Cooked Soft Food Recipe
by Joy Thompson

(ABVP Certified Avian Veterinarian approved)

Updated 11/7/2000

Small Batch:

3/4 c. pearl brown rice
3/4 c. hulled barley
3/4 c. hard red wheat berries (a grain)
1/2 c. salad macaroni

All these grains can be found in the bulk foods section of your local grocery or health food store.

Fill a large (8 qt.) pot 2/3 full of water, add the wheat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for 10-15 min. or until just starting to soften around the edges.

Add the rice and barley and cook 10-15 min more, until grains are just starting to soften. Add the macaroni and cook until macaroni is tender.

Remove from heat and add:

1/2 lb. frozen whole kernel corn
1/4 lb. frozen chopped broccoli
1/4 lb. frozen peas and carrots
1/2 chopped green bell pepper

Mix and let sit for 15-20 minutes till the veggies thaw, keeping them covered by adding cold water. Mix again, then ladle into strainer and rinse thoroughly with cold water and drain (I usually let them drain about 20 min.) till they don't drip water. Then put it into packages that will be used in 3 days and/or freeze the rest. Do not store more than three days in the refrigerator. Thaw frozen food overnight before feeding.

Be careful not to overcook. These foods must be just at the tender stage and not mushy or the birds won't eat them as well as the nutritional values may be lost.

You can use diced potatoes or sweet potatoes, added at the time you would put carrot in. They like those, also. The broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes and bell peppers are all very necessary veggies because each has extremely important vitamins the birds need. Macaroni (or other pasta) is very important, also, as it contains one nutritional need that no other bird food contains.

This recipe is one I derived by asking my avian vet, each time I made changes, if it was a healthy diet for my birds and was told this was great and "don't forget fresh green, leafy veggies".

Larger Batch

I use these amounts for a 4-day supply for 50 birds of the Quaker and Sun Conure sizes. I cook this in a 16 quart pot.

3 c. hard red wheat berries
3 c. pearl brown rice
3 c. hulled barley
2 c. macaroni

2 lb. package of frozen corn
1 lb. package frozen chopped broccoli (cut broccoli is larger chunks and too big for the little birds)
1 lb. package frozen mixed peas and carrots
1 chopped green  bell pepper

Follow the same general cooking directions as above.

-Joy Thompson