Update on lovebird egg and Hand feeding

[Swontavia]

It’s sadden me to announce that my lovebirds egg did in fact die ....


But my parakeets 5 eggs are doing beautifully she has 6 but only 5 are fertile at the moment but if anyone could give me tips on hand feeding or good videos to watch just in case 6 babies are to many for my budgie Thanks in advance

 

[Zara]

I´m a little confused,

i never had lovebirds before but i have had parakeets and i’ve bred them successfully

if anyone could give me tips on hand feeding or good videos to watch

Or do you mean, the birds have created reproduced and cared for their own young in the past?
Do you have hand feeding experience?
Is there something specific that you are looking for information about?

 

[Swontavia]

I´m a little confused,




Or do you mean, the birds have created reproduced and cared for their own young in the past?
Do you have hand feeding experience?
Is there something specific that you are looking for information about?

I´m a little confused,




Or do you mean, the birds have created reproduced and cared for their own young in the past?
Do you have hand feeding experience?
Is there something specific that you are looking for information about?

in the past she did feed her own babies but she had one baby last year this time around she had 6 and i read if a bird has more than 3 offspring she’d only fed the ones she could and i would hate to have some of the babies to die do you have any tips or hand feeding or know of any good videos i can watch to get the hang of hand feeding or get an idea so just so she don’t feed them i could step in to help

 

[Zara]

Do you have a breeder nearby to reach out to and ask to show you?
As you have no experience you will be best using the spoon method of feeding should you need to. Don’t use a syringe as it is very easy for the chicks to aspirate.
Formula must be fed at 105/106F.
Don’t reuse old formula, make it fresh every time and dispose of leftovers (or offer the, to your adult bird). Don’t use a microwave to prepare food.
I know @Mockinbirdiva recenly posted good responses in another thread, I’ll see if I can find that for you

 

[Zara]

Baby GCC’s

Hello we had a clutch of 5 Green Conure eggs and one hatched this morning. The parents are a few years old and we got them from an avian recuse and I was told they were both males. Obviously that was not correct we are excited and nervous. I would like the babies to be parent raised and if the...

forums.avianavenue.com

For formula amounts, remember it is 10% of the chicks body weight, so that is the difference between different small parrot species. Actually feeding them is the same but they weigh different amounts, grow at different speed and wean at a different time.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

When I have time I will look for other appropriate videos and links. I will also post in the Breeders Blvd the same information with a title that should make it easier for people with the same question to locate or send them to. On the other hand, I do not encourage people to pull chicks to hand feed for the sole purpose of having babies that will have less fear of people and more "tame". Neither do I support breeders who sell un-weaned chicks to buyers who have no experience with the process of hand feeding... we see this all too often with poor results ( death of a chick). It is difficult to find just the right information ( can't stand the ads on links any more!) and is pretty time consuming. Some parts can be acceptable ( imo) while it may also contain information I don't approve of... I'll always mention those parts that I find unacceptable.

This is not to lead anyone away from asking a question because each case can be different where we discover less than ideal set ups and we can help improve on that giving a better chance at survival. It's not just about hand feeding, there's much more to be concerned about when taking on this task.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

This was the first video I've taken the time to watch because the baby she's feeding is only four days old and very, very tiny. This chick was rejected by the parent, hence the hand feeding. As you watch you will see how tricky it is to feed a tiny wiggly chick. I do see the crop has formula in it, she has to feed every 2-3 hours around the clock at this age. Doubtful this little one could go between 12:00 pm -5 or 6 am since he's not growing well according to the breeder. I haven't gone to her videos to see if this little one has any updated videos of progress yet. I don't see her changing the formula in the spoon for a warmer formula from a bowl which could be very problematic for a chick... formula too cool ( less than 105-107 F) could chill the chick and slow the crop down in digestion... then you've got more problems. I also think with this tiny chick she could have used a heating pad covered by a towel on her table to keep the chick warm during feeding. I'm not sure if the feeding response could have been better if formula was kept warm including a warm surface to sit on during feeding. I'm sharing this video so you can see how difficult it is to hand rear when they are this little and prepare you for what could happen. If you don't have a brooder ( a separate container) ready to place chicks in complete with heating, bedding, thermometer ( digital that includes temperature and humidity), a special feeding spoon ( if you choose this), several containers to mix formula in .. including a separate digital thermometer for measuring the temperature of the formula, now is the time to have all the supplies you'll need if you end up having to take care of any little ones. Be prepared to mix formula and keep it heated while you are feeding ( formula tends to thicken after you've mixed it so you'll also need a separate small bowl of extra warm water to thin the formula if need be. Don't feed unless the temperature is correct! Consistency of formula is very important for each stage of growth so you'll need to learn about that too.

There are a lot of good links for you to read in the thread titled Baby GCC's Zara included as a link just above my first post in your thread. I will also look for more helpful videos and budgie related articles.

I went back to the commentary on this video.... this chick did not survive.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

This site looks like thorough information in regard to what I mentioned above and more. Like I said, I don't encourage anyone to pull and hand feed for the sake of having young birds more accustomed to human interaction... these people do so I'm pointing it out when I don't agree with something.

Budgie Hand Feeding And Weaning Guide

Are you considering hand feeding your baby budgies? And even if you are planning on letting your pair raise them, are you prepared to step in and hand feed their chicks should something happen?...

www.cutelittlebirdiesaviary.com

 

[Zara]

That video reminds me of Adelie. I started feeding her at 5 days old, she was fluffy because she´s a lovebird, but just as wiggly and a tad bit bigger. I used a 1ml syringe to feed and found it was a little too big for her. I didn´t film any of the early feeds, it is too dificult to mess around making sure the videos recording and a good angle and everything is visible. I have made videos but when I watch them back, the angle isn´t great and you can´t see the angle in which to feed the chicks... maybe I´ll try again making a video.

 

[Swontavia]

This site looks like thorough information in regard to what I mentioned above and more. Like I said, I don't encourage anyone to pull and hand feed for the sake of having young birds more accustomed to human interaction... these people do so I'm pointing it out when I don't agree with something.

Budgie Hand Feeding And Weaning Guide

Are you considering hand feeding your baby budgies? And even if you are planning on letting your pair raise them, are you prepared to step in and hand feed their chicks should something happen?...

www.cutelittlebirdiesaviary.com

I wouldn’t want to take the baby out to hand feed for my birds can be accustomed to humans i was asking just in case my hen can’t feed 6 little ones that i could help her out i would never take a bird from the mother just to have to get use to humans

 

[Swontavia]

That video reminds me of Adelie. I started feeding her at 5 days old, she was fluffy because she´s a lovebird, but just as wiggly and a tad bit bigger. I used a 1ml syringe to feed and found it was a little too big for her. I didn´t film any of the early feeds, it is too dificult to mess around making sure the videos recording and a good angle and everything is visible. I have made videos but when I watch them back, the angle isn´t great and you can´t see the angle in which to feed the chicks... maybe I´ll try again making a video.

Thank you for taking the time to help me