Hand Feeding Resources

[quakingcanopy]

Maybe having the chance to help a fellow bird enthusiast hand feed some blue crown conure chicks. Could use some advice...

The owner/breeder is going to show me how he does it, but boy wouldn't i love to do some research first!

If you have some favorite links, videos, or books...much appreciated! Thanks! Have read lots of posts here in the forum but haven't found many exterior resources yet.

 

[Kathie]

Pick my brain - I will be glad to share with you all the knowledge I have. There's nothing better than hands on training, and I am sure this breeder will demonstrate quite a few times before you try it.

 

[quakingcanopy]

Welp, okay! To start...how much would you typically feed? I've heard of different schedules and feeding on an empty crop once a day, twice, and not at all. I've also heard it done in weights. Do you have a preference that you have seen work for you? These guys will be 2 weeks old when they are pulled from the parents, but knowing how to do it from day 1 would be useful!

How about a method you prefer? Left side of the cheek clearly, but anything else? Do you weigh before and after?

How would you know if you had over fed or even aspirated a baby? is there anything you can do? I tube fed a baby goat once and aspirated her (and I've cared for hundreds, just did it wrong this time) and there was nothing that could be done, so I suspect a bird would be similar?

 

[NikkiLS]

cockatiel cottage has quite the abundance of information on handfeeding Handfeeding Step-By-Step
Cockatiel Cottage, Cockatiels, basic care and general information on the cockatiel, cockatiel information, cockatiels basic care, diet, nutrition, pellet diets, health, illness, behavior, taming, behavior problems, biting, sickness, symptoms of a sic