African Grey Parrots live across the whole range of the oil palm, from the ivory coast eastward past Cameroon and south into zaire.

Polly's Palm Oil, which comes directly from West Africa, s the food of all the African Grey's ancestors and cousins in the wild!

They are all well-adapted to it, and now you're going to have this food of their soul for your own parrot!


What's going to happen when you your bird eats Palm Oil??

After a week or two, you'll probably notice your bird's tail feathers getting a brilliant red. We don't know hot that happens, but it really works, and t makes the bird look Good! You may also notice a brighter sheen on your bird's feathers.

Palm oil(and coconut oil) got a bad name in the US as a "tropical" vegetable oil that was a "worse" saturated fat than other oils. It turned out that it was a publicity group for some US farmers that had put out this information. In January, 1996, the US Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services released the "Dietary Guidelines for America," in which palm and other tropical oils where no longer singled out as a worse source of saturated fat than any other.

Palm oil is one of the riches natural plant sources of carotene. Carotene is converted by animals into Vitamin A (and palm oil is used in Malaysia by people to correct Vitamin A deficiencies). African Greys evolved feeding on this rich source of Vitamin A(rich indeed-from 15-300 times the carotene in carrots and green vegetables). Next to calcium deficiencies, Vitamin A deficiency is quite commonly found in pet African Greys - no wonder, since they have such a history of getting lots of it!!

If your bird is feather plucker, don't be surprised if, after a few weeks on Polly's Palm Oil, he or she stops plucking. No guarantee, but this is your pet's wild cousin's main food, and they don't pluck feathers out there!


How your bird likes to eat Polly's Palm Oil?

About 1/4 teaspoon or 1/2 teaspoon of Palm Oil per day is about right for each bird. Natural red palm oil is one of the richest plant sources of Vitamin A, better than carrots or apricots. It's also a great source of Vitamin E.

You put it in your bird's food dish, just dripped over whatever it is your bird is eating.
- somtimes we give them sprouted sunflower seeds or sprouted wheat berries
- or you can just get it spread on your bird's favorite seed mix, or dripped on bananas or grapes.
- sometimes birds get it on their vegetables -- corn, carrots, brocolli, or even sprouted pinto or mung beans.


Recipe: Congo Corn Bread

1+1/2 cups whole wheat flour(corn meal, or any flour, ground up pellets, etc.)
2 cups        frozen or canned corn
1/4 cups     red palm oil
1 cup         milk (some prefer to use carrot juice, OJ with calcium, fruit or vegetable juice)
1 egg         (include shell, optional) some birds don't like shells.

In cusinart or blender, combine palm oil, milk egg(optional shell) and half the corn until smooth. Pour over whole wheat flour and remaining corn. Mix until almost completely blended. Spoon into 9x9x2 in. Pan and bake 30 to 35 minutes at 350 degrees until done.


Recipe: Senegal Sweet Potatoes

1 Large sweet potato (baked or boiled) until soft. Put skin and all in cusinart and blend. Add 2 tablespoon ed Palm Oil. Shape into little balls and roll in sesame seeds or millet. Freeze and defrost as needed.

Recipe: Monkey Mash

1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup carrrots (grated or chopped)
1 cup yellow corn (frozen, fresh or canned)
1 cup sprouted chick peas
1 cup sprouted soy beans
1 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/4-1/3 cup Red Palm Oil
1 teaspoon calcium (optional)

Mix together and freeze in portions that will last for 2 days for your birds.

How To Feed Polly's Palm Fruit Oil
Feed about 1/4 teaspoon up to 1/2 teaspoon of palm fruit oil per day for each bird. Natural red palm oil is one of the richest plant sources of Vitamin A, better than carrots or apricots. It is also a great natural source of Vitamin E. It has been used safely and nutritiously in cooking for thousands of years. Soften the oil by holding it under hot running water for a few minutes, you can then pour it onto the spoon. You can also squeeze it out of the container into your measuring spoon or directly onto the food.

Most Greys take to Palm Fruit Oil immediately. Put it on their favorite things or mix it with their other food. After a week or two, you may notice the tail feathers getting a brilliant red. Just why that seems to happen we don't understand, but it does seem to work. Your birds will take on a brilliant sheen.

The oil is bright red, your bird will preen any spots off of themselves. Other things can be cleaned with soap and hot water. Palm Fruit Oil does not stain most fabrics.


Nine References (or why this is right for you!!)
Nine references in this literature talk about the Grey's diet:

FIELD GUIDE TO AFRICAN WILDLIFE, National Audubon Society - [The African Gray inhabits] rain forest, forest, mangroves and oil palm plantations... [it] wanders about, according to which trees are in fruit; also raise such crops as oil-nuts palms and maize." (p. 750)

THE NEW PARROT HANDBOOK, by Werne Lantermann - "The gray parrot's distribution is largely identical to the range of the african oil palm, the fuit of which forms the bulk of the bird's diet" (p. 116)

PARROTS OF THE WOLD, by Joseph M. Forshaw -"They are particularly attracted to the fruit of the oil palm" (p. 10)

AFRICAN GRAY PARROTS, by Annette Wolter - "In the wild, African Grays live primarily on fruits that are not available in our stores... Their favorite foods are various kinds of fruits found in the forest, nuts, berries, and fruits of the oil palm" (p. 35, p. 52)

BIRD TALK - NEST BOX, by Dale R. Thompson - "African greys in the wild have a high-fat-content in their diet because they consume large amounts of African oul palm fruit" (April 1995, p. 69)

ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA (Micropedia VII) - "Common in the rainforest, gray parrots eat fruits and seeds; they damage crops but are important propagators of the oil palm" (1976 ed., p.769)

AFRICAN GREYS, by Fran Gonzalez - "African Grey parrots are very efficient eaters and devour everything in their seed bowls. I also believe that they have a high metabolism rate, because I rarely see and overweight African Grey" (p. 27)

ONLINE BOOK OF PARROTS, by H.J. Pfeffer - "Nutrition: Fruits, seeds, berries and nuts (esp. Elaeis guinesis [oil palm]). Cultivated crops are also raided." (Psittacus erithacus, p. 2)

CONGRATULATIONS FOR GETTING STARTED ON POLLY'S PALM OIL!!!
THANK YOU... THANK YOU...
...for purchasing Polly's Palm Oil. Palm Oil is the oil extracted grom the fleshy "fruit" of the West African Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis). We African Grey Parrots live across the whole range of the oil palm, from the Ivory Coast eastward past Cameroon and south into Zaire. So Polly's Palm Oil, which comes directly from West Africa, is the food of all our ancestors and cousins in the wild We're all well-adapted to it, and now you're going to have this food of our sould for yourself!

WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN???
Most of us are going to love Polly's Palm Oil. Of my person's seven pairs of African Greys, six pairs LOVED the Palm Oil as soon as we got it. Most of us like Polly's Palm Oil more that we like our other food. We don't have any idea why the last pair didn't like it at first, but mixed up in their favorite food, they soon got into it, too.

After a week or two, you'll probably notice your tail feathers getting a brilliant red. We don't know how that happens, but it really works, and it makes us look GOOD! You may also notice a brigher sheen on your other feathers.

If you're a feather plucker, don't be surprised if, after a few weeks on Polly's Palm Oil, you stop plucking. No guarantee, but this is our wild cousins' main food, and they don't pluck their feathers out there!

CLEANING UP
Giving us our Polly's Palm Oil may be messy for your person. (Not for us parrots -- we'll clean it off by our natural preening, and love the extra bits!!) Two hints for your person: First, it's easier to give it to us if your person softens the whole container by running it under hot water for a few minutes -- that will soften the oil and allow uit to be pored into the spoon. Of course we'll love it if it's just squeezed out of the container, too. Second hint: soap and hot water will get the oil off themselves and clothes, which shouldn't stain.


"My name is Gerry Aronson owner of Polly's Palm Fruit Oil. I lived in West Africa at three different periods for over five years in Ibadan, Nigeria and then in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. I bought first 2 African grey in Ibadan over 30 years ago, both are doing very well and have had palm oil everyday of their lives (I must be doing something right).

The West African oil palm (Elaesis guineensis) is just one of 300 or so species of palms world wide. It is indigenous to western and central African and became an important export about 150 years ago. Palm oil has been used by Africans for thousands of years for cooking and as a folk remedy for ailments from headaches to cancer. In the last 25 years or so it has been raised in Brazil and Asia.
The fruit of the oil palm grows in big clusters and up to 70 to 90 percent of the oil depending upon the degree of ripeness can be pressed out as oil. Most West African use the oil straight as parrots in the wild would get it but other variations are made now as well. A refined palm oil is made to look just like Mazola or olive oil. The remaining presses and pulp are sold mixed with other oils and the remaining pulp canned as "palm cream" The first press of the oil is what you are getting in Polly's Palm Oil.
I buy my crude oil from a small farmer just outside of Abidjan, Ivory Coast that I met years ago when I lived there for two years. He has an "organic" farm with about 300 to 500 oil palms. He uses no insecticides, fertilizers or any chemicals in the growing of his oil crop. The oil is extracted by pressing the fruit between two drums. No solvents, chemicals or heat is used in this process. The crude oil that you are getting from Polly's Palm Oil is the closest, most natural thing that your greys would find in the wild.

How much of the natural nutrients of Vitamin E and the high concentrations of carotene's is lost in the high tech, multi million dollar industry of processing of the oil? How much residue of chemical and solvents remain? I don't know but I do know there are none in Polly's Palm Oil."

Gerry