Why am I such a freak about diet? Well, let me explain something. You can take your bird to the Vet 90 times a year, but until you make sure their diet is healthy, no Vet is going to be able to do a thing. And it always comes down to the same thing, doesn’t it?
“What are you feeding your bird?”
Well? What are you feeding your bird? If you’re feeding it nothing but a seed mix, you’re down the road to Vet hell. Seriously, diet has a huge influence on a bird’s overall health. If you feed her crap, she’s not going to feel good, and I think we all know what a pain in the keester a cranky parrot is.
There’s tons of information out there. If you’re reading this blog, you are sitting in front of the best teaching tool ever invented. Use it. Listen, I know I’m a nag. I know I harp on this crap over and over again. I harp about a lot of things. And I nag about this particular thing because it’s worth nagging about. Quit. With. The. All-Seed. Diet. And try and spread the word. Share your Chop. Share the concept at your bird club.
Time and time again, I have heard from people who have made “Chop” and seen vast improvements in their flock’s health appearance and demeanor.
Robert, who writes the blog, Confessions of a Crazy Parrot Person, wrote about a batch of chop he was making:
” …it is without a doubt ingenious because it almost guarantees our birds will get a smattering of everything, it really is a great way to get diversity of fresh foods consumed. I been making Chop now for a few months, and again, I have seen significant improvement in my birds health—significant!!”
Irena Schulz at Bird Lover’s Only stated that she noticed improvement in a bird’s health when she introduced one of her rescue birds to chop. The bird in question had slightly abnormal values on bloodwork that were spot on after being given the CHOP for about 2 months or so. While there is no hard conclusive evidence that the introduction of chop was responsible, Irena had a hunch:
” …someone could argue that over a year’s time, everything balanced out on their own. But I feel differently…I think it’s the addition of CHOP. Unfortunately, there is no conclusive evidence that it was the CHOP. It’s just my own gut feeling that it had something to do with it.”
Jacque Johnson at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary has birds at home as well as a hundred or so she’s in charge of at the Sanctuary. After my visit to Best Friends, she tried making chop for her birds at home. When she was finished with her second batch, she sent me an email:
“Made chop again this afternoon. This time the kids knew what I was doing and were dancing in anticipation as I dished up their bowls. I will never, ever feed my kids any other way.”
I’ve heard stories like this over and over. On forums, chat groups and in private messages, it’s the same story. “Chop:” It’s worth the effort.
Patricia Sund
Parrot Nation 
October 20, 2011 at 1:57 pm
For someone that is somewhat new to following this blog, would it be possible to post a chop recipe or a link to where I can find a recipe? I’m not a cook so chop would be perfect. The last time I made something similar to chop my bird refused to touch it. I’d like to try again though and maybe this time around will be better. I look forward to joining the chop ranks!
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October 20, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Hi Alissa,
On the right hand side of this blog is a section titled: “Videos: Instructional, Recipes and General.” You will see videos titles: Autumn Chop, Chop Video,and Teenie Weenie Beanies. That will get you started! If you have any other questions, let me know. There is no recipe because what you put in shifts with what is fresh, available, in season and inexpensive. You make Chop in bulk seasonally and freeze it. It’s a great concept because it frees you up in the day to day. Watch the videos, get back to me and I’ll help you some more!
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October 21, 2011 at 10:56 pm
Patricia!
Thank you so much for your response. I’ve seen a lot of the other videos on this page but somehow I missed the section of videos I needed the most! I have a few questions for you though. As I stated before, I’m not a cook. So I’m worried about the “dry” foods in my chop making it too dry once I add everything else. I don’t want it to be runny but I also don’t want it to be too dry. I want to make a small batch of chop this weekend (hopefully) to see how it turns out as well as how my bird reacts to it. I’m also worried I might put too many vegetables in, should this be a concern? It sounds like you just kind of put whatever you want in your chop which makes it difficult because I don’t even know what half the stuff you are using is! I know the grains and the vegetables obviously but I’m assuming if I go to the local Natural Grocers they will be able to point me in the right direction (at least that’s what I’m hoping).
At this point in time, it is extremely difficult to get my bird to eat any kind of vegetables. He’ll eat fruits but not veggies. I’ve resorted to mixing organic baby food with a birdie bistro mix. Although this is working for us right now, I’d much rather have him on a better diet. Thank you in advance!
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October 22, 2011 at 6:24 am
Please don’t worry about making the Chop too dry. The opposite is true. I’ve made Chop countless times and not once has it ever come out, “too dry.” And start out simply: if you want to start small, begin with 1 carrot, a stalk of broccoli, a couple of leaves of purple cabbage, some watercress, a hot pepper, 1 zucchini, etc. Add what you know. Don’t worry about the first few batches and being perfect. You’ll get the hang of it.
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October 20, 2011 at 2:10 pm
Patricia– I made a nice big batch of chop and my birds would not touch it. I was heart-broken. I drizzled red palm oil on it, smeared organic peanut butter on it and finally hid it in birdie bread, but they would not eat it unless it was in the bread. I thought it looked, smelled and tasted good although it was on the wet side. Any suggestions? I have a really bad plucker and would LOVE to see him nosh down on his veggies. I do offer fresh kale, broccoli, carrots, and bell peppers along with cooked yams. He liked the yams for awhile at least but tosses all the rest…
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October 20, 2011 at 2:22 pm
They don’t recognize it as food yet. Keep trying. You will get some waste, but keep at it. Try salad dressing. Just a schmear: https://parrotnation.com/2011/01/19/a-schmear/
Most birds take right after it. Just today, I finally got my Greys to eat apple slices. They loved them! This was after years of trying. I feel like all of the apple pieces that went down before paid the price. But now I have 3 Greys that will eat apple. So you see, we all have the same issues. Keep after it. They’ll get it. Keep me posted and good luck.
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October 20, 2011 at 2:24 pm
And Kate? If you give it in Bird Bread, they are still getting the nutrients. And they are “getting the idea.” It’s a good strategy. Try putting it in scrambled eggs next.
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October 20, 2011 at 9:35 pm
I love the idea of having Chop ready in the freezer…have made big batches twice…it has all gone to waste. my grey won’t touch it. i won’t give up, but it’s pretty disheartening to spend all that time making it and tossing every bowl until it is all gone….then start again. 😦
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October 21, 2011 at 6:08 am
Try mixing it in with food your Grey already eats. A little bit with his current food. Mix well so it gets into everything. Slowly over the weeks, increase the amount of Chop in the bowl. You can also make bird bread with it and mix it with other warm foods, favorite foods, or make scrambled eggs with it. Give that a shot and keep me posted.
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October 21, 2011 at 9:42 pm
I had “shared custody” of my babies with my ex for a while. In their most recent stay here, they all had a checkup and I had a sound talking to about the seeds in their diet. I usually fed half-and-half with pellets. Well, the cockatiel was too fat and the parrot was not getting everything he needed.
I finally got them on all pellets after only a week and was planning on moving them over to Chop once I was able to move myself on to something that took more than 2 minutes to cook (I spend more time getting bowls for the birds than myself!!).
On Monday, the ex is coming to collect the birds for the last time. I know they’re going back to an all-seed diet and won’t be getting any of the behavioural training I’ve been working so hard on. Even worse, I think they’ll be covered up a majority of the short midwest day.
I’m beside myself. I’ve seen in such a very short time how food quality changes a bird. Everything I’ve done for them is now going to be undone. He just refuses to take care of them. I could say more, but I’m just too heartbroken to.
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October 21, 2011 at 10:52 pm
My birds all love chop and I love knowing they are getting so many healthy nutrients in every single bite. Thank you for making it so easy Patricia!
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December 30, 2011 at 1:20 pm
I just stumbled on your blog last night, and I LOVE it. I have a bunch of ingredients for chop, and I wanted to ask — when you take it out of the freezer, do you put it in the fridge to thaw, and then scoop out cold chop to give to birdie? Or do you nuke it? Also, if I scrambled some egg with the shell included, could that be included in the original chop batch to be frozen, or does the egg have to be added fresh? THANK YOU if you get a chance to respond. I used to live in FL, BTW.
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December 30, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Hi! I’m so glad you like my blog! Makes me feel good. To thaw the chop,I take it out of the freezer and into the fridge the night before. Then when I start the coffee in the morning, I place the bag on top of the hood of the coffee maker so as the coffee maker heats up to make the coffee, it warms the bag of chop.
If you do the egg thing, boil the egg shell first for a couple of minutes to lessen the chance of bacteria on the shell. Then make your scrambled eggs with the shell and serve fresh and warm with the chop. Or do as I do and add the chop into the eggs when you cook them. Glad to see you here and thank you for the comments!
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