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How can i wean my cockatiels

Airman21

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Hello i got 2 cockatiels they are 2 months old and always beg me for food, i feed them 4 times a day, once at 4 hours because they always cry from 4 to 4 hours for food. I give them NutriBird A21, baby bird syringe hand feeding formula. How can i make them actually eat anything else, what would that anything else be and how to show them where is that food because they only know there is food when they see the syringe.
 

Destiny

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You can start by offering a wide variety of adult foods for the baby bird to explore (or ignore). Offer small amounts, since most will not be eaten. The goal is to encourage early exploration and experimentation. Continue to hand-feed appropriately, while the bird learns about solid foods. You don't want to reduce those feedings until your baby is comfortable eating solids.

Some examples of how to offer solids would be spreading some seeds on a plate or offering wet leaves for the baby to nibble on.

Wetting pellets or seeds and sprouted seeds might be more appealing than dry feed. Offer a variety of food, including fresh fruit and vegetables and chop, so your bird learns to recognize many types of food.

Here is an article that talks a little more about weaning:


And here is another one:


The main idea is to offer an abundance of options and get the bird interested in "playing" with solid foods. That will eventually lead to chewing and eating them. And the bird will naturally switch over, while you gently taper down on syringe feedings.

You want to avoid stopping too suddenly or intentionally letting the bird go hungry to force them to wean.
 
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Zara

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Destiny gave a good answer, though I haven´t read the articles, offering a variety of foods is good.

Offer those foods right after the formula feed. The formula feed is 10% of your birds body weight, so weigh the bird in the morning before the first feed.

Someone else asked a very similar question here;
(let the link load completely to take you to the exact post ;) )
 
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