I found Cindy Here
I remember someone referring to Cindy Crawford in either an interview or a written piece. The writer conjectured that the reason Cindy was such a successful model and lasted so long in the business was because “Cindy knew her body was her office.” In other words, her body was her business and she didn’t mess with ramming it around at all hours, feeding it crappy food and loading it up with controlled substances. She took care of it because it was her business.
This may sound like an odd metaphor, but I do have a bit of a point. Our birds are our family. But they are more than that. In an odd way, they probably deserve as much respect as some members of our family. We chose to bring them into our lives. They depend on us. And they have a tendency to reflect how we treat them. If we give them a good diet, get them sunshine and fresh water, treat and train them well, their demeanor, and appearance will reflect that.
Parker messing around.
My little girl Pepper, is around 21 years old. She’s plucked and tiny, but she’s just gorgeous despite the missing feathers. She’s quite healthy, and eats nutritious food by the truckload. Coming from a rather disadvantaged situation, it took her a while to come around, but she has learned to play and chew, and she is delightful.
A healthy diet is incredibly important. If you throw crap into the tank, the car isn’t going to run very well. If you don’t interact with them, even with ambient attention at the very least, they aren’t going to do as well.
So think about their welfare as your home business and treat them with the same regard and respect as you do your job or business. If you need to write up a schedule for their care, all the better. Taking notes on when you fed what, or when you need to begin sprouting again and keeping it on the fridge might be helpful. These are just some ideas I had. Do you keep notes or write a schedule that helps you better take care of your birds? If you do, I’d love to hear about it.
Patricia Sund
Parrot Nation 
June 11, 2011 at 9:11 am
Great “food” for thought Patricia. I know that with my female Eclectus Miss Scarlet and beagle Jack that they both get the very best of everything. All natural, organic dry food and your “chop” for Scarlet. Makes sense that if our birds are fed very healthy stuff then they can avoid illness.
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June 11, 2011 at 10:31 am
I choose to be vegan mostly for health reasons. I eat animal products my cholesterol averages in the 330 range. I stopped eating animal products – cholesterol woes went away. I don’t eat much pre-processed foods either – when I do, my butt gets big. I come from a long line of heart attack/stroke victims – so it’s my attempt to thwart that genetic hiccup. I’m far from the peta type that will chastise folks for eating meat, wearing fur, etc. Too each their own. I still have & wear leather boots, Longchamp leather purses, etc. It’s a compromise & I don’t make apologies for it.
Having said all that – I still feed my dog meat products. He’s a carnivore. He digs that stuff. He doesn’t have high cholesterol. I buy him organic dog food with limited ingredients (i.e. no random fillers like corn by-products, snouts & toes, etc). I also make him homemade doggie treats because he’s the world’s best dog.
My parrots Kelly & Widget eat ONLY organic veggies, good pelletized diet, healthy treats & generally like what Kent said in an earlier post – they get the best of everything.
I don’t have kids – but my pets are as much my family as a biological offspring would be in my opinion. I have a responsibility to ensure them a long healthy life & what I feed them is part of that obligation.
..Off my soapbox.
Jane 🙂
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June 11, 2011 at 5:50 pm
I am a VERY organized person. I have lists in my house for just about everything. My birds are no different. I modified a copy of our vets report and use these to write notes to myself & others about our birds. Everything “bird” related is kept in a 3-ring binder. Each bird has a page dedicated to them. Instructions on how to care for each bird, their likes/dislikes, temperament, favorite foods, weight, detailed feeding instructions, etc. I use this binder as if it were my parrot bible. Now I know that not everyone is as anal as I am, but to have everything at your finger tips like this sure makes for less hassle; Especially in an emergency.
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