The real reasons the “all seed” diet is bad

I should preface this article by saying that every bird should be given fresh foods in addition to their staple diet. This post is merely to examine some of the claims about the “all seed” diet.

Assuming you could find an “all seed” diet, what are the usual complaints about it? Here’s a short list:

• It’s too high in fat

• Birds on this diet will become obese

• It will result in poor feather condition

• It will lead to diseases such as fatty liver disease, heart disease, and diabetes

Creating an “all seed” diet

Since it’s hard to find a 100% seed mix, I decided to create my own and then analyze it. I targeted budgies since they are the most common pet bird in the world. There are also a huge variety of budgie mixes on the market.

I went to a Petco and looked at every budgie mix that was predominantly seed. I looked at the mix of seeds to find the ones that are most commonly used. I settled on a specific seed mix called Higgins Vita Seed Parakeet Food (I’m not an Amazon affiliate). The mix contains 5 …