Bob’s Chop! Gorgeous!
Robert is a bird person in a big way. What I mean by that is that he has big birds. Here is Bob’s bio that he wrote and sent along to me for the post:
“Robert is not exactly a newcomer to aviculture, he has been in its midst for over 30 years. Robert’s passion first took off when he saw the Dr. Dolittle’s companion, a Blue and Gold Macaw named Polynesia in the famous film starring Rex Harrison. From that point, there was no looking back. In Bob’s pre-teen years his parents bought him a cockatiel from a bird studio in the Chicago Old Town area. The store, Sedgewick Studios was owned by an older gentleman from Germany named Erlang—Erlang became a model of what Bob wanted to become. Later on, Bob saw his first Hyacinth and that species became the Macaw he wanted to have one day.
His passion took him through having budgies, cockatiels, Amazons, conures, cockatoos, and finally to his true passion—macaws. Bob currently shares his life with a Hyacinth Macaw named Miss Maggie:
a Greenwing Macaw named Blaze:
and a Blue-front Amazon named Popeye:
Typical of many bird people, Bob’s birds eat a more balanced diet than he does and striving to find a perfect diet for his flock brought him to Chop. As we all know, getting our birds to eat a variety of foods is difficult and in his opinion, it is even more difficult for those with Hyacinths. In order to maintain these magnificent psitticines we must offer a variety that is packed with healthy nutrients and fats and to ensure that it is done efficiently. Every mouthful has to count.
After reading Patricia Sund’s blog, and discussing Chop with her, he made his first batch. Bob’s Hyacinth picked through it and Chop made her more inquisitive compared to other foods. Now, she will take other foods without them being chopped, but Bob believes Chop initiated her curiosity towards other foods.
Robert is a graphic designer by profession and education, but his true passion is parrots.”
Bob lives in the Chicago area and is very devoted to his flock. So devoted in fact, that for their sake, he did this to his kitchen making Chop:
Compared to what my kitchen looks like Après Chop, this is actually quite neat. My kitchen on the other hand, looks like the inside of a dumpster after I’m done making a batch. I never could get the hang of that “clean up as you go” concept. However, I can assure you, it’s worth it. But I digress…
Bob did some research and settled on making Chop for his crew. The results were astounding as you will see. Bob made about 20 pounds which, even with his crew of jetliner birds, will last for quite a while. Bob chose a nice array of vegetables that seemed to work well together in terms of color and nutrition balance. He also chose to add beans right in with his Chop instead of making a separate bean mix which is just fine.
Jacqueline Johnson, the Parrot Garden Manager at Best Friends does the same thing. But you can always mix things up with an assortment of toppings to get more of a taste variety.
Bob used kale, collards and other greens, a very nutritious and important part of Chop. He selected brown rice, quinoa, and whole grain pasta as his starches and carbs; all excellent choices.
His other vegetables included carrots, zucchini, broccoli, red and green peppers and cooked pumpkin. This batch is dead on for a nice smack of Vitamin A and calcium!
Bob also did something I used to do and is still a good alternative if you like what you see. He used 2 five pound bags of mixed frozen vegetables. He used cinnamon as a spice which works with the pumpkin addition:
Some carrots for the crowd:
All in all, Bob did a great job with his Chop and I believe that he’s gotten the hang of making it in short order. Sometimes people have an issue with getting it dry enough to freeze fresh. If it’s too moist, it has a tendency to thaw out with a mushy texture; something you don’t want. So undercook the rice, quinoa or pastas a bit so they can readily sop up some of the moisture from the vegetables.
I’m curious to find out how long Bob’s Chop is going to last. Which reminds me, I’m getting a little low myself. So soon it’ll be time to haul out my big-ass stock pot and make another batch. Stay tuned! Many thanks to Bob for allowing me to profile his Chop making efforts.
October 2, 2011 at 7:23 pm
We make (or should I say made) chop for our flock (rescue and ‘ours’) for a long time. Ever since we added 3 additional Grey’s to the mix we found they do not eat it. They like fruits/veggies, but they don’t seem to like it in the “chop” form. We are not sure what the reasoning is. We tried adding the quinoa but the only one who would eat that batch was the baby (CAG). The 3 others still wouldn’t touch it. Do we just keep on keeping on here or do you have some advice? Currently we put green, red & yellow peppers, carrots, broccoli, jalapenos, alfalfa sprouts, quinoa, peas & corn in ours… they eat the peas & corn (we do the frozen in that) but the rest is left. Maybe they just dont like peppers?
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October 2, 2011 at 7:30 pm
Keep at it. Eventually they will most likely get the hang of it. Have you thought of adding “A Schmear?” Here is the link that explains things: https://parrotnation.com/2011/01/19/a-schmear/
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October 2, 2011 at 7:37 pm
Thanks, I think I just may try the “Schmear” tactic.
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October 2, 2011 at 11:09 pm
i love making “chop” for my fids. that’s a nice tip about not cooking the carbs all the way through. but how come it’s bad if it’s mushy?
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October 3, 2011 at 6:45 am
It’s not bad. I just feel it’s more appetizing to my birds if it’s crisper with a firmer texture. I happen to prefer my pasta a bit more al dente. One person who makes Chop wrote to me about her birds preferring it smoother and mushier. I just think my birds like it resembling fresh vegetables even though it’s been frozen. It all depends on what your birds like, I guess.
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October 3, 2011 at 4:22 pm
oh, ok, i thought mushy was a bad thing. hehe.
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October 7, 2011 at 10:37 am
Bob’s mixture appears to be quite complete and nutritious. But I would like to add an opinion here regarding the implementation of food utilized as behavioral enrichment. This is used in zoos and professional aviary collections to stimulate the birds to behave in a more ‘natural’ manner. Why not take some of those fruits and veggies and present them to your birds as chunks that they have to forage for? This gives the bird something to do and emulates their natural foraging behavior. Wild birds spend their whole day seeking food. It actually makes the food more enticing to the bird that it actually has to ‘work’ for it. In nature, food is not readily available as a conveniently pulverized mix. The more positive psychological stimulation you can present to captive birds, the healthier and more content they will be. Place chunks of fresh fruit and veggies on attachable skewers hung around the cage, or hide them in toys or cage furniture. Watch the bird take great pleasure in discovering such hidden treasures. I love watching my mousebirds while they are hanging on the skewers as they eat chunks of fruit off it. The next best thing to eating it directly off a tree. In this case you can include good nutrition and positive behavioral stimulation.
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January 23, 2012 at 3:13 pm
I really need to find the basic Chop recipe…I’m just one of those “recipe” people.
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January 24, 2012 at 8:10 am
I understand Nancy, and if I was working specifically with you, I might be able to give you direction. But I don’t know what kind of flock members you have, nor do I know what their medical issues they might have, if any. It would be irresponsible of me to tell you how to feed your flock. The whole idea of Chop is that it is a concept. It’s up to you to determine the nutritional needs and particular food preferences of your flock.
This encourages you to do some research and thinning about what they need and how you can best provide for those needs. For instance, I have African Greys which means I try and add more vitamin A and calcium to their diet since that is what they tend to require.
The Chop Concept is really the idea of doing the research for your flock’s requirements and then providing a convenient way to serve that up in the day to day that is healthy, nutritious, and inexpensive.
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January 24, 2012 at 4:28 pm
I have a typical “blended” family; my 13 year old double yellow head and a 4 year old goffin, both hatched and raised on harrisons. I also have a 21 year old grey who has been a harrison bird for the last 12 years. Toby the grey will eat anything, preferring sweat fruit and salty table food. the goffin will eat anything from MY plate and the yellow head likes his harrison and maybe a baked yam or some scrambled eggs once in a while, but totally turns his beak up at anything resembling “healthy rice and beans and veg”. I eat rice, beans and veg!…all organic. I’ve tried adding peanut butter, ranch dressing, salsa, a number of things.
I want to come up with a “chop” recipe that they will all go for and will be good for all three of them. Their vet, Dr.Spear says to stick with the harrison and low fat veg….but nobody will eat even the most colorful array of veg skewers.
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January 24, 2012 at 5:11 pm
Reading these commentaries makes me glad I don’t own any of the larger parrots. I do still have a 15 year old maroon belly conure, but she’s always been a pretty good eater. My mousebirds: no problem. they’re feathered garbage pails. Periodically I take care of a 30 year old African Gray whose owner has raised her on a alot of people food. It’s been a challenge getting her to eat fresh fruit and vegetables, But I have managed to get her interested in at least melons and dark leafy greens. Then I found these Lean Cuisine Roasted Vegetable Pizzas on sale. I normally don’t eat stuff like this, but decided to try them on the gray. I read the ingredients and it has three types of veggies on it and lowfat cheese. So ends up she loves them so I add a few small pieces (heated up) of the pizza in her bowl mixed with healthier stuff (like brown rice and veggies and fruits) and as result, she’s started eating more soft foods. Experiment and try mixing a ‘treat’ food in with the healthier stuff so the flavour of the treat gets into the mix.
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January 26, 2012 at 11:57 am
Patricia,
I am forever grateful for having found someone like you who provides us with such enriching information on the parrot care, and so much knowledge! We came across your CHOP info last year in December on your blog–Parrot Nation. Hubby and I thought your CHOP was such a gret concept that we decided to make it for our flock. And it is a huge success!!!!
We have 4 birds: Kiwi (Green Cheek Conure), Paradise (Hanhs Mini Macaw), Mango (Nanday Conure) and Pistach (Black-Headed Caique). Of all 4 birds, our BHC and Nanday love it the most! Our Nanday is by far our pickiest eater and she LOVES your chop. We were amazed. She has literally dropped her nutriberry to fly over to me whle I was serving their CHOP. I made the regular chop you have, CHOP-step-by-step since it was my first chop to make and it looked so healthy. Our BHC loves it too, he eats and picks through the chop, forages, and just LOVES the pasta ears (same exact one you use). He is a messy little eater and his whole beak is coverd with chop when he is eating it! So great to see them eat like that! Now, my Green-Cheek Conure likes it but doesn’t seem thrilled but will eat some. And our Hahns Macaw has shown an interest…but only looking and….almost trying, but not quite. She is a little picky, she loves bananas, grapes, pomegranites, but has never really cared for fresh grean veggies. To us, this is a great start!
Anyhow, after reading up more on your blog and your chop concept, I am going to try to customize different chops to my flock. I am still going to add all the healthy stuff you add but will change it up a bit, but still offer the original one in between making diffrerent batches. I also want to make your Autumn chop. This way I’ll have a better idea of what they ALL like.
I also loved Bob’s chop (have not made it myself). Next time I make chop I would love to take some pics and show you our progress. We still offer them their other healthy foods, fruits and veggies also.
Thank you so much for having such a great blog! We LOVE your humor, too, it would not be the same without it! I also read BIrd Talk and love your columns. Would love to meet you someday!
By the way, do you sell the T-shirts, GOT CHOP?
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January 26, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Sorry for all the typos…lol. Just noticed them after reading it over. 🙂
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