title: Comparison of the nutrient analysis and caloric density of 30 commercial seed mixtures (in toto and dehulled) with 27 commercial diets for parrots.
abstract: In this paper, an overview is given of the composition of 30 commercially available parrot seed mixtures. As parrots dehull the seeds, the analysis of the total seed mixture tends to differ from that of the ingested feed. Statistical evaluation and comparison of the dehulled seeds vs. the whole seeds indicates that most parrot species are fed a diet rich in fat (31.7 +/- 13.1% crude fat) and energy (22.4 +/- 2.9 MJ ME/kg). As the analysis of the total seed mixtures underestimates fat and energy content of the ingested feed, it is suggested that researchers, bird nutritionists and bird food producers should calculate diets based on the analysis of the dehulled seeds. Finally, the calculated data were compared with the composition of formulated pelleted/extruded diets on the market. These data indicate that the energy density of most diets (15.6 +/- 1.4 MJ ME/kg) is far below the energy density of common seed mixtures.
authors.affiliation: R&D Department, Versele-Laga N.V., Kapellestraat 70, B-9800 Deinze, Belgium. guy.werquin@verla.be
authors.forename: G J D L
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Werquin
authors.forename: K J S
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: De Cock
authors.forename: P G C
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Ghysels
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis*; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004063:Digestion; D002149:Energy Intake; D005526:Food, Formulated; D009753:Nutritive Value; D010311:Parrots / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats