Hazards of buying unweaned birds - Breeder's input appreciated.

[KatherinesBirds]

Hazards are many in buying unweaned birds in my opinion. I have very successfully bred many species since 1971. Just taking the baby away from the already climate controlled incubator or cage with its other siblings is stressful. You don't know for certain that the conditions will be duplicated to the benefit of the baby when it reaches the new owner's home. Also, and just as important, the formula, temperature of the food and way it is given may not be the same. I used a syringe and spoon with my babies. To get the syringe in at the proper angle is a trick. I wasn't forcing it down. Just aiming it right. A spoon is good also. Then there's getting the temperature Exactly right. Hygiene is tricky too. I always cleaned and dried all of my tools. Kept a really clean area where the birds were fed. No old food. I did, on one occasion, have a customer return a beautiful white faced 'tiel dead in a bag to me. Upon asking her what went wrong I learned that she never did the hand feeding! She saw that the bird was pecking at seed and just let it go at that. Heartbreaking. For both of us.

I stopped selling unweaned birds about four years ago. Now, if I buy an unweaned bird, I really have a good look at the set up and how the birds are fed.

 

[KatherinesBirds]

I had a pair of Painted Conures once and the female refused to feed the young. There were 4 in the nest. I tried something that I really didn't think would work. I removed the female since she was biting at the babies and had injured one toe of one baby. I left the male which I hand raised myself three years before. He was tame when I put the pair together. Geronimo, the male, fed all 4 babies like a good little parent much to my amazement!! I originally purchased him along with 3 other siblings from Robbie Harris, a breeder in CA. All of the babies grew up just fine. He fed them, and this was his first clutch, like he knew exactly what to do and I just sat and watched. He passed away at age 23. He rests in my garden outside my window.
One other time I had an amazing pearl cockatiel that I bought from a friend. She was huge and beautiful. The previous owner told me that she would never bond to a male cockatiel and would never lay eggs or feed babies. He said that she was too much of a pet and bonded to him. He also said the he would buy this little pearl tiel back should I want to sell her.
I paired her with a White Face tiel and they went to nest within 4 weeks! Eleven, yes, ELEVEN eggs were laid. I candled every single one and gasped in amazement as I saw that they were all FERTILE. They all hatched. I had never heard of this before! All from one hen! She certainly was broad enough to keep them warm!!! She hatched a beautiful assortment of cockatiels and the silly male would not feed a single one!! I took two babies and put them with a pair of lovebirds who had babies of about the same age. They jumped right in and fed the baby cockatiels!! Two more went to another cage of Lutino lovebirds and two more went to another cage of Dutch Blue lovebirds. They all fed them for two weeks. I took them out after that and finished the hand feeding myself. The rest were fed by that silly pearl cockatiel female. What an experience for all of us!!
I later invited the previous owner of that pretty little pearled tiel over to see her babies. He almost fell over. He was speechless. He bought her back and they spent the rest of their lives together. He was a nice man. A friend. He died tragically a few years ago. I know Nabber his tiel and Danny are together now.

 

[KatherinesBirds]

I read a lot of this thread tonight. I agree. Hand feeding is an art. I started with a shoe box, a goose neck lamp, a couple of thermometers, a tiny bowl of water and a tiny spray bottle of water, towels, wash cloths, Hope and a lot of sleepless nights. Testing the temperature of the food. Washing, humidity, checking, checking..... Gosh, what I went through! I cooked, ground seeds, blended and stirred, calcium added....syringe in the right position, ready,.... I stayed up well past midnight reading books on hand feeding until I came down with the flu.... and kept on hand feeding!
When one starts out it can be so confusing and exhausting. 30 years. I loved the smell of baby birds in the warmth of that shoe box. Later bought an incubator for eggs and all the equipment. That is all sold and gone now. It is still dear to my heart. The 2 am feedings for the tiny ones. Falling asleep on a cot beside the feeding table so I would be there is one of them woke up. Catching a nap during those first two weeks of feedings.
Think I will go to bed now and remember all those babies......sweet dreams!

 

[lexalayne]

I’ve had baby macaws that were weaned regress and beg for handfeeding at my house. These are more like comfort feedings ?