KJ>Bill Bennett, a man from Virginia who raises ONLY hyacinths (something
KJ>like 38 pairs), spoke at our bird club once. He insists that in order to
KJ>stay healthy, they need an incredibly high-fat diet. He orders Brazil
I agree. The macaws definitely seem affected by the amount of nuts added
to enrich their diet.
We breed the unusual Red Bellied Macaw and Howard Voren taught us many
things about keeping and breeding them. One thing is that they need to
be fed in such a way that they are fat enough to survive the winter and
thin enough to breed.
According to Howard the palm fruit of the Buriti Palm,Mauritia Flexuosa,
is very low in fat or has zero fat. He says the closest thing that he
has found to this fruit is the true Spanish Yam which is very low in
fat. Some pelleted diets have this low fat option but not all the birds
will eat them.
KJ>nuts by the TON, along with coconuts, and also palm nuts (not something
The coconuts add a lot of fat to the diet. Wish I could get some palm
nuts/fruit.
KJ>the average bird owner can get at the local market). He claims that
KJ>without the palm nuts, the birds' fertility rates go way down. (Granted,
KJ>Bill is wealthy, and can afford to buy tons of food at a time...). But
We go on a raid of farmers markets and grocery stores for nuts just
after Christmas.
KJ>it was an eye-opener for me, because I *had* originally planned to save
KJ>up for one pair of Hyacinths. Nuts and coconuts cost a fortune up here.
KJ>I didn't realize that a typical affordable fruit-veggie diet such as my
KJ>conures prefer wouldn't be 'good enough' for a Hyacinth. I decided I'd
KJ>just enjoy OTHER people's hyacinths after that...
Every once in a while I get to yearning for a pair too, and besides the
price, I sternly tell myself that I can't afford to feed them.
I even once had someone ask me if I was interested in taking her pair on
Breeder loan and I ACTUALLY said NO! Can you believe it????
 * SLMR 2.1a * Washington D.C.  America's work-free drug place.
--- GEcho 1.00
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