Ask Lafeber

Parakeet food

Can I buy a premium parakeet seed without the ground corn.

Hi Gwen,

Is this due to an allergy or do you feel the corn isn’t healthy? Corn is in pretty much all bird diets, and is a healthy ingredient as long as it comes from a good source. As for a seed mix, with or without corn a seed mix is not a good diet for pet birds. The seeds in loose mixes is usually not fresh enough to retain nutrients, and any added vitamins are lost when the bird removes the hulls. This is why pelleted diets were invented. Seeds, grains and other ingredients are combined and made into a pellet so the bird gets the nutrients he needs. Our company came up with the first pelleted diet, but we also make a diet that is formulated the same as a pellet, but the ingredients are not ground up. We use fresh, human grade seeds with the hulls removed, combined with other ingredients to make a nutritionally balanced diet.

Regardless of how “premium” a seed mix claims to be, it isn’t going to provide the nutrition your birds need, with or without corn. If there is a reason you must avoid corn for your own health, then you need to search for a pelleted diet that is corn-free. Otherwise, I recommend a nutritionally balanced pelleted diet made with human grade, non GMO corn like we use.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda