Ask Lafeber

nutriberries vs. avicakes for Quaker

We have always given our 20-year-old Quaker ten nutriberries of various flavors and four avicakes, along with 3 or 4 sunflower seeds each morning and three avicakes and some cooked spaghetti noodles each evening. She gobbles up the avicakes, the sunflower seeds (of course) and the spaghetti, but picks apart the nutrierries (and doesn’t seem too interested in eating them), as she’ll eat anything else before going after them. I was wondering if I ought to replace the nutriberries in her diet with avicakes? Will this be balanced enough for nutritional purposes?

Hi Ken,

It does sound like a lot of food each day. Of course each bird can be different as far as activity level and their metabolism. Avi-Cakes & Nutri-Berries are both nutritionally complete so the only reason to feed both is to give your bird some variety. If she prefers the Avi-Cakes, those are just fine. We also make Fruit Delight Avi-Cakes if you want to offer some variety. My birds prefer this flavor. Mainly be sure she is eating most of each cake and not just picking out her favorite bits. Otherwise this can definitely compromise the nutritional value. For most birds her size, 4-6 Avi-Cakes daily is probably enough – if you are feeding the parrot size. If feeding one of the smaller sizes then probably twice that many. But offer her as many as she can eat – again, making sure she is consuming most of it and not wasting the pelleted part, for example.

We are always glad to hear about a bird who has enjoyed our diets for so long!

Happy Holidays!

Brenda