Pictures 9 week old Quaker not weaning

[Rana Asim Wajid]

Hello....I'm a bit concerned that my 9 week old Quaker not weaning.I have crop-fed him until now and he is currently on two feeding a day of 17cc of Hagen Tropican baby bird feed.He is very active and healthy....its just that he isn't very interested in food.I have placed seeds and pellets in his cage as well.What could be the reason ? I'm a bit worried.

 

[iamwhoiam]

I do not have Quakers and have never had one but I have read that they can wean from 10-12 weeks or possibly even longer. Just keep offering him pellets, seeds, veggies, fruit, cheerios (easy to pick up), and possibly millet. Are you weighing him daily?

 

[macawpower58]

I've read that Quakers wean anywhere from 8 to 10 to 16 weeks, some even longer.

Weaning is a process that should be dictated by baby. It's called abundance weaning, and makes for a social and stable baby. A baby that is left crying for feedings is off to a hard start.

Keep feeding when baby asks. Keep offering good weaning foods. Most of us cut up veggies and fruit, give cooked veggie pasta, offer pellets, and other healthy items.

Baby will play as much as eat them.

Eventually you'll be down to just a bedtime feeding, how long that lasts, only baby knows.

It will happen though.

 

[alicat]

 

[melissasparrots]

Mine didn't usually wean until closer to 10 weeks. He should by now be at least seriously picking at his food even if not eating enough to sustain himself. It helps if they are fully flighted and able to have at least a little bit of free flight time around the house during this time.
Also, is the baby crying to be fed when you feed him or not? Is he crying at other times and you choose not to feed him, or how did you come by the decision to feed him twice a day. Not saying its a bad thing, I just want to make sure its because the bird is telling you what he needs, not because you are blindly following advice someone else gave you. If you have a bird that isn't crying and you insist on feeding him, he may not get hungry enough to really eat on his own. On the other hand, if he's crying like crazy and you insist on only feeding him twice a day, he could be in such a state of panic that he can't think about eating grown up food. 9 weeks is right about that age where real progress toward weaning happens unless the breeder is doing something to hold the baby back.

 

[macawpower58]

Oh, I'm wondering also what you mean by crop fed. Do you mean handfeeding with a syringe, or actually placing the food directly into the crop?

 

[Rana Asim Wajid]

Oh, I'm wondering also what you mean by crop fed. Do you mean handfeeding with a syringe, or actually placing the food directly into the crop?

placing the food directly into the crop

 

[echobird]

Syringe feeding is better. The baby tastes the food and is satisfied by it rather than just feeling full.

 

[Mizzely]

Mine didn't wean until 12 weeks, and still asked for hand feedings until probably 16 weeks. It's similar to saying that a human baby should wean at a year, but many are simply not ready by then.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Are you tube feeding the baby? If so, why?

 

[Rana Asim Wajid]

Are you tube feeding the baby? If so, why?

Yes mainly because that's what I was taught, its faster and makes it easy to enure they get the full syringe in their crop.Also its not messy at all

 

[Rana Asim Wajid]

Mine didn't wean until 12 weeks, and still asked for hand feedings until probably 16 weeks. It's similar to saying that a human baby should wean at a year, but many are simply not ready by then.

how old is your cutie now ?

 

[fidsmom]

Try syringe feeding him, he will taste the food better, Some wean early, some wean later, the baby will decide when hes ready to wean.

 

[Mizzely]

how old is your cutie now ?

He just turned 5 years old

 

[Mizzely]

Tube feeding sounds like it would make it harder for the baby to wean. He's not involved in the feeding at all. If your whole life, someone just pumped your belly full, how would you learn what you like to eat, or even how to chew? I didn't know this was a thing for a healthy bird.

 

[macawpower58]

From what I know, tube feeding is best for birds that are sick and being rehabilitated.

That could be your problem. Babies that are tube fed don't learn to eat as normally handfed birds do, they miss the part of learning the taste of food also.

See if you can switch your baby over to a syringe. Yes, it's messy. It's so much better though for baby.

 

[Rana Asim Wajid]

Just work up find the little guy eating(at least trying to eat) sun flower seeds....so I guess hes on his way