Harrison's Bird Foods High Potency Pepper—Maximum Nutritional Formula for Small to Medium Birds, Certified Organic Non-GMO Pet Bird Food, Vet-Developed, Suitable for All Life Stages, 454 g/ 1 lb

One of my six budgies (aka parakeets) was recently sick with a fungal infection for over a month, which causes a lot of weight loss. Although I hadn't had much luck with offering my flock trial amounts now and then of friends' Harrisons' pellets in the Adult Lifetime Fine variety, I figured it was worth the expense to try to get my sick guy to eat some of the High Potency blend, with the extra calories and nutrition, as it could be a factor in his ability to survive the illness and treatment, and I was willing to try just about anything. I got this extra-small pellet size because it's close to the size of millet grains, and started by mixing a little in with the crushed Nutri-berries and with the fruity Zupreem pellets (x-small) he was already eating a bit of, but he didn't seem to be going for it. After a few days I started offering the Harrison's in its own dish alongside the others, and before I knew it, he was frequently choosing it over even his favorite Nutri-berries! So I switched fully to the Harrison's for his pellets and removed the Zupreem at that point. Now, he's fully recovered, and I'm so thrilled! I hadn't had much hope my sweet little guy would make it, and I strongly suspect that these pellets, along with a very warm, clean environment and lots of rest, were instrumental. Several of the other birds have eaten some of the Harrison's too now after seeing him enjoy it. Woohoo! I've just ordered the 5-lb. bag, and plan to do the 6-month regimen with the whole flock, after which I can hopefully transition them to the Adult Lifetime blend. This brand is on the expensive side, but the quality of the organic ingredients and the reduction of waste makes it worth the cost, and probably even less expensive than a cheaper diet in the long term when you factor in vet bills! If your birds won't eat it, try a smaller size; try mixing it with their favorite foods; try leaving a dish of it in the cage in their favorite spot at all times, and only offering their other food for a shorter time morning and evening. I think once you get them to try it, they realize it's good and want to eat it. UPDATE: If you select the 5lb. bag in Super Fine size, you'll actually be sent the larger Fine size. The image shows the Fine, but the size selection says Super Fine. There doesn't appear to be a way to order Super Fine in a more economical 5lb. bag, and I'm really annoyed at not having the food for my birds that I expected to have.

This is one of the best foods you can buy for your domesticated bird. The ingredients are very high quality, certified organic, and very healthy for your bird. I must confess that I do mix this food with Roudybush, another high quality pellet food. I could not be happier with Harrisions than I am - it simply exceeds all of my expectations. Converting your bird to a pellet diet from a seed diet can be somewhat difficult but if you have patience and are consistent it will pay off, and your bird will be healthier. I highly recommend this product for any domesticated bird. Below is the list of ingredients for the Fine - I hope this review helps you to decide if this this product is for you. If you find this product is too costly, and it is not cheap, do check out Roudybush as well, it is cheaper, but is generally considered not quite as good as this diet and it is not organic, but I do feed my birds both of these foods. Also please note this is the 'high potency' forumula, there is also a daily diet that is a bit of a different recepie but Harrison's recommends if you are changing from another food to Harrision's that you use the High Potency for at least the first six months. Ingredients: *Ground Hulled White Millet (Proso), *Ground Shelled Sunflower Seeds, *Ground Hulless Barley, *Ground Yellow Corn, *Ground Soybeans, *Ground Shelled Peanuts, *Ground Rice, *Ground Green Peas, *Ground Lentils, *Ground Toasted Oat Groats, Chia Seed, *Ground Alfalfa, Calcium Carbonate, Montmorillonite Clay, Spirulina, Ground Dried Sea Kelp, Vitamin E Supplement, Sea Salt, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, d-Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate and Sodium Selenite. *CERTIFIED ORGANIC INGREDIENT Guaranteed Analysis Crude Protein 20.0% min Crude Fat 12.0% min Crude Fiber 5.0% max Moisture 10.0% max I wanted to include here a recipe for a fresh diet that a breeder I highly respect gave me just to offer some advice to keep our pet birds healthier - it is not at all related this the product I have reviewed here but it could very well give you some great ideas to get fresh fruits and vegetables into your bird. All domestic birds, especially parrots, lovebirds, parrotlets, parakeets, canaries, finches, conures, etc, should have fresh fruit and vegetables and they can present a challenge to get them to eat them. Gives this recipe a try Here's a recipe that I make and it took some time for them to get used to it, but now my lovebirds and my parrotlets both eat this when provided. I give it in the morning and remove uneaten food in the evening. 1 apple cored and chopped 1/2 Cup chopped raw broccoli 1 Chopped bell pepper seed included 2 shredded carrots 1/2 Cup chopped greens (bok choy, mustard greens, kale and/or chard) 1/4 Cup frozen corn (can be eliminated if you put slices of raw corn on the cob in treat holders/clips in your cage - all my birds LOVE it and I have had 100% success getting them to eat this) 1/4 Cup frozen peas 1/2 Cup cooked rice (brown or GABA brown rice) 1/2 Cup cooked dried beans (they will need to be soaked overnight for 8 hours) A handful of blueberries, chopped cherries and chopped seedless grapes Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Place ingredients in an ice cube tray and freeze. Remove frozen cubes and place in plastic bags to store in freezer. Then you can take out the perfect portion on a daily basis . They say 1 cube per bird but you may bind that 1 cube will work well for a pair of birds of if smaller birds, even more. Instead of an ice cube tray I use slider freezer bags and press them flat after I fill them with enough of the mixture and this way I can easily break off appropriate sized pieces. This recipe is variable and you can switch out or add/delete ingredients that you have on hand or what you know your birds already like. This recipe is in ADDITION to their regular diet of pellets and seeds and not a substitute.

I have been feeding my Grey parrot Harrison's for the 33 years I've owned him. It is an organic pelleted food that is easy to feed. It has kept my companion in tip top shape, he doesn't look his age and I can be sure he'll have many more years. Grey parrots can live for up to 60 years, so, because of Harrison's Bird food he'll be around for a long while. I supplement his food with fresh vegetables according Harrison's recommendations. Harrison's is manufactured in the US from all organic locally sourced seed and grain, so it's availability and price is not affected by shortages that could be caused by tariffs. If you have a companion bird, I highly recommend that you feed him or her Harrison's. Your bird will be healthy from a well rounded diet.

My macaw loves it! She is very selective of what she eats and got used to her new food quickly.

This is the only pellets my Grey will eat! I always get great shipping and timely deli ery.

My birds love Harrisons! I tried other diets because because of the difficulty getting the Hi Potency Fine in small 5 pound bags as I don't like having to order the 20 pound, waiting over a week to receive my order and then I have opened bags while I'm getting it used up. I rather order multiple 2 lb. bags, more frequently, keeping the food used and fresh instead of dipping out of a 20 lb. bag over and over to fill my glass container that holds 2 lbs. This is the only problem I have. Harrisons fine pellets are the best! Could Amazon carry a dependable stock of Harrisons and not allow it to get so low I am forced into buying the coarse formula that ends up on the cage floor. Thank you! Laura Bothman

Harrison's organic pellets (whether High Potency or Adult Lifetime) are probably THE healthiest and overall best possible main food source for captive parrots/birds. No need to worry about the eventual effects of dyes, pesticides or other nasty chemicals that can harm your bird. Let me just say though... if you have a parrot who has been living off an all-seed / seed mix diet, he or she will in all likelihood NOT like this food right away. The number one most likely reason: SUGAR. Sugar is proven to be, at least in humans, a MOOD-ALTERING SUBSTANCE, like white flour and caffeine. I say, why would it be much different for parrots? My theory is that parrots can be addicted and develop a tolerance for sugar just like we humans can. Thankfully, Harrison's organic pellets, unlike MANY other 'healthy' pellet brands, have NO added sugar. So, like I said, let's say you own a parrot who has been living off a high-fat, high-sugar diet. The best method of diet conversion, in my humble opinion, is GRADUAL. If you just replace the seed mix or whatever crap your poor bird has been eating with something as healthy and wholesome as Harrison's, he or she is just going to turn up his or her nose because he or she WILL NOT PERCEIVE THE PELLETS AS FOOD. Some birds will actually be AFRAID of that weird new stuff you put in his or her food bowl. So, how can you change your parrot's perception in order for him or her to see Harrison's, or any pellet for that matter, as food? Well, put simply, you can't. BUT... there are some sneaky, creative ways to get your parrot to try pellets. There are a few different ways you can do this. Whichever method you choose, it will require a great deal of PATIENCE, so keep that in mind. ***Step 1*** Figure out, as accurately as you can, exactly how much food your bird goes through in one day, if you haven't done so already. You need to know the amount so you can control the proportions of seeds to pellets (more on that momentarily). Notice I said 'how much food your bird GOES THROUGH' rather than 'how much your bird eats'. I say that because we need to also include how much food the bird wastes, say, by dropping pieces of food that fall through the bars at the bottom of the cage. And if you know anything about birds, you are well aware that there is always a LOT of waste. :) (Note: In order to get an accurate measurement, it's best to have TWO separate cages for your bird: one for daytime, and one for nighttime (sleep cage). And don't put any food in the nighttime cage. That way, your bird won't be consuming food you don't know about during the night, in the early morning while you're still sleeping, etc. Also note: this is NOT cruel in any way. In the wild, parrots do not eat during their sleeping hours. From my own personal research, I have found it's best to mimic natural conditions as accurately as possible in order to ensure the best possible health for your bird.) You can find this number by first measuring how much you approximately put in the food dish daily. At this point, I'm assuming that there is plenty of food left over in the dish at the end of the day. Depending on the size of your bird, gradually decrease the (measured) amount, day by day, or week by week if necessary, until you come to an amount that leaves the dish pretty much empty at the end of the day, or at the very least, empty with the exception of the pieces of the 'seed mix' that your parrot doesn't eat. If you own a small bird, such as a budgie (parakeet) or a cockatiel, you might want to decrease the daily amount in increments of 1 or 1/2 tsp at a time. ***Step 2*** Selecting a pellet size appropriate for your bird's size and your bird's personal preferences ("Fine" is appropriate for cockatiels and other birds similar in size... though some budgies might prefer the slightly smaller "super fine"). As this brand recommends, start off with the High Potency type; major diet changes are generally stressful for birds, and therefore they need higher amounts of nutrients during these times, also during molting, etc. (Once your bird is 'converted' to Harrison's High Potency, it should be quite easy to convert to Adult Lifetime since the ingredients are so similar; there shouldn't be much if any difference in taste or texture.) Okay, now that that's out of the way... THE METHODS. In each of these examples, I'm going to use my rescued cockatiel Louie for examples. ***Method #1: Gradual Proportion Changes*** Let's say that I just rescued Louie from his abusive 'home' back in 2011, and he goes through about 8 tsp. of 'seed mix' per day, including the pieces he doesn't touch. For the first week, I will replace 1 tsp. of the seed mix with Harrison's High Potency Fine pellets, and mix it all up. For week 2, I will replace another 1 tsp. of the seed mix with the pellets, totaling 2 tsp. of pellets and 6 tsp. of seed mix. By this time, Louie has likely tried the pellet by accident, and finds the taste to be rather bland, so he doesn't eat them; he prefers his high-fat seeds and high-sugar brightly colored fun-shaped 'pellets' (you know which pieces I'm talking about; my guess is they're made from wheat, corn, and high fructose corn syrup). But as week 3 starts to go by, with 3 tsp. of pellets and 5 tsp. of seed mix, Louie is starting to get hungrier and hungrier after all his favorite pieces of the seed mix are gone, so at the end of the day, he eats a few pellets here and there, even if they are bland, just to satisfy his hunger. Obviously, I continue like this until there is only 1 tsp of seed mix left on week 7, and finally, just pellets at the beginning of week 8 and afterward. But let's say Louie was even pickier and refused to try the pellets, even when there was only, say, 5 tsp. of seed mix left, and he was quite hungry. Here's where we need to get a bit more creative. ***Method #2: Gradual Proportion Changes: CRUSHED*** For this method, if Louie's 'seed mix' has those sugary colorful fun-shaped 'pellets' I talked about, then we're going to take the tedious time to separate these from the rest of the mix. I crush up the Harrison's pellets and the sugary 'pellets' TOGETHER, in a small food processor/blender or what have you, in a proportion of, say, 3/4 sugar pellets and 1/4 Harrison's. Then, I mix the crushed pellets with the seeds, putting the proper measurement in Louie's food bowl. Do this for a week. If Louie likes the sugary pellets, then he will likely not notice much difference in the taste of them crushed up. And he WILL taste them, likely while searching for millet at the bottom of the bowl. The following week, I increase the proportion of the crushed pellets to the seeds, so that there are more pellets this time. I do this for a week. The following week, I change the proportion of the sugary 'pellets' to Harrison's again, this time making it half and half. It's obvious by now where I'm going with this. Keep reducing the seed, increasing the pellets, and increasing the proportion of Harrison's to gradually reduce the amount of sugar until there is no added sugar at all, and he is eating only crushed Harrison's. After that, you can start introducing a small proportion of the Harrison's pellet in its whole form. It's likely that Louie will appreciate the opportunity to crush the pellet in his beak rather than picking and picking bit by bit for tiny crumbs. Uh-oh, but what if even THAT doesn't work? What if Louie's seed mix has none of those sugary 'pellets' with which to do this method? ***Method #3: Pellet Bundles*** This method involves captive foraging. If you're already doing this for your bird, wonderful. But most people unfortunately do not, to the detriment of their bird's health and behavior. For the first week, instead of just pouring the correctly measured amount of seed mix in Louie's food dish, this is what I do: I grab some coffee filters and some scissors, cut the filters up into pieces (4 or 6 pieces depending on the size of the filter), and measure out about 1/2 tsp. of seed mix, placing it on the piece of coffee filter. Then, I carefully (so it doesn't rip) wrap up the food within the filter, gently twisting the ends together. What I have now is a seed/food bundle. I make maybe 2-4 of them and put the rest of the food as I normally do in the bowl. Then I poke a few holes in the food bundles so that Louie will be able to see that there's food inside, and then put the food bundles in to the dish for the day. I do this for about a week or until Louie is accustomed to seeing the food bundles. Gradually work up to all of the food being in food bundles. If Louie eats about 8 tsp. of seed mix per day, then I will need about 16 half-teaspoon food bundles. Eventually, I stop poking holes in the food bundles, that way Louie has to bite into them himself to get to his food. Finally, once he's used to foraging like that, I essentially begin with Method #1: gradually changing the proportions of seeds to pellets. The pellets can be whole, or ground up if you feel the need to be even sneakier about it. This method, in my humble opinion, is the most effective because when he bites into the food bundle, HE CAN'T SEE THE FOOD. So he's going to be accidentally tasting the pellets more and more. And of course, eventually the food/seed bundles will be PELLET BUNDLES. CONCLUSION: Diet conversion is hard, but it can be done with patience and the right approach. All that aside, once your parrot/bird is on Harrison's organic pellets as his or her main food source for good, especially after changing from a seed mix diet, you should notice substantially good changes in his or her behavior, but most importantly, his/her HEALTH! I can say with great confidence that my cockatiel Louie will be with me for many years to come, all because he is on the proper diet! (A cockatiel that eats a healthy, wholesome diet his/her whole life and is cared for properly can live to be in his/her late 20s! But sadly, most parrots are fed seeds their whole lives, and as a result will only live out a tiny fraction of their proper lifespans.) I HIGHLY recommend Harrison's organic pellets to anyone who wants to improve their bird's quality of life. A proper diet is CRUCIAL to the well-being of any bird! (Note: As healthy and great as this pellet brand is, though, you should still supplement with veggies and fruits!) Enjoy your fids, bird-lovers! :) ("fids" = feathered kids)

just the best food for my bird