Weaning Gracie, the quaker (questions)

[Kimberly1985]

Wasn't sure where to post this. Feel free to move to the right place. It is about food so...???

Gracie has been doing really great lately. She's eating a lot on her own and refused handfeeding formula after 7 cc's with every feeding since last night. She is also able to fly pretty well and almost always nails her landings.

I have a question about her weight gain. She was consistently gaining 4-5 grams daily until about a week ago, she has held steady at 98 grams (with an empty crop) since. I have heard that when birds are ready to wean, they will quit gaining weight. Is this what's happening with Gracie?

I have been offering Zupreem and Roudybush mini pellets along with some seeds. I was offering the pellets soaked but she doesn't care for them anymore. I've noticed since she learned how to hull the seeds, she is no longer interested in the pellets. She does pick the dried pellets up, but spits them out as if she's trying to hull them. I want pellets to be the majority of her diet but the seeds seem to be helping her wean. So my question is, should I take the seeds away, and hope she'll start back eating the pellets or would it be okay to keep offering both and hope she'll eat the pellets along with the seeds? And if not, could I possible convert her later? Does anyone's birds prefer pellets over seed even when both is offered?

Also today, I offered her strips of bell peppers and guess what? She can hold them (somewhat) in her hands. Here's two pictures:

She even picked it up with her foot but kept dropping it.

 

[fidsmom]

Gracie is very cute. Have you tried the Roudybush crumbles ? my fids eat both the crumbles & minis, you could try her on plain cheerios, some millet. When I weaned my fids, , I gav them both pellts & Higgins fruit & veggie, along with some Goldenfeast foods, I also gave some warm foods, which I still do today. My fids eat both, they eat their pellets daily, with other foods.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

When I hand fed Diva it was because she was missing almost all of her upper beak, so there was a lot of stuff she could not eat. I left cheerios on the floor of her cage along with her Harrisons Fine and after a year she started zotting up the pellets with her tongue and swallowing them whole. Two months after that she started eating cheerios and then I gave her wheat bread which she enjoyed. All I did was give Diva Tiel opportunities to eat on her own and she did. It took me 18 months to wean her completely off that last bedtime feeding.

But Diva was handicapped and a story unto herself.

 

[Kimberly1985]

Thanks fids mom! I actually offer a couple cheerios in the morning. I also give her about an inch of millet spray every other day. She devours it...not sure if she's eating or playing with it. LOL

Also she gets veggies daily. Most of the time they are cooked but not the bell peppers. I'll have to try the crumble size. I actually had gotten the minis for my lovebirds because that's the size it said to get. They are too big for them so I was giving them to Gracie. I guess I could run them through the food processor to make them smaller??

So should I quit with the loose seeds?

 

[Kimberly1985]

When I hand fed Diva it was because she was missing almost all of her upper beak, so there was a lot of stuff she could not eat. I left cheerios on the floor of her cage along with her Harrisons Fine and after a year she started zotting up the pellets with her tongue and swallowing them whole. Two months after that she started eating cheerios and then I gave her wheat bread which she enjoyed. All I did was give Diva Tiel opportunities to eat on her own and she did. It took me 18 months to wean her completely off that last bedtime feeding.

But Diva was handicapped and a story unto herself.

Bless you for taking care of Diva. It takes a special person to take care of a handicapped birdy or animal.

 

[Ming-Ming]

Just to add to the weaning bit. I definitely would look into abundance weaning if you haven't already.
She'll tell you when she is ready to give up the formula, by actually refusing formula. It takes longer to wean, but it leaves you with a much better confident baby

It's what I did with my Quaker gal, and she's amazing.

 

[Kimberly1985]

Yea, I've looked into the abundance weaning...as long as she still wants the formula, she will get it. Thanks.

 

[fidsmom]

Kimberly,
try skipping out the seeds, But if you see Gracie hasn't eaten much, give her a little seed then, do you have a scale for her, to moniter her weight ? have you tried cooked peas on her ? thats nice and soft for her , also scrambled eggs to, nice warm foods im sure she will enjoy to try and probably like them, even oatmeal you can give her, I will have to look in my fids baby books, to see what other foods, I gave to them at that age, Precious ( 1 of my Quakers) was a slow weaner, she enjoyed her formula, too much I think, cause she was 4.5 months old before finally given it up .

 

[Kimberly1985]

I'll try to skip out on the seeds again. I removed the seeds earlier and she didn't touch the pellets then. But she might not have been hungry at the time.

I do have a scale. I weigh her daily. I mentioned in the original post.

I have a question about her weight gain. She was consistently gaining 4-5 grams daily until about a week ago, she has held steady at 98 grams (with an empty crop) since. I have heard that when birds are ready to wean, they will quit gaining weight. Is this what's happening with Gracie?

Is this normal?
Instead of the normal 12-15 cc's she's been eating (between 36-45cc's daily), she has only ate 7-8 cc's at each feeding today totaling about 23 cc's. Her weight remained the same. So I'm guessing she got enough from the seeds and veggies, that it made up for the smaller feedings??? What are your thoughts?

Oh yea, she loves peas and corn! I did do a boiled egg mashed up one time...but I will try the scrambled.

Thank you for your help and suggestions.

 

[fidsmom]

seems that shes eating the other foods then, if shes taken less formula now. crumbles are a smaller pellets, she would be able to eat those. I have tried the small on my fids, but they prefer the minis & the crumbles, My senegal has a beak deformaty, so crumbles, shes able to chew on. also try sweet potatoe, my fids love that. As long as Gracie isn't losing weight, then thats good sign & that she exploring to try other foods.

 

[Sadieladie1994]

If she is only taking 4-5cc I would stop mid day feeding if you still have her on 3 feedings. Next to stop is morning. Last is night time as you want them to go to bed with a full tummy. Variety is the key. They will play with food first before eating so it is ok to offer variety. Once they play with it they may go ahead and try it. Eating everything is not always natural. They learn from their parents what food is. Eat along with her and offer some to her. Birds are social and enjoy eating with others.

 

[Kimberly1985]

seems that shes eating the other foods then, if shes taken less formula now. crumbles are a smaller pellets, she would be able to eat those. I have tried the small on my fids, but they prefer the minis & the crumbles, My senegal has a beak deformaty, so crumbles, shes able to chew on. also try sweet potatoe, my fids love that. As long as Gracie isn't losing weight, then thats good sign & that she exploring to try other foods.

No, she's not losing weight. I was just worried because she wasn't gaining anymore. She took 7 cc's again this morning. She then devoured about 7 peas, and 3 pieces of corn. Now she is eating the pellets...she's making a mess trying to find seeds that aren't there. Thanks.

 

[Kimberly1985]

If she is only taking 4-5cc I would stop mid day feeding if you still have her on 3 feedings. Next to stop is morning. Last is night time as you want them to go to bed with a full tummy. Variety is the key. They will play with food first before eating so it is ok to offer variety. Once they play with it they may go ahead and try it. Eating everything is not always natural. They learn from their parents what food is. Eat along with her and offer some to her. Birds are social and enjoy eating with others.

She takes about 7 cc's. I'm gonna try to drop that feeding today but if she acts like she wants it, I'll probably give into her. She seems to like everything that I've offered. I guess it can be a good thing. Thanks for your advice.

 

[Kimberly1985]

Just an update: Gracie is down to two feedings. (this is the second day) She has maintained her weight. She also is eating a little more of the pellets but of course, seeds are her favorite. Once she is weaned, I'm gonna try to phase most of the seed out.

Thanks everyone for your advice.