Egg Carton Toy

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Kris Porter

I call this the Egg Carton Toy.  This is a terrific foraging toy that also has great shredding appeal.  It is fun, easy and economical to make yourself from items you have at home or can find at the dollar store.

I put the instructions for making this toy up at the ParrotEnrichment.com website.  Here is the link to download the instruction pamphlet as well as watch a video of the toy in action http://parrotenrichment.com/toys.html.  If you’ve colored lots of eggs for Easter, I hope you saved the cartons.

Laura Lewis was my inspiration for this Egg Carton Toy.  I attended a toy making party hosted by the Minnesota Companion Bird Club.   While there I met a most incredible parrot toy maker, Laura Lewis.   Her toy was made out of two cardboard drink carriers.

Great toy right?  I’m guessing this photo has inspired you as well.

I was so excited by this creation of Laura’s that she gave it to me to take home!  Before I gave it to one of my parrots, I took photos of the details of this terrific toy as I knew this would be a future blog post and toy idea.

Laura cut pieces of plastic straws to thread on the rope she hung the toy with.  She used large cardboard puzzle pieces that she got at the dollar store between the straws as separators.  She also tied puzzle pieces to each end of the cup inserts on the holder.

For added interest, Laura put a large vine ball filled with wooden sticks and treats in between the two cup holders.  For even more fun she added plastic dangling beads and rings on the corners.

Laura Lewis is the owner of Crazy Bird Lady Creations where she custom makes hand crafted quality bird toys.   I’ve included the link to her website where you can see more of Laura’s inovative creations. http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/Crazy_Bird_Ladys_Creations

 

Posted in Foraging Toys | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Cageollers

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Kris Porter

We still have a little bit of snow on the ground here, but tomorrow the temperature is forecast to be in the high 50′s and it might even hit 60 degrees F.  With the promise of Spring and Summer right around the corner I thought I would update the ParrotEnrichment website and share a creative idea for getting your parrots outdoors to enjoy sunshine and fresh air.  The Cageoller is a combination of a cage and a stroller and is the brain child of Phoenix Landing volunteer Bobbie Kerns.

Another Phoenix Landing volunteer, Laura Ford, wrote a pamphlet, How To Build A Cajeoller, and she offered to let me post it on ParrotEnrichment.com.  Here is the link http://www.parrotenrichment.com/activity/outdooraviary.html.  If you scroll down the page you will see more photos of Cageollers and be able to download How To Build A Cajoller, by Laura Ford.

Posted in Activity | Tagged , | Comments Off

A Recipe for “CHOP”

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Kris Porter

I’ve been feeding my parrots “Chop” for about 2 weeks now and I’m here to say my birds are all liking their “Chop”.  I like the convenience of simply taking a package of “Chop” out of the freezer, thawing and serving.  In the morning I usually add beans and a tiny bit of fresh chopped apple, or a grape, blue berry or other fruit and we are good to go.

I had a few people tell me they wanted to try “Chop” but needed a recipe with more exact measurements to make their first batch.  So I whipped up a second batch of “Chop” and this time I wrote down everything I put into my “Chop”.  I am sharing that recipe on my website for you all to use as a guide to help you get started if you want to try a batch of “Chop” yourselves.  The link to the recipe page is: http://www.parrotenrichment.com/nutrition/recipes.html

I also shared a couple other recipes, Curry Cornbread and Veggie Salmon Patties.  These are some of my flocks favorites and a good way to use up any chopped vegetables you may have leftover after you make your own batch of “Chop”.

Byrd enjoying a bite of "Veggie Salmon Patty".

Posted in Nutrition | Tagged , | Comments Off

I May Be a Chop Convert !

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Kris Porter

I have always believed in feeding a mix of fresh vegetables, whole grains, and sprouted grains to my parrots along with Harrison’s pellets.  Seeds are a treat food for my flock and not a staple in their diet.  When I was working I followed Pamela Clark’s layered fresh food mix recipe.  Every Sunday I spent about 3 hours washing, chopping and dishing up 7 containers of layered salad mix to feed the birds for the coming week.  After I retired, I had time to chop vegetables for morning meals every couple of days.  To the vegetables I add fresh sprouted grains and cooked beans.  Trying to get a good healthy variety of vegetables in a mix to feed only 6 parrots was a challenge.  No matter how I worked it, I found I was tossing alot of vegetables at the end of each day and the end of the week.

Chop has been on my mind lately.  Thanks to Patricia Sund and her determination to educate us all on the benefits of Chop, I took the plunge and made chop yesterday.  I watched Patricia’s video http://parrotnation.com/2010/08/08/chop-shot-by-shot/ and learned exactly how to go about making, storing and serving “Chop”.

My first batch of "Chop". Not bad, if I do say so myself.

In her many blog posts about the “Chop Concept” Patricia explains, “This is what I love about “Chop”.  No set recipe, no rules, just what is freshest, in season, available and good for your birds.  Tailor it to your flock’s preferences and make enough to freeze that will free up your time in the morning and at night.  So instead of slaving away at a chopping board every day, twice a day, I simply take out two bags of “Chop” from the freezer the night before they are to be used and thaw them in the fridge. (Each bag is good for one meal for all of my flock).  In the morning, simply serve and smile knowing you couldn’t possibly get all of those ingredients in their bowl any other way.  I love fresh food for them and I offer it often, but this is a nice way of adding so much more to their diet.”

I spent a good deal of time at ParrotNation.com reading all of Patricia Sund’s blog posts about “Chop”.  What attracted me to the concept was interest in finding “a low-cost, low effort, efficient way of feeding good stuff to my birds”.  Patricia seems to nail it with her “Chop Concept”.

Here is what went into my first batch of ”Chop”.

Cooked Grains:  Spelt, Hulled Barley, Brown Rice.  And some cooked Brown Rice Pasta Shells.

Dry Ingredients:  Kelp Powder, Dulse Flakes, Millet, Barley Flakes, Quinoa Flakes, Ground Flaxseed.

Chopped Fresh Vegetables:  Cilantro, Kale, Red Swiss Chard, Red Bell Pepper, Poblano Pepper, Anaheim Pepper, Broccoli, Butternut Squash, Carrots, Parsnips, Chayote Squash.

Since I already had frozen little baggies of cooked beans (a mix of Garbanzo, Adzuki and Pinto) that I was adding to my fresh vegetables each day, I didn’t add beans to this mix.  I’ll just combine one baggie of beans and one baggie of “Chop” to make the complete meal.

I had all four burners going cooking the grains and pasta while I washed, spun dry, and chopped vegetables.  I started at 1:30 pm and was finished by 4:30 pm with this tub of “Chop”.  And that was with considerable help from the parrots.  Without the extra help, I could have finished maybe as early as 3:30 pm, but where’s the fun in that?

I dished up bowls of “Chop” with added beans right away and everyone dove in.

My little Byrd enjoys her first bowl of "Chop".

Of course this is fresh chopped vegetables mixed in with cooked grains and beans.  Will they eat it in the morning after it has been frozen and thawed?  That will be the true test of “Chop” for my flock of parrots accustomed to getting a fresh vegetable mix every day.

A resounding YES.  Exactly as Patricia showed me how; I took out one package of frozen “Chop” and one package of bean mix the night before and put in in the refrigerator.  It was still slightly frozen when I took it out of the refrigerator at 6:00 am.  By the time I dished it up into the bowls, changed cage papers, water dishes and put toys in the cages, it had thawed.  They dove into their “Chop” as if they had been accustomed to having it every morning.

I'm happy to report "Chop" is a resounding success at my house!

Thanks to Patricia Sund and her dedication to teaching her “Chop Concept”, I now have a more efficient way to deliver healthy food to my parrots.  And I won’t be wasting so much fresh food each week.  I will still offer fresh fruits and vegetables.  But now I can offer those on foraging toys and skewers along with “CHOP”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Nutrition | Tagged | 2 Comments

New – Puzzler Foraging Blocks

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Kris Porter

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better; Jerry designs a new line of foraging blocks.

Photo Credit: Coco's Flock

After Coco’s Flock blog entry on receiving the custom sized Fantastic Foraging Blocks for her Budgies, we had several requests to make foraging blocks for smaller parrots.  Jerry set about designing an extra small block to offer as a regular item for owners of smaller parrots.  He made the extra small block 4 inches long with an additional cut lengthwise down the center of the block on all four sides.  This creates slits on the side of each hole which gives the little beak a peek-a-boo hole to peck at.

We liked the design of the extra small block so much that we added the feature to all the blocks, creating a new line of foraging blocks Jerry called his “Takes More Time to Copy Foraging Blocks”.

Thinking not everyone would understand Jerry’s name for the new blocks, I decided to call them “Puzzler Foraging Blocks”.  I named them “Puzzler” because I believe this new design adds another mental challenge to the toy and a synonym for puzzler is brainteaser.  The added cuts create even more nooks and crannies in all the blocks to encourage parrots to explore, chew, chip and strip away at the wood toy.

Jerry has definitely outdone himself with this new design.  You can check out details of each of these Puzzler Foraging Blocks here:  http://www.parrotenrichment.com/products.html .

Posted in Foraging Toys, Toys, Wood Toys | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Kris Porter

I try to eat a healthy diet most of the time.  But every once in a while I indulge in my favorite comfort foods.   When I worked on the remote radar sites in Alaska one of my jobs was cook and I will have to brag here a little bit.   I did come up with a very good recipe for Biscuits and Gravy.

We have this at our house occasionally for Sunday breakfast and sometimes for supper on a cold winter night. 

 

Biscuits  

  • 2 1/2 cups Bisquick baking mix
  •  2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup milk

I think to make really great biscuits from scratch you have to make them alot to keep in practice.  I don’t make them enough for that, but I have a trick to make pretty good biscuits using Bisquick baking mix.  For every cup of flour you use, you add an egg.

Pre-heat oven to 450 º F.  In a large mixing bowl add the Bisquick and make a hole in the middle.   In the hole add the eggs and milk.

With a fork, beat the egg and milk mixture and stir until the dry ingredients are moistened.  The dough should be a little bit sticky.  Don’t overwork the dough.

                    

Flour the surface of a cutting board with a little Bisquick mix and pat or roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness.  Cut biscuits out with a biscuit cutter or you can use a glass dipped in a little Bisquick mix.

Place biscuits on lightly greased cookie sheet or baking pan.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned.  This recipe makes about 8 biscuits.

 

 

Sausage Gravy

  • 1 pound breakfast sausage (I like Tennessee Pride or Jimmy Dean)
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 4 cups milk
  • 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
  • 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce (or more to taste)

In a large saucepan, cook sausage over medium-high heat until browned and crumbly.

Reduce heat to medium and add flour to sausage mixing thoroughly.  Cook until flour browns about 1 to 2 minutes stirring constantly.

Add milk slowly and increase heat to medium-high. Keep stirring constantly until all the milk is added.  Add chicken bouillon and hot sauce.  Keep stirring constantly.  As the gravy comes to a boil it will thicken.  If too thick, add a little more milk.

To serve, cut a biscuit in half and place on a plate.  Top with sausage gravy.  In my house some like it hotter than others.  They can garnish their plate with additional drops of hot sauce to suit individual taste.

No big secret to this recipe, but the key ingredient that makes it taste extra good is using a quality sausage and the chicken bouillon granules.

      

ENJOY!!

Posted in People Enrichment | Tagged | Comments Off

Fantastic Foraging Blocks

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Kris Porter

My husband, Jerry, and I have been working on a design for a wood block that combines the pine slats that our parrots like to chew with a hole that will accommodate almonds in the shell.  We started designing the blocks while we still lived in Alaska and sent a few out to be tested by the parrots of Phoenix Landing.  But we shelved the project as shipping costs from Alaska to the lower 48 were so expensive.

I am delighted to tell you all Jerry put the project back on the front burner when we moved to Minnesota.  He has come up with a brilliant design and we are able to offer these toys for sale online with more reasonable lower 48 shipping prices.  We call our toys Fantastic Foraging Blocks because they are quite simply, Fantastic!

Fantastic Foraging Blocks come in 3 sizes, small, medium and large.  Phoenix Landing carries them and has them available for purchase at all their events.  And we now have them available for sale at http://www.parrotenrichment.com/products.html.

Here is a video highlighting the special features of each of the blocks.  If you are receiving this blog post through your e-mail subscription, the video may not work in your e-mail and you will need to go to http://parrotenrichment.com/blog/ to view it.

Posted in Foraging Toys, Wood Toys | Tagged | Comments Off

Small Business Saturday – Support Your Favorite Parrot Toy Store

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Kris Porter

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I love the focus on cooking and family get togethers.  This year I am thankful that we all survived the move from Alaska to Minnesota and Mom was able to sell her house in Georgia and come live with us.

Last year at this time were in the middle of remodeling this house to  move the upstairs kitchen downstairs to Mom’s apartment and put in a new kitchen in our part of the house.  We had a small working microwave and were doing dishes in the laundry room sink.  We bought a readymade dinner from the local grocery and made do.  This year Mom and I cooked and our dinner was spectacular.

And today is Small Business Saturday.  I plan on supporting a few of my favorite online parrot stores.  Every so often I like getting a package of toys in the mail.  I get just as excited  as the parrot’s do when I open the box to see what’s inside.  I love that I can give them a quality toy  they like and I don’t have to make.  It’s  a win-win for all of us.  They get  something new and exciting and I get a break from making toys for at least a  day or two.

During our move I  depended on a few online parrot toy store shopping carts to keep my flock in  toys.  There have been other times that I  was glad I could get quality parrot toys shipped to the house right away.  I think most of us make toys ahead in anticipation  of a planned trip.  But there are those family emergencies that call us away all of a sudden leaving no time to stop and make up a bunch of toys to give the birds in our absence.

I’m happy to share  reviews of some of the store bought toys I found were big hits with my own  parrots at  http://www.parrotenrichment.com/toys/readymadetoys.html.  I also share some of my favorite toy supply websites at http://www.parrotenrichment.com/links.html .

Here’s hoping those of you who can will support your favorite parrot toy store during these tough economic times.  We need to help keep those shopping carts open for routine and emergency re-supply orders.

Here is a video of Zorba with his “Movie Take Out” toy I purchased from www.BusyBeaks.com.

Posted in Ready Made Toys | Tagged | Comments Off

Dehydrating Sweet Potatoes or Yams

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Kris Porter

In a recent blog post, Pamela Clark talks about dehydrating sweet potatoes to offer as foraging treats,  http://blog.pamelaclarkonline.com/2011/11/06/parrot-speak-with-pam—episode-14.aspx.  Pam got the idea from a new product the veterinary clinic where she worked began carrying, chews and treats for dogs made of dried sweet potatoes. 

Before we proceed with dehydrating yams, there’s something you need to know. They’re not actually yams.  Americans have been making the mistake of calling sweet potatoes “yams” when there’s actually a difference.  Sweet potatoes and yams are not even related.  They are two different species of root vegetable with very different backgrounds and uses.  In most cases sweet potatoes are labeled with both terms, which just adds to the confusion.  Since there are two types of sweet potatoes, one with creamy white flesh and one with orange, the USDA labels the orange-fleshed ones “yams” to distinguish them from the paler variety.

I am always making jerky for Jerry in my dehydrator, so I thought why not try sweet potatoes?  I dug out my old cookbook, “How To Dry Foods” and looked up Sweet Potatoes or Yams.  Here is how I did it:

I like the orange-fleshed variety of sweet potato (more commonly labeled as “yam” in supermarkets).  So I chose thick chunky medium-size yams that taper toward the ends.  I peeled them and cut them into about 1 inch slices.

 

 

I put the yam slices in a large pot of water which I brought to a boil.  I blanched for about 2 to 3 minutes until they were almost tender. 

Then drained them in a colander.  I set the colander aside over a cookie sheet to catch drips until the potato slices were cool enough to handle.

 

I used an apple corer to put holes into the slices before dehydrating. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saved the hole punch out pieces and dehydrated them as well.  Those pieces can be used to put in foraging cups or other toys and the larger slices with holes can be strung on toys.

 

 

I placed the slices and hole punch out pieces on the dehydrator trays.

 

 

I put the trays in the dehydrator and set the drying temperature for 140 F (60 C) until dry. 

I have an Excalibur dehydrator and in this one the thick slices dried very tough to brittle in about 6 to 8 hours.   There are a number of less expensive dehydrators on the market that will do a good job of dehydrating sweet potatoes.  American Harvest/Nesco Dehydrators are inexpensive and widely available.  Drying times will vary with the type of dehydrator you use. 

If you don’t have a dehydrator, there are instructions on the internet for how to dry sweet potatoes in the oven.  One of the disadvantages of drying in an oven is the cost of the energy used.  Oven drying takes 2 or 3 times longer than drying in a dehydrator and time is required to tend and rotate the food.  Food dried in an oven is usually darker, more brittle and less flavorful than food dried in a dehydrator.   Since most ovens lowest temperature setting is 175 F (80 C) to 200 F (95 C) it is difficult to maintain temperatures of 140 F (60 C) while drying and the food may cook before it dries.

The book states dried sweet potatoes stored longer than 1 or 2 months at room temperature develop an undesirable flavor.  I plan on using these as foraging treats in and on toys, so I made no more than I will use up in about 2 months.  I store them in a sealed plastic container which I keep in my craft/bird toy making room.

 

Now for an example of how to incorporate these healthy food treats into a toy.

 

Here’s hoping you have a Happy Thanksgiving and find a great sale on sweet potatoes or yams at your local grocery store!

Posted in Adding Food to Toys | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Ball Point Pen Foot Toy

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Kris Porter

Last week I wrote the next post would be a “how to” on dehydrating yams.  I’d like to take a short detour and share an idea for a non-traditional parrot foot toy with you.  And at the same time give a big shout out to my most thoughtful daughter.  First a brief explanation as to how this all fits together.

Zorba

My daughter, Juanita, and her husband, Jeff, came to see our new place this summer and spent a few days here.  Nita was writing down an address at the kitchen counter with one of her large promotional pens.  She put the pen down and turned to leave the room.  As she did so I said, “don’t leave that pen there”  just as Zorba flew down, grabbed it, and flew away.  Nita was impressed with how quickly he snatched up her pen and how long he played with it.  Yesterday I came home from the store to find a large box UPS had left on my front porch from my daughter with “Happy Thanksgiving”; “Happy Birthday”; “Merry Christmas”; “I Love You More!”  written all over the outside of the box.  Inside were 500 large colorful ball point pens!     
 
Now I’m trained not to leave any pen (that I intend to keep) out on any flat surface in my house.  But I will intentionally leave  pens around the house for a sneaky parrot to discover as a prized new foot toy.  To prepare a ball point pen for a parrot toy you need to take out the ink cartridge and the metal spring.   Put the pen back together and you have a foot toy.  Here is where I feel I should talk a bit about safety.  This is one of those toy ideas that requires one to know their parrot and also how their bird manipulates and plays with toys.  I’ve been giving my birds pens for awhile now.  As long as the spring and ink cartridge are removed beforehand I feel comfortable giving them as foot toys.  I also know a few parrot owners who have given their parrots pens without incident.  You are the best judge in making the determination whether or not you feel this is safe toy idea for your particular parrot.
 
Just a quick video of Elvis with his ball point pen toy to share with you and then I’m back to work on the post about dehydrating sweet potatoes.
 

Posted in Foot Toys | Tagged | 1 Comment