Palm Nuts Ordered

[Tudorbug]

Thanks, Elle! I'll give it a try. In the meantime, our male stripped a nut right down to the absolute bare kernel a few days ago. Completely clean and I got to see the nut itself! I could not have taken the husk off more cleanly if I worked at it with a tool.

I've ordered a 5 kg parcel of palm nuts from Jungle gold. Did this Saturday, the 23rd and if they are will ship the order it should be dispatched Monday. I'll let you know how it progresses.

Hope all's well north of the border.

David

[Tudorbug]

Five kilograms of palm nuts from Junglegold arrived in yesterday's UPS delivery and I won't go into the drill I went through to get them off the UPS truck after a note of a "signature required" package was left at our house stiplulating also that they would try again Monday.

These look a bit better than the first order. Lots of color while the nuts in the earlier shipment, which was eight days in transit, were not so vibrant. I am unsure of the duration of this shipment but was told by John Hambleton at Junglegold that it was to be initiated Wednesday. But, Wednesday to Friday, even with the time lead in the UK, does not seem long enough.

I think the earlier customs problem may have been due to Christmas shipping.

I also purchased a bottle of their "Parrot Palm Fruit Extract" which is obtained from palm nuts as well. A similar product can be obtained from some Avian Vets, or perhaps from an internet source and it is called HealX Sunshine Factor. It is made from South American palm nuts.

Our vet waxed eloquent about palm oil (and palm nuts), saying she has seen it improve plucked feathers and, in one case, cataracts diappeared when it was used and there were other instances she reported that I cannot recall. I began to think I should be using it myself! (It is a staple of native diet in Liberia.) In addition to the Sunshine Factor in a really small one ounce bottle, she sold us a bag of Harrison's Organic Bird Bread in which a tablespoon of vegetable oil can be replaced by a tablespoon of palm oil. We cooked up a batch of little muffins and froze them, but only after the Irish Setter stolen seven off the counter (so much for tall dogs). We thaw and split them and give the pieces to our two greys every few days. So far they at least break the biscuits up and I suspect they eat some of it in the process.

These wild caught birds still prefer their seed mix although we feed them greens, mixed vegetable and fruit as well. We put a pound of Higgins seed mix in a large Ziploc and add a tablespoon of palm oil and mix thoroughly. At least the birds have to touch the oil in order to crack their seeds and I assume they will ingest some of the oil in the process.

All for now. Have you ordered more palm nuts as well?

Questions from anyone happily answered.

Very kindly, David

[Elle]

I haven't ordered yet but I will probably this week since the custom issues seems to be resolved.

I offer harrison bird bread to my birds with sunshine factor (red palm oil) in it. If you have afussy bird, try spreading organic cashew or almond butter on it for a few days. That's how I get Max to eat his. Rammie and the lovebirds eat it very well but the budgies are fussy about it as well.

I've heard a lot of good about red palm oil. I'm glad your vet is a suppporter of it. My vet was selling the product but never really pushed it or mentioned much of it's benefits. Maybe it's because my birds are healthy

[Tudorbug]

Elle:

The unspoken part is the cost. The Sunshine Factor from my vet is $25 for a 4 oz bottle plus$1.50 sales tax. I can find that size bottle on the internet for about $15 but there will be shipping cost. Even so, it probably will be cheaper.

The palm oil sold by JungleGold comes in a 500 gram or 1.1 pound bottle at 6 British Pounds or about $9.00 US. Then there is the high shipping cost for express from UK to US or Canada but the oil does not decay like the nuts from which it comes does so express may not be needed.

Keeping our little citters happy and in good health is an expensive effort.

I'll visit a health food store, I assume, and look for organic cashew or almond butter and see how that goes over.

Stubborn little things!

David

[Elle]

You know even organic peanut butter should work. My guys have expensive taste

It's true that the sunshine factor is not cheap but part of me want to continue to support my vetenerian clinic. They are the only ones equiped for avian and exotic birds. Buying my food there is a way of supporting them

I lost my avian vet in December as he moved away. There is someone who took over for him. She is not an avian vet but would like to specialise in avian medicine. I guess they all have to start somewhere too

[Tudorbug]

I have the same sense of needing to support our avian vet. It's an expensive sense!

[Tudorbug]

Elle:

One more note on this latest delivery of palm nuts. John Humbolt at Junglegold tells me that this shipment was dispatched at 1630 on Wednesday, which is 1130 at my location here in Georgia. After a 90 minute effort with UPS, I had the box on hand at 1100 hours on Friday.

His remark was "amazing." I agree. The delivery time, UK to Southeastern US via UPS, was under 48 hours! And US Customs was cleared as well according to the sticker on the box.

Kind of hard to beat.


David

[Elle]

I will place my order on Friday or Saturday so it can be shipped on Monday. I'll let you know how it goes! It's really encouraging to see how quickly your order arrived!

[Elle]

I just placed my order for 5 kg. Hopefully it will be shipped tomorrow.

[Tudorbug]

I'll be interested, even anxious, to see how the shipment fairs timewise, coming thru Canadian Customs. David