Higgins 466145 Vita Seed Parrot Food For Birds, 25-Pound

Besst parrot food.

After eating this seed Tory flaps his wings and does a dance while saying: “I Love You!” It obviously tastes great to Tory and smells fresh and enticingly delicious…For the birds, that is! When I get my 25lb bag delivered, I transfer the seeds from the giant bag into large plastic storage containers and store them in the fridge until each container is emptied and a new one is fetched and put in its place! I use a ceramic scoop to fill Tory’s seed cup which remains in each container on a small convenient cart next to Tory’s giant roomy cage he calls home! I also share almost everything I eat with Tory as a treat such as steak, hamburger, pasta, chicken and scrambled egg plus cut up fresh veggies and fruit! Tory is a very healthy African Grey Parrot who came to me shortly after he was hatched from his egg…33 years ago this June 6th! He has the IQ of a 5 yr old plus an extensive vocabulary that earned him the title: “ Speaker If The House!”…His vet told me that he is one of the healthiest parrots he has ever examined! I don’t attribute this totally to diet, as every living creature on Earth needs more than just food for life…They need a balanced diet of both, food and love for proper nourishment! My only negative complaint about this parrot food is the price! It’s much too high for such a majority of Sunflower Seeds which is a most inexpensive ingredient! However…I have tried other seed mixtures and the judge is not my pocketbook; rather Tory… who, in this case, tickles his tastebuds repeatedly with this Higgins seed mixture; proving it tastes good and is #1 choice for a smart parrot with good taste!

I like this seed a lot, or I should say my parrot of 33 years likes this seed a lot! The seed is very clean and comes in a resealable bag. It does have a lot of sunflower seeds for those concerned with that, but you could always buy another seed without sunflower seeds and mix it. It has peanuts, some fruit, pellets, peppers, and a lot of other nice things my parrot enjoys. Since I only have 1 parrot, I put some of it in Zip-Locks to freeze. I will buy this seed again.

Best Food for Large Parrots, widest variety of nuts and fruits not found in other brands.

Like others have mentioned, there’s a lot of sunflower seeds, peanuts and stuff the experts caution owners to restrict. There’s also some dried fruit, pellets, cashews and various other treats sprinkled in. On days when I get up late or fall too far off schedule and Higgins is the only thing I serve, my birds will concentrate on the junky parts. They generally ignore the pellets completely and only nibble on the peppers and dried fruits. Parrots are like kids, they are going to eat the “candy” stuff first. I provide a daily fruit kabob or vegetable salad combo rotation and supplement this with a ¼ cup scoop of Higgins for each bird. They will go after any peanuts first, vary what piece of fruit they want to concentrate on and eat about half of the sunflower seeds. On the vegetable days they will eat the celery then pick out something to totally destroy probably more out of boredom than hunger. If all I were feeding my birds was Higgins, I would be very judicious about the amounts I served. I think Higgins can provide a relatively healthy diet if the bird is not over fed and allowed to pick out only it’s favorite parts and still satisfying it’s hunger. While Higgins may not be the most nutritious parrot food on the market, it seems superior to the big store brands most pet birds get. I have read that total pellet combinations are considered the most healthy but I think my birds would starve to death if this was their only option. Also, while surely many will disagree, there’s a quality of life issue. I would perhaps and it’s far from a certainty, be healthier too if I starved down to 80% of my current weight and ate only nutritionally designed pellets. Thankfully, there is no one imposing that on me yet. Anyway, whatever they don’t eat, I give to the outside birds and they and the squirrels all seem to love it.

This is a good quality seed for parrots. I mix in Zupreme pellets to the seed and add a nice big handful of chopped fresh veg on top. This has worked well for my parrots and has kept them healthy and happy for many years. My youngest bird is 18 and my oldest will be 30 this coming year. All have been fed with the diet above. I highly recommend.

This seed mix is 85% sunflower seeds. This, along with peanuts, should be given very sparingly to parrots. I take my birds to Dr. Nemetz, leading Avian Specialist, specializing in exotic birds. Nemetz is top avian/exotic bird specialist in California. He recommends NOT seed but pellet diets like Harrison's and Roudybush. My parrots are resistant to switch to pellets so I soften the pellets and make "bird bread" for them. They love it and get the nutrition needed. Now, having given you bird/parrot lovers that tip, the only redeeming quality for this seed mix is the freshness. Higgins has a better seed mix with mostly safflower seeds. If you must use Higgins, do your feathered friends a favor and get that mix, NOT the heavily ladened sunflower, peanut, and all those baked flour 'thingies' that the birds ferret out and end up going to the wild birds outside. I will order a 20 lb. bag of just safflower, and a 10 lb. bag of hemp seed to mix a better seed mix for my 'kids.' They are worth it! Please treat the parrots like they deserve, they are worth it!

Ordered the Higgins Vita Parrot Food because my local feed store closed down. Received my order within a week from the time I placed my order. I will be ordering more when I use this bag up. My parrots have been raised on the food & they enjoy variety of the different seed, fruits & vegetables. They waste very little of this food. Great price & quality of this product.