decided that getting married and having kids was her only option.

I guess you’re all wondering where the “Parrot Aspect” fits into this. Well, it does and it doesn’t. Life with parrots is a part of our life. And as I’ve always maintained, if it takes up a fair chunk of your life, then you might be doing it right.

That said, I’m all for cutting down the workload and creating more spare time so you can actually have a life. Because parrots should be a part of your life. They should enhance the quality your life and make it better. More fun.

The easier and more efficient something is, the more likely you are going to enjoy it. If you have happy, healthy, well trained parrots, then you’re going to like your life a hell of a lot more than if you didn’t. It might take some work and effort to get there, but once you do, you and your family and your birds will be happier.

It’s up to us to work out how to make that happen. And if you say you can’t, then well, I think you’re underestimating yourself.

I’m always open to new ideas about how to make life with parrots, easier, more efficient, happier, cleaner and more sane. If you have any brilliant, innovative ways of doing things, send them here! We could always use some new techniques, new methods, or a cool way to save time.

I created a video assembled from photos sent by friends and Parrot Nation Readers from all over the place. It was a small project and I did the editing in about two days, but it was a lot of fun to put together. What I wanted to do was show you that Chop is indeed a “Concept.” As available ingredients vary from place to place and from Continent to Continent, Chop is never going to be the same.

You will also find your own Chop varying from season to season.  It was a quick and dirty editing job. I didn’t have the time to spend day-after-day fine-tuning it and photoshopping it, but I made a copy so I can work on it later should I need to.  You might want to keep it on the small screen as blowing it up to full size will be disappointing. I couldn’t render the images the way I wanted them as I am still learning, but it’s not bad for two days of work.

This is your Chop. Your way. From your kitchens. With your birds. Congratulations! You’re doing a beautiful job making it your own.

Here is the Video of Chop from, well, everywhere and also from many of you. Thank you to all who sent me photos. I hope you like it:

My Office at 35,000 feet.

While I try to keep up with the forums and blogs about what the heartbeat of the avian world is up to, (meaning the average parrot owner just like me) I have a tough time keeping up with them all due to my schedule. I’m either flying for work, or flying to get somewhere to do a presentation or do research or some such reason for the journey.

And there is the ever-present floor that needs a mopping. But I do get to meet really cool people:

Concetta! (Concetta DellaRocco- Ferragamo)

But I think it’s terrific the forums are busy because that means you are all yakking up a storm, exchanging information and helping each other out.

Paula Rossow, Irena Schulz and moi at the Midwest Bird Expo

Occasionally I run across a post about the Chop Concept. And I found one particularly interesting. When the Chop Video link was put up, someone saw all of the stuff I used to make Chop and stated the following:

“wow that is like 80+ bucks in ingredients.”

The original poster responded this way:

“When I picked up the ingredients for my batch of chop, I spent about $30 and didn’t use everything….I made the batch back around the 1st of October and I still have at least half left. I feed 8 parrots and 9 parakeets with it. I don’t feed it everyday, but several times a week.”

It was posted on the 30th of December which means she got through half of her Chop in three months.

The Real Quaker Oats

Now it sounds like making Chop or Teenie Weenie Beanies is expensive. It is- the day you make it. But once you bag it up and freeze it, you won’t be making it for quite a while, so you have to look at it as “cost-per-serving” or cost per day.  I never really figured it out to the penny, but I knew I was feeding three African Greys two meals a day for less than a buck.  And because I have never fed bulk seed on any real basis at all, I have no idea what it would cost to feed my birds the seed. But I can almost guarantee it’s less than 3 plus bucks a pound you probably have to pay for seed.

Have any of you figured it out? Does any one really know how much it costs you to serve Chop as opposed to the higher-pried model? I know it’s different every time, but perhaps some of you have done the costing out? I’d love to know what you’ve come up with.

One of the things you must deal with when you have a blog is Spam. In my case it’s pretty clear cut. Word Press, the platform on which I produce my blog has this handy little program named Askimet that filters out what it believes are crap comments that are only designed to respond to posts in a generic way so that their links can be visible to the readers in hopes you will click on them. Askimet catches almost all of them. I think it’s missed three or four in the almost four years I’ve been blogging and it had the decency to scratch its head, tap me on the shoulder and ask, “Ummm, did you want me to put this comment up? Because this one looks a little fishy…”

I assure you, it gets a bit wild and wooly and I had absolutely no idea the types of websites were out there until I took a look at who was trying to get on my blog via the comments. Sheeesh! Occasionally, I take a look and need a shower shortly after reading where the comment is coming from. Some are fairly gross.

Now, occasionally I will get a comment from someone from a foreign country who’s grasp of English is a little sketchy, but if I understand what they are trying to say, I’ll clean the comment up for them just a tad to make it more understandable. I feel that if  I found a blog in a foreign language that I translated using Google and the translator did a fairly crappy job translating my comment, I’d want a fairly godmother to clean up what I was trying to say. So I don’t feel too bad about that.

But I’m absolutely flabbergasted by some of the links and the idiocy of most of the comments. Some are from dating websites, online casinos, drug, supplement and prescription websites, colon cleansers, carpet cleaners and porn sites, (just from the links and the descriptions posted, I was getting a rash and a bad case of the heaves.) One website obviously had no clue and left me seventeen screens worth of mindless, inane comments. Seventeen! Obviously, they had a list of pre-formatted comments written to choose from and instead of choosing one, they just shot the entire list over. Here is a sample. A very small sample: 

Thank you for your blog.Really thank you! Cool.
Im grateful for the blog article.Much thanks again. Cool.
Im grateful for the blog post.Thanks Again. Great.
A round of applause for your blog post. Awesome.
I think this is a real great blog. Much obliged.
“Appreciate you sharing, great blog post.Much thanks again.”
Thanks-a-mundo for the article.Much thanks again. Want more.
Muchos Gracias for your article post.Thanks Again. Really Great.
“Wow, great post.Much thanks again. Much obliged.”

And the websites that send these comments? Ewww. However, some of the comments are hilarious! I didn’t touch them. These comments came to me in the condition you see. Behold:

I may visit your site oftenly and introduce it to my neibourghhood.

thank you for sharing with us, I conceive this website really stands out : D.

 This service is mainly unique pokies games to folks who’re with the millionaire position.

 The words throughout those two words and phrases actually clarify themselves.

 Don’t look and feel a present horse from the mouth

 Great post about how to buy used bucket trucks. I write a blog and would love to have you write a guest post. Let me know if you’re interested. You can contact me at how to buy used bucket trucks.

Definitely believe that which you stated. Your favorite reason seemed to be on the internet the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while people consider worries that they plainly dont know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and defined out the whole thing without having sideeffects , people can take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks

Thing one (My laptop) goes almost everywhere with me.

Sometimes, the backside of this blog is kind of entertaining…

The revolution I’m talking about is what’s going on in the average parrot’s diet. Yes, I’m talking about the “Chop Revolution.” It seems to be spreading far and wide and I couldn’t be happier. And if you’re in the Springfield, VA area this Saturday, January 7th, you have an opportunity to attend a Phoenix Landing event at ten a.m. in the morning. I’ll be talking about “Chop” and the entire concept and story behind it.  Here is the information:

Click on the Logo for more information!

NOURISH TO FLOURISH: CHOP CHOP! with PATRICIA SUND

SPRINGFIELD, VA
SATURDAY
January 7th
10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon
Grace Presbyterian Church
7434 Bath Street

I’ve been invited by Phoenix Landing to give a bit of an overview on “Chop;” how to make it, how to store it, and the benefits. I know it’ll be a ton of fun. Lots of people I haven’t met but have communicated with will be there and I’m very excited to be able to meet them. And I’d love to meet you too. I mean really; this is going to be fun.

First off, I can talk about Chop until I’m blue in the face:

I love talking about something I believe in. Ever notice when you take a photo of someone who’s speaking, their mouth is always open?

Phoenix Landing is a wonderful organization that was founded by Ann Brooks. And she got behind the Chop concept as soon as she saw the benefits and its efficiency. So I’m quite happy to come up and answer questions, fill in some blank spots and encourage people to make some Chop. So if you’re in the neighborhood, please, please swing by and say “Hi!” I hope to make sure it’s entertaining. See you there!

Janet’s Portuguese Water Dogs Looking Ahead

We’re wrapping up what I referred to in an earlier post, “An Eventful Year.” Yes it was. And not just for me, but for the Avian Community and the world. Not all of it was positive. Not all of it was a step in the right direction. But the learning that went on even during the worst of times was a positive thing.

I always like to look forward to the coming year in hopes that it will be better as a result of what I have learned and experienced. I like to be able to say that I know more now than I did a year ago. And I hope you all can very safely say the same. But what can we as an Avian Community do to make things better? How do we improve our lives and the lives of our flocks? Susan Friedman has a quote that she placed on the bottom of her emails by W. Edwards Deming:

 “Learning is not compulsory…neither is survival.”

I love this quote and while I find it astute, I find it humorous as well.  Even in Susan’s emails, she is forever the teacher. But if you think about it, in order to survive, animals are constantly having to shift with their environment, to adapt to what is happening around them or they perish. We should really follow their lead because they’re the ones getting it right. We’re the ones who are constantly trying to bend things to suit us and our lifestyle. We really need to become more “Gumbyish.”

If we began the new year learning more about diet, behavior and training, general care and enrichment, this will not only improve the lives of our birds, but in turn, our lives as well. And God knows I’m all for upgrades!

I’m not one for making any resolutions but I am one for thinking about stuff I want to accomplish in the coming year. One thing I’d like to do is take the American Federation of Aviculture’s “Fundamentals of Aviculture” online class. I think it would be very enightening and I know I’d learn a ton.

I also want to get more writing done. But then, I always want to get more writing done. 

I want to get my office straightened up. It used to look great. Now? Not so much. And no I’m not posting a photo…

I want to try and save more money. I’m pretty tight with a buck now as it is, but I could probably get tighter. Unfortunately I’m ruing the day that I discovered the “Kindle App” for my iPad. Amazon has never sold so many books to anyone since I did that. I warn you, it’s addictive.

But more than anything, I really want to get ahold of my life and really live it. Yes, I do that now, just as most of us do. But I’d like to get some things moving in the right direction and that is going to take a chuck of time, something I usually don’t have much of. So, I’ll just have to crowbar it in somewhere.

More than anything, I want people in aviculture to learn more about feeding their birds well. That is my hope for next year. I fully support positive reinforcement training, foraging, enrichment, great health care and Vet visits.

But as I once explained my zeal to someone who asked why I was so interested and enthusiastic about bird diet, “You can’t train a deceased bird.”

There’s other things I want to learn, to improve upon, to get better at.

Or as the Mad Hatter said to Alice, “You used to be much more… ‘muchier.’ You’ve lost your muchness.”

http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alice2a.html

I don’t want to lose my “muchness.” I simply want to be “Much more so.” Well, here’s to 2012 and “much more so.” May we all become “Muchier!”

http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alice2a.html

http://www.california-injury-lawyer-blog.com/tylenol.png

As Johnson & Johnson titled their Corporate report for 1982 in the wake of the Tylenol tampering, 2011 was for me, “An Eventful Year.”

January was a chilly month here in Florida and an active one for me as January normally is. The Houston Parrot Festival occurs every year in January which is an incredibly fun event. I plan on going again this coming January.

Mancuso!

As the year progressed, I blogged away, yakking about this and that as thoughts occurred to me, and I managed to cobble together a couple of pretty funny and entertaining quizzes that were shared be many. The post, “Preparing Yourself For Getting a Bird” proved to be a popular way of testing your “Parrot Readiness.” I was in a squarely mood that day and wanted to include a humorous test for people about getting a bird. It worked.

The “Animal Superheroes Contest” turned out to be one of the more popular posts of the year. There were so many entries that were incredible! But “Bart Man” and his Crew reigned supreme:

My essay, “I Don’t Believe in Starter Birds” rocked a few forums and became a subject of debate and discussion. It was occasionally referred to when someone on a forum asked what kind of “beginner “bird” they should get. You already know my opinion on that subject.  What began as a post about Irene Pepperberg coming to South Florida to speak and appear at a fundraiser dinner turned into a little fundraiser of its own.

From the post, “Dinner With Irene,” sprang “The Latte Factor Campaign.” I suggested here and at Facebook and Twitter, that everyone forgo one cup of their favorite designer cup of coffee, and send the money to The Alex Foundation.  It worked.

Right after this little adventure, The Midwest Bird Expo rocked the Chicago suburbs, as did the “Choppettes,” who ground, chopped and bumped their way into producing an enormous heap of Chop for the Bird Lovers Only Rescue.

Of course, it was during this little adventure that I woke up to Cookie the Penguin going solidly viral at Youtube. CBS Miami did a story about it, my life went nuts at that point and doesn’t appear to be getting any saner.

All along the way, my “Chop Concept” was gaining ground and due to the blog, high interest in a low-cost, low effort, efficient way of feeding good stuff to your birds, people were clicking on the blog videos of how to make Chop.

At the end of June, I lost my dog Mattie. Naturally, I was devastated and still miss her and think of her every day. She remains one of the most wonderful things that ever walked into my life. I wrote about it here: “Moving Through the Pain.”

Around August, the feathers hit the fan with this post, “An Urgent Situation.” This was the breaking news of the Troy, Ohio parrot hoarding incident and I was told about it two days before the rescues went in to attempt to get the birds out. Initially, I didn’t want to report it as I normally don’t post that kind of thing, but I relented and it became the tipping point to a wake-up call.

This, was the wake-up call: My post “An Avian Auschwitz” turned the tide in revealing hideous details of the situation and remains one of the most read and most shared posts here at PN. I wrote only two posts about the matter simply because I wrote only what I knew about it. I wasn’t there, I didn’t witness it and I’m not comfortable with speculation. But these posts did get around and people truly began realizing how much things need to change.

 I thought about this and other matters during a vacation in Charleston and cooked up this post with my idea for a “Summit.”  This began a dialogue that went well into Autumn. But what really got people talking was the video Best Friend Animal Society released on their Channel at Youtube. “The Truth About Parrots” was and still remains controversial and stirred up a dust storm that 20 molting cockatoos pale in comparison.

There were, of course other posts that were fun, well-received and entertaining to write. I’m still writing for BIRD TALK and The Bird Channel which I love. But this pretty much covers most of the highlights of 2011.

Was it an eventful year? Very much so. Not all of it was good. But so many good things did happen and it made the year a good one for Aviculture. While there were many negative events, birds got adopted or rescued, more people are learning how to better feed and care for their birds, and the awareness of the fact that something needs to be done about situations like the Troy, Ohio incident got people to think. To take stock of their own flock’s care and perhaps what they can do to pay it forward in some way.

 And to me, that makes it all worth it. Thank you all so much for stopping by this year, and I hope you check out next year’s adventures. I don’t know what’s going to happen in 2012. But I sure hope it’s interesting.

Thanks, Everyone!