Lafeber Classic Nutri-Berries Bird Food

Here is the problem Nutri-Berries were invented to solve. Coat a seed with vitamins and minerals, and the bird cracks the hull off and drops every bit of that coating on the cage floor. Grind everything into a pellet instead and the nutrition stays — but so does the boredom.

Lafeber's answer was to hull the seed first, then coat the bare kernel with stabilised vitamins, chelated minerals and amino acids, then bind it into a round berry. Nothing gets thrown away, because there is no hull left to throw. As Lafeber put it, hulling keeps the nutrition "right where it belongs — in each and every bite".

Why the round shape matters

A berry has to be held in a foot and pulled apart. Lafeber's published claim is that the shape offers twice the foraging of a pellet, and a 2009 UC Davis cockatiel trial they cite found the birds on Nutri-Berries spent considerably longer eating than the birds on pellets, with no difference in body weight, blood values, immune response or physical examination. The pellet-fed birds also drank significantly more water.

If you have ever watched a parrot finish a bowl of pellets in four minutes and then start screaming, that extra time is the point.

Choosing the right one

These are genuinely different recipes, not one food in five bags — the seed base is re-weighted for each species.

Guaranteed analysis

Ingredients

The blend is re-ordered per species. The Parrot formula runs: hulled white proso millet, corn, hulled oats, peanuts, hulled canary grass seed, red millet, safflower, maltodextrin, soybean meal, rapeseed, wheat flour, corn syrup, corn oil, glycerin, dicalcium phosphate, gelatin, ground limestone, ground rice, dried whole egg, iodised salt, L-lysine, canola oil, choline chloride, DL-methionine, chelated manganese and zinc, citric acid, natural colour, and a full stabilised vitamin pack (A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, B12, C, D3, E, K, beta-carotene), preserved with mixed tocopherols.

The Parakeet and Cockatiel formulas lead on hulled millet and canary grass seed; Macaw leads on corn, oats and soybean meal. The full panel for the bag you order is printed on it.

How much to feed

Lafeber's published guidance is by handful rather than by weight: small parrots (Senegals, caiques) 10 berries at a time; medium parrots (African greys, Amazons) 15 at a time; large parrots (macaws, large cockatoos) 20 at a time. Keep fresh food and water available, and adjust to the individual bird — weigh weekly on a gram scale and let the number decide.

Whatever you feed as the base, Lafeber recommend greens, vegetables and some fruit at around 20% of the daily diet.

Nutri-Berries, Avi-Cakes or Pellet-Berries?

Lafeber's own answer: all three are nutritionally balanced complete diets, and the difference is structural rather than nutritional — "the ingredients in pellets are all ground up, and the ingredients in the other diets are whole". Nutri-Berries are the loose round berry. Avi-Cakes are a pressed square you have to work at. Pellet-Berries are 81% pellet in a berry shape, which is why they are the usual bridge for a bird being moved onto pellets.

Who makes it

Dr T.J. Lafeber was a veterinarian who qualified from Iowa State in 1949 and spent his career treating birds outside Chicago. Seeing malnutrition in his own patients, he developed the first commercial bird food pellet in the back room of his clinic, and founded the company in 1973 on five acres of Illinois farmland bought from his father. It is still made on the family farm at Cornell, Illinois — mixed, formed and packaged under one roof. Lafeber publish non-GMO and human-grade ingredient claims, with no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives.

Questions we get asked

Is this a complete diet or a treat?
A complete diet. Lafeber are explicit that Nutri-Berries, Avi-Cakes, Pellet-Berries and pellets are all nutritionally balanced.

My bird eats the berry and leaves crumbs.
Normal — a berry is meant to come apart. Most birds go back for the crumbs. If a lot is left, try feeding fewer berries more often rather than a full bowl.

Can I feed Nutri-Berries alongside pellets?
Yes, and plenty of owners do — pellets in the morning, Nutri-Berries scattered through a foraging toy later.

Which size should I buy?
The 10 oz bag for one small bird, or to try a flavour. The tub for a large parrot or a multi-bird household. Buy a size your bird will finish inside a couple of months, and keep it sealed and cool.

My bird is on a diet — are these too fatty?
At 6–8% fat they are considerably lighter than a sunflower-heavy seed mix, but portion still matters. Use Lafeber's berry counts and weigh your bird.

Free shipping on orders over $35, in the US and worldwide. Every parcel ships with tracking, and you'll get the tracking link by email as soon as your order ships.

US orders ship from a US warehouse and usually arrive in 3 to 7 business days. Under $35, US shipping starts at $4.95.

International orders usually arrive in 8 to 18 business days. Under $35, tracked shipping is $4.99.

Returns are open for 45 days. If something isn't right, email contact@farooze.com and we'll sort it out. Full details in our shipping policy and refund policy.