Now we all know there are starving birds somewhere so I hate to see my birds wasting soooooo much food.

I mix seed in with pellets. I think it is an even mix of each that is eaten and that that is wasted.

What I do when I change out the food bowls in dump the "leftovers" into a large ceramic crock and that goes into the play area which is usually the livingroom floor or on top of the cage. Once that bowl is filled, then it is tossed.

This helps reduce the amount of waste but there is still a lot.

How do ya'll deal with the waste/leftovers?

All my other birds were converted on pelleted diets and waste was not an issue. Sammy and Mango were raised on seed and while I'm working on the conversion, I'm not pressing for any deadline for said conversion. I do believe that some seed is good, especially for macaws but I'd rather them be on pellets with the seed left for playtime treats or "out of the enclosure" treats. Actually, I'm more than happy to give them tons of nuts for treats, that sure beats sunflowers.

Any thoughts or input appreciated.

I only put small amounts in my bowls. My Afa is a dumper! So this way when she decides she 's gonna waste the bowl of food its only a little bit. I keep an eye on them to be sure it doesnt go empty but overall I add at least 1x sometimes 2 x a day. So this way, its always fresh.My Ekkie is a pulverizer and grinds everything to a fine powder. When it comes to time to clean the bowls and theres food left in there thats not crunched, I go through it and put it back in to the fresh bowl and take the crushed bits to throw outside for the wild birds.

Its also good to make a batch of birdie bread with.

Waste is a problem. I only have small birds so it isn't too bad. I used to mix seed and pellets together to get them to it the pellets. They tended to eat the seed and leave the pellets. But once they started to eat the pellets things got easier. I now have a seperate dish for pellets so no waste there and I put 3 tsp (1.5 for each bird) in another dish. In the A.M. when Igive them there fresh stuff I mix it in with what is left of the previous days seeds. They are more likely then to try the fresh stuff...very picky eaters.
So I think I have waste down to a minimum.

I think its easy to fall into a large waste situation when you work outside the house and want to be sure they have enough. Some people fill them up everyday and it either gets dumped as a game or it just goes stale. I overfilled initially and boy was that a mistake at $5.00 a lb. Im home all day so its easier for me to monitor them.

Now I didn't think about that, what a marvelous idea! Sure is going to be a ***** sorting out hulls from the mix though.

I don't fill the bowls for just that reason....the dump! Sammy has thrown the contents of the food bowl 10 feet from the perch!

I "think" I'm going to start putting pellets only inside the cage with the seed only in the treat bowls since they are both out of the enclosure more than they are inside. But I'll have to wait to do that until after mid November. I've got some travelling to do and the KH's are on fulltime bird detail then.

I can imagine that both birds will be a bit "pissy" with me, the primary caregiver away and I can see Sammy giving the KH's some major attitude.

It can be a little time consuming to pick through but its worth it. I just mix it in with a box of Jiffy cornbread mix, add the egg shell with it, no milk though, I use water and unsweetened apple sauce. I add other stuff too and try to do themes. Last batch was a nut bread with (shelled) mac nuts, almonds, pine nuts, pecans, and walnuts plus some dried bananas. I always sprinkle flax seed on the top. You can also do mixed veggies, hot peppers, pumpkin, zuccini. Make a double batch and freeze it. Its a great quick meal and it saves waste!

What perfect timing! I just picked up more corn on the cob, hot peppers and a couple of pumpkins yesterday! I'll be cutting the pumpkins this weekend to get started for pumpkin pies so I'll have tons of that available. I guess I could use that to moisten the mix as well.

I have some containers of natural babyfood puree too. That should be perfect for moistening the mixes. Guess I'll be breaking out my mini muffin pans this weekend!

Do you use the flax seed for the omegas or is it for texture? I eat a huge spoonful of fresh ground flax everyday just for the omegas.

We eat it on fresh salads for fiber so I figured it would be good for the fids too. Didnt know about the Omegas so we both learned valuable info today!

I throw my birds' leftovers outside for the wild birds, who are VERY grateful to get it. They even eat the empty grain hulls that the tiels already gnawed on. Desert birds aren't picky!

Same here. If it hits the bottom of the cage, it goes in the trash. But pellets left in the dish, uneaten seeds/veggies, that all goes out over the fence in the back yard on the compost pile. Between the birds and the raccoons and foxes, nothing much actually ends up as compost.