Ask Lafeber

How many Nutriberries for a kakariki?

Hello!

I’ve recently transitioned my kakariki (66 grams, female, 3 yrs old) to Nutriberries as she’s been a seed junkie since before she came to me.

Now, I’m free feeding a small amount of seeds along with fresh veggies and fruit daily, and Nutriberries. I’m wondering how many Nutriberries is appropriate for her, scientifically speaking?

She has taken very well to her new Nutriberry diet and doesn’t eat any seeds anymore which is great, and she seems to eat about 5 berries per day (along with her fresh diet).

Please could you let m know what the appropriate amount would be for her, based on her age and weight? She’s fully flighted and flies around the house for up to 6-7 hours each day.

Many thanks,
Anna

Hi Ann,

How fun that you have a Kakariki! They are great birds that have never been very common in captivity. I’m glad she accepted the Nutri-Berries so well – most seed junkies love them! And of course it isn’t that seed is bad for them, but it’s generally not fresh enough to retain the nutrients. We don’t have a set recommendation for how many per day because it depends on the individual bird. Basically we recommend that you give her as many as she can eat without wasting too much. Five berries a day is maybe one berry below average. My birds will eat anywhere from 6 to 12 daily – I have two of the same species and one eats twice as many as the other because she is more active. So if she runs out after 5, give her a couple more. Since she is also eating fresh foods, she should be getting plenty of food. But we do recommend that birds always have some type of food available.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda