Frequently Asked Questions and Misconceptions
What are Trailmixes?
Vegetable fortified Dried Fruit, Vegetable, Seed/Nut Diet readily accepted by most parrots, even finicky birds. Are like the FRUIT, NUT and VEGETABLE mix with seeds added for those who prefer the mental exercise seeds provide as well as Feather+Aid nutrition.
What is Pro+Veggies powder?
Pro+Veggies is an all natural combination of concentrated vegetables, real egg, and calcium. An effective and easy way to incorporate vegetables into your birds daily diet. Most birds enjoy the taste and eat it readily.
What is Feather+Gro powder?
Feather+Gro is an all natural combination of concentrated vegetables, real egg and extra calcium. Feather+Gro was developed with our own feather picking birds in mind.
Why Trailmix as alternative to formulated and other commercial diets?
For those who do not feed formulated diets due to sensitivities, finicky eaters which will not accept more a varied diet and those who prefer not to feed formulated diets and prefer more naturally balanced diet. This may be a healthful alternative.
If it is natural doesn’t that mean it is safe?
NO, not necessarily! Many man made vitamin supplements and preservatives which are derived from natural sources may cause allergy symptoms to those who are sensitive to these ingredients.
Are seeds bad for birds?
Seed is a natural food source for birds in the wild. Birds do not eat processed foods in the wild. Although the seeds in captivity may differ from those available to wild birds, they are still healthful. Seeds and nuts are nutritious, but they are incomplete by themselves need to be balanced with other whole foods such as fruits and vegetables. Seeds provide essential nutrients, fats and required proteins needed for good health, a natural readily accepted food source and offer a mental exercise which may help limit and prevent feather picking due to boredom. The vegetables in Feather+Aid Products are intended to sneak vegetables onto the seed diets. May safely provide vitamins and minerals needed for good health even for birds not eating formulated or pelleted diets.
Do I need to feed vitamin supplements while feeding your products?
Feather+Aid products were designed as an alternative to man made supplements for birds and humans with sensitivities to these products. Over supplementation can in fact cause a toxic over dose or vitamin buildups in the body, please check with your Avian Specialist before feeding any additional supplements.
Where do the vitamins and minerals come from in your product?
Whole foods! All natural vegetables, cereal grasses, choice botanicals, real egg and calcium.
Won't my bird get fat from eating seed?
High fat diets are beneficial to birds when a varied diet is fed. Fats in foods are not the cause of obesity in birds. The combination of lack of exercise, too small of a cage and too high in carbohydrate diets leads to obesity in birds just as it does in humans
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How long will it take for me to see results from Feather+Gro?
Most will see an increase in energy, better mood, and scream in a short amount of time. However, for the regrowth of feathers, this takes time and may take up to six weeks before this is noticed. You must keep in mind that in many cases of long-term mutilation, it has taken a long time to get into this condition and it may take time to correct it as well. The habit of feather picking may require many additional therapies to keep bird occupied. In birds with damage to the follicles, feathers may never grow back.
What makes Feather+Aid products better than other foods on the market?
Feather+Aid products are guaranteed to be fresh and high quality. Our foods were changed a few years ago when it was found that most bird food on the market was contributing to allergies, feather picking and other chronic illnesses within our facility.
Why is your product so expensive?
Preservative and pesticide-free and high-quality ingredients are expensive to buy and store. The pesticide-free and preservative-free product requires that we refrigerate in order to offer a freshness guarantee. We use the best quality products available to us in order to offer the high quality mixes we are known for. Many have spent hundreds, even thousands of dollars trying to fix their "Feather Picker" yet have gotten no results. The cost of each of the Feather+Aid products is a fraction of those costs, but have had a great track record in helping with this situation.
I have already spent hundreds of dollars on my feather picker and have had no results. Why should I even bother with your product? I can't afford to waste any more money.
If nothing else, your bird would be getting a diet far superior to most on the market. In our own facility and in our private case studies, we have found it to be extremely beneficial in controlling many feather mutilation conditions. What do you have to loose?
I have been using your Feather+Gro product but I see no change.
Have you fed according to recommendations? If not feeding according to recommendations (too low a concentration for example) failure would be all that can be expected. For the few which did not see results, it was found they were feeding less than 5% of what was recommended. In addition, those who have failed to respond were being fed processed diets and other commercial mixes, as well as soak-and-cook foods as their birds primary diet. We have found that these diets were directly contributing to poor feather conditions in our facility and may be counter productive.
I feed nuts but never seed.
A very well known FACT, Nuts and seeds are the same thing. They are just different in size, variety, flavor and vary somewhat in nutrient content. We feel in-shell seeds are necessary as a portion of an overall healthy diet to help prevent boredom-caused feather plucking conditions by providing a mental exercise.
I was told by my vet that my bird is just a "Feather Picker" and I will have to learn to live with it.
We don't believe there is any such a thing as "just a feather picker"; at least we haven't seen one. Birds do not pick with out good reason and we have not seen one which was not correctable when health conditions are improved.
Feather picking is a behavioral problem.
NOT with feather MUTILATION! A bird which is causing damage to his feathers due to itching caused by allergy should never be dismissed as behavioral. In our own private research, we have come to believe this is a serious health concern which needs to be addressed. Most birds which SUFFER from feather mutilation conditions may also tend to scream and bite more. Many are lethargic, no longer want to play, and just want to be held all of the time. This is much like a human child who is ill and wants mom to hold them all of the time. In some cases this may be behavioral, emotional upset or seasonal when a bird is yanking out whole feathers but then grows them back when conditions improve on their own.
Does natural mean safe?
No!!! One ingredient for example "Citric Acid" (which is often mistaken for citrus) is considered a natural preservative to many. This is true; it is made from Aspergillus mold which indeed is natural. Unfortunately, mold is very toxic to many individuals including birds.
I am allergic to most manufactured bird foods.
Can this affect my bird as well?
We had to change our bird foods for the safety of the owner of our facility. When this was done we saw that our birds did better as well. Their energy, general health, attitude, appearance, and vitality improved greatly and other chronic annoyances improved as well. We believe birds may also be very sensitive to these ingredients and may suffer symptoms of allergy to commonly recommended processed diets.
Can an allergy to the food cause feather mutilation?
Absolutely! Just as humans sensitive to ingredients contained in our foods. Some symptoms in humans may include itching, respiratory and behavioral problems, and many other chronic illnesses. Itching is a major symptom in feather mutilation.
Can my bird live on Trail mixes and nothing else?
Two of our products were designed to eliminate the need for processed diets: Feather+Gro and Pro+Veggies. This offers those sensitive to formulated diets a healthful alternative. It is also good for those who prefer a convienant natural mix that is as close to complete as possible. However, we still do not recommend an “only” diet. Your bird still needs a variety of fresh table foods every day.
If I choose to feed pellets to my bird, how much should I feed?
We would not recommend more than one third of the over all diet. Perhaps give pellets as a treat unless your bird is sensitive to them.
Feather+Aid Products are not intended to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure disease.
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