Hand made feeding formula

[meen]

Hi friends im a bit curious about the hand made formula can work for the hand feeding of a baby parrot of like 25day old
can any one share how to made hand feeding formula for a sun conure babies

 

[Bailey]

Homemade formula is only supposed to be used for emergency purposes until you can get real formula from the store..at least that's my understanding.

 

[meen]

i know some of reputed breeder who use there hand made formula for raising there avian chicks,,but they don't disclose there formula

 

[karen256]

They have such specific needs that the commercial formulas are best... any deficiencies while they are actively growing can cause health problems.
Many breeders do supplement handfeeding formulas a bit, especially with older babies who are are becoming more interested in tasting their food - then the handfeeder might add a little bit of ground nuts, pureed veggies ect.

 

[melissasparrots]

I have used hand-made monkey biscuit based formula for day one quaker babies. I raised them from day one on Kaytee for many years then out of curiosity switched to a hand-made version since so many old time breeders had such better weight gains using their own concoction. It made a huge difference in growth rates and hydration of day one chicks. I was able to much more quickly get the babies up to thick formula, fast weight gains and good skin color on the hand-made stuff. However, I also had problems with them potentially gaining too much weight toward the later stages. Personally, I like to do a modified formula for early day ones but stick with plain Kaytee for babies after about 5-7 days.

Even at that rate, I discovered that an easier way to keep chicks hydrated and yet able to consume thicker formula from day one is just to add about 10-20% gerber baby rice formula for the first few critical days. It gets more nutrition into them but holds the water in with the formula so there isn't so much separation and the babies grow like parent feds or close to it. However, because that rice formula is made for human infants, I strongly advise against using it beyond those first few days when hydration is so critical. I would be quickly phasing it out by day 5. When I used to do quakers, I'd start them on 20% rice formula and 80% kaytee for day 0-3 fed as thick as I could but not get crop slow down, then 10% rice formula until day 5. By day 5 if not before they were taking kaytee plain just a smidgen thinner than full thickness. Regardless, after much experimentation and with the species I've bred(quakers, parrotlets, amazons, cockatiels) I'd be sticking with regular nothing added Kaytee after the first week unless you are specifically having hydration problems or instructed by a vet. Its just so much easier, and it just plain works better. My hyacinth was raised using an old time hand-feeding formula by her breeders. They tend to get higher weight gains which is good for a high fat quick metabolism macaw. However, their feather coloring isn't as vibrant as babies fed manufactured formula and for the huge majority of species that don't need gobs of extra fat that might lead to obesity, stress fractures on still growing bones and liver problems, I'd just stick with Kaytee.

 

[henpecked]

Thanks for that Melissa. If you want more info on homemade formula and handfeeding babies,,, i'd suggest the "bible",, Parrots, handfeeding and nursery management,, By Howard Voren and Rick Jordan. You can find this book on amazon.com ,used, for a couple of dollars.

 

[melissasparrots]

Thanks for that Melissa. If you want more info on homemade formula and handfeeding babies,,, i'd suggest the "bible",, Parrots, handfeeding and nursery management,, By Howard Voren and Rick Jordan. You can find this book on amazon.com ,used, for a couple of dollars.

I tried his formula and the one from Aves International and Blackstone Aviaries. There was such remarkable improvement in the color and plumpness of day one chicks. However, I also had the only two cases of splay legs in a couple quakers I've ever had when I tried using it until weaning. If I just used it for the early stages, the babies got all the benefits and none of the problems. If I just used Kaytee all the way, no matter how devoted I was at late night feedings with day one quakers, they just didn't quite make it to the same peak weight as parent fed and even a couple years later they seemed a little more petite. However, if I modified the formula a little to get them really growing faster in that first week, they were only slightly behind or even with parent fed data and their peak weights were comparable to parent feds. Plus as adults, they seemed bulkier and just more substantial in bone even if they weren't fat. I'm under the impression that larger species aren't so delicate, but many people have problems getting day one cockatiels and quaker sized birds to make it and really thrive consistently. Once I figured out how to get them growing right from the start, I had no problems. Plus, with a modified formula, I only had to wake up once in the middle of the night to produce really good sized chicks. With just plain Kaytee, I was up multiple times in the night and still not getting the weight gains.

 

[meen]

I want a hand made formula for atleast 20 day old chick

 

[melissasparrots]

Is there any particular reason you're willing to risk the baby's health by experimenting with hand-made formulas? There is some guess work with many of them. For example, many say add a sprinkle of vitamin powder. But don't say what brand of vitamin powder or how much constitutes a sprinkle for small portion sizes used to feed one bird. If you over do, you can have vitamin D3 poisoning, if you go under, you can have skeletal problems from lack of calcium. As I said, when used for a very specific narrow window of time, I like them. I feel manufactured diets are a much better choice for older birds. Unless you are raising a rare species with specific dietary needs not met with standard formulas, I can't imagine why you would want to go to hand-made. Plus, switching formulas now might not be the best idea. If you insist, you can buy the book Hand-feeding and Nursery Management by Howard Voren and Rick Jordan. It has a couple recipes in it that have been successful. However, as I said they aren't fool proof and some birds can have crop slow down and major problems if you just randomly up and switch formulas on them.

 

[CheekyBeaks]

I agree with MelissasParrots I wouldn't risk the health of your babies by playing with handmade formulas. Stick to a good brand of commercial mix that has a balanced recipe of nutrients, vitamins and minerals.

I have used roudybush and Hagen tropican, I do prefer the tropican as I find their crops move a little faster than roudybush, their plumage is a lot more vibrant and I have been getting better weights than on roudybush.

 

[meen]

im again n again asking for hand made formula because in India it is always shortage of hand-feed formula when breeding season arise so its quite difficult to manage the proper ratio of feed n if we store it then there is quit often chances of expire from date of manufacture..

 

[henpecked]

Thanks for that Melissa. If you want more info on homemade formula and handfeeding babies,,, i'd suggest the "bible",, Parrots, handfeeding and nursery management,, By Howard Voren and Rick Jordan. You can find this book on amazon.com ,used, for a couple of dollars.

The recipe is in the book, of course the recipe changes depending on the species. There's a ton of important info that goes along with the recipes. have you tried to find the book?

 

[CheekyBeaks]

Like henpecked mentioned try the book so that is your best bet. None of us can really reccomend any handmade formulas to reliably raise babies, it is risky.
Have you tried ordering formula online? Even here in Australia during breeding season it is difficult to find the best formulas available so I stock up for breeding season in advance while it is easy to find and you can freeze it to prolong the freshness.