Hi all,
I have a question about the consistency of the formula for a 4 day old chick. Backstory, our cockatiels laid 3 eggs, one was bad, one hatched and the parents neglected/ killed it, and the 3rd hatched as well. They almost started taking care of it, then started to neglect and abuse it so I pulled it out of the cage. This has been super stressful! We are hoping to get this one raised, then never have this happen again.
I set it up in a makeshift brooder and have followed the directions for formula on the back of the Kaytee Exact bird formula (and read a ton/ watched a ton of videos). First 2 days it says to do a 1:6 ratio (formula to water), then days 3-5 do a 1:2-3 (we did 1:3), that was yesterday. The chick did really poorly on the 1:3, got dehydrated, lethargic, we really thought it was the end this morning. However, I set up a humidifier, and worked on gradually rehydrating the chick, it seems to be doing much better now (back on the 1:6 formula ratio). How do I know when to increase the formula to water ratio? Everything I saw/ read says the consistency of applesauce, and too much or too little water is bad- so how do I know when to increase?
Thanks for any help!!
I have a question about the consistency of the formula for a 4 day old chick. Backstory, our cockatiels laid 3 eggs, one was bad, one hatched and the parents neglected/ killed it, and the 3rd hatched as well. They almost started taking care of it, then started to neglect and abuse it so I pulled it out of the cage. This has been super stressful! We are hoping to get this one raised, then never have this happen again.
I set it up in a makeshift brooder and have followed the directions for formula on the back of the Kaytee Exact bird formula (and read a ton/ watched a ton of videos). First 2 days it says to do a 1:6 ratio (formula to water), then days 3-5 do a 1:2-3 (we did 1:3), that was yesterday. The chick did really poorly on the 1:3, got dehydrated, lethargic, we really thought it was the end this morning. However, I set up a humidifier, and worked on gradually rehydrating the chick, it seems to be doing much better now (back on the 1:6 formula ratio). How do I know when to increase the formula to water ratio? Everything I saw/ read says the consistency of applesauce, and too much or too little water is bad- so how do I know when to increase?
Thanks for any help!!