Parrot Nation

How can you be creative with your flock’s diet? How can you change up your routine and keep things fresh not only for you, but for your birds? Robin Shewokis would call this enrichment.  My friend Melissa calls them “Condiments.” I call it “Getting jiggy with it.”

There are lots of ways to “riff” on Chop and Grain Bake, but one of the best ways is to choose a combination of flavors you are familiar with. Certain flavors go together. Not unlike Forrest Gump’s comment about he and his friend Jenny getting along like peas and carrots, certain foods and flavorings just work together and some don’t.

You wouldn’t put spaghetti sauce on oatmeal. And chicken pot pie filling simply doesn’t work in a taco shell. So working out a flavor family is one way of giving your Chop or Grain Bake a particular taste and aroma that works.

I’m quite partial to Thai food. In one of the flavor families of the cuisine, the use of cilantro, ginger and garlic is in play. Bump that up with some hot peppers and you’ve got yourself a really good tasting dish.

In Mexican cuisine, you’ll once again find cilantro, but they use cumin to give it a distinct taste. Italian food? Well, basil and oregano play heavily into their flavor family.

In Indian cuisine they love curry. So finding a particular flavor family for a dish goes a long way in making a Grain Bake or Chop that is tasty for your flock and pleasant for you to make. Play around with the flavors and cuisines you like,  apply those ideas to your Chop or Grain Bake and watch them go tails up!