We boil root vegetables such as beet roots, carrots, yams, sweet potatoes, and turnips for about thirty minutes. Boiling these roots increases their digestibility and palatability. We also add a dicalcium phosphorous powder to the mixture. Currently we are using the powder made by Omaha Vaccine. We also use a powdered vitamin-mineral mixture named Vionate.
Some species require additions to their diet.
For example, macaws require a lot of fat and oil in their diet. Therefore we provide mixed nuts in the shell for large macaw species. Hyacinth macaws eat these nuts as a major portion of their diet and are also fed fresh coconut. Nuts that we feed include Brazils, almonds, pecans, walnuts, macadamias, and filberts. African Greys are fed some dry sunflower seed as they benefit from extra oil in their diet.