TOP Organic Pellets

[nezzie]

Curious about TOP, has anyone here tried them? Yes, I also mean personally (lol). I'd either have to order them or drive 2 and a half hours to pick them up so I'd like to know a little bit from you all!

Thank you all for your responses and even personal research into TOP! This has really helped :)

Comments

[bloolark]

I am, at present, feeding TOP as about 2/3rds of my parrot's daily pellet intake. I like it a great deal, it seems to keep for a very long time, but it has two major major major flaws

[lindabcs]

None of my birds would eat TOP. I had to blenderize it and mix it in their birdie bread to use it up.

My biggest concern with it is that it has no supplemental Vitamin D, which is necessary to use and metabolize calcium normally. So if you choose to use TOP, you MUST make sure that your bird has daily (or near daily) exposure to natural daylight that is NOT filtered through window glass. This is not practical for me when it's below freezing outside for several months of the year. The glass used in windows blocks UVA and UVB wavelenghts, and that UVB is the essential one for natural Vitamin D production. UVA is visual and the UV light that birds can see which is thought to help birds' behavior/mental health. You can, in theory, supplement UVB and therefor Vit D with special lamps, but the birds must spend enough time within about 12 inches of the bulbs and the lamps must be replaced at least every 6 months for UVB production.

[lindabcs]

I just sent off an email to TOP asking for a detailed nutrient analysis showing vitamin and mineral levels. I'm particularly interested in their vitA, vitD, and calcium levels. I do like that they suggest feeding a varied diet, unlike some other pellet companies, but if I wanted something that is not vitamin balanced I would just feed 100% fresh. I can't tell from their website if theirs actually is balanced or not, other than they don't add extra vitamins. Not saying they're not healthy, or that 100% fresh is unbalanced, it's just more work to make sure it is balanced, just like it is for us humans. I'm also curious if they've done any sort of feeding trials, especially with young or ill birds that are the most sensitive to diet. I don't know if any of the pellet companies have, actually.

[bloolark]

Can you post what you get from them? Looking at their ingredients more, they have several sources of vitamin D2, so it's probably not completely lacking vitamin D. It is lacking any animal based D3, but that may not be a big deal.

The only two pellet manufacturers that I know that have done feeding trials are Roudybush and Hagen.

[lindabcs]

I would have sworn it was on their website, because it was all "Lookit Us! We're great, No Synthetic Vitamins, Yay! But it's okay, because your bird will get plenty of D from being outside and the other foods you're feeding." But now of course I can't find it. I hope they respond to my email. I do like their concept and I don't think it would be hard to make sure a bird got all the D it needed from other sources, but I do think it is something to be aware of. As I understand it D2 is less potent in mammals than D3, and presumed to be the same in birds

[bella_cheval]

Neither one of my Quakers liked them. In fact, Ginny seemed to take a great pleasure in throwing them at me. My cat, however, LOVED them.

[umpbumpfizz]

My gcc eats a mix of TOP, Roudybush & Harrison's. She seems to eat TOP first (or maybe just pulverize it into dust?), then Roudybush, and Harrison's last.