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What Is The Best Hand Feeding Formula

RobbinHood

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Hello everyone,

I have a few questions pertaining the brands of cockatiel hand feeding formulas. I plan to try my hand at hand feeding my next clutch of cockatiels, I bred my cockatiels last year and the parents successfully raised three chicks.:)

So here is what I think I have found so far:
I have heard that Kaytee is probably not the best way to go.
In my research I found that Roudybush seems to be preferred by professional breeders but not looked on kindly from a home breeders point of view.
I did not find any reviews on the quality of Higgins InTune although it seems to be a reputable brand (it is mostly made of chicken).
I also have not found very many reviews on Tropican.
I haven't looked into Lafebers Nutri-Start much since it seems kind of expensive.
Harrisons seems to almost certainly be the cream of the crop though it is pretty pricey.


I was also wondering how much the average cockatiel chick would eat from the age of 3 weeks to weaned I know there isn't a definite answer to that question I am just looking for a rough estimate.

I have another question as well, which is better: hand feeding spoon, syringe, or I have even heard about Dixie cup feeding?



I would appreciate any advice or opinions as this will be my first hand feeding experience. Thank you.
 

Love My Zons

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I used Tropican for comfort feeding for my Mealy Amazon when he came home from the breeder. He's a happy, healthy big boy going on 11 come May. :D

I cannot speak of the other brands but if given a choice, I would go with the Tropican or the Roudybush.
 

Zara

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I used Nutribird for all my lovebird chicks.

I was also wondering how much the average cockatiel chick would eat from the age of 3 weeks to weaned
The volume will change so there won´t be just one answer.

It is important to weigh the chicks to be sure they are growing well, this will be helpful: Breeding Cockatiels, baby cockatiel, average weight gain chart, average weight of cockatiel chicks
Here is more info on handfeeding: Breeding Cockatiels, candled eggs, assisted hatches, how to make a brooder, how to handfeed baby birds, baby bird feeding schedule, baby bird weight gain chart, weaning baby birds, how to wean baby birds.

I have another question as well, which is better: hand feeding spoon, syringe, or I have even heard about Dixie cup feeding?
this will be my first hand feeding experience
It is important that you be physically shown how to handfeed by either a breeder, vet or someone with experience. It can look so easy online but the reality is not quite that. Incorrect feeding can lead to sour crop, or worse, aspiration. Some sort of mentor would be ideal, someone to guide you and be there with you to help when any problems arise.
If there is no one around who can help you and guide you like that, maybe allow the parents to do all the feedings and you just interact with the chicks when they are a little older.
If there is a problem resulting in the chicks needing to be split from the parents, I would recommend spoon feeding as you are new.
Have a read of this: Handfeeding Cockatiels, Hand Feeding Cockatiels, baby birds, chicks, Crop Burn, Punctured Esophagus, Slow Gut, Sour Crop, Aspiration, Pneumonia, Aspergilliosis, Candidiasis, Yeast Infections, Subcutaneous Emphysema, Unweaned Baby Birds, handfeeding baby birds, hand feeding baby birds, hand feeding chicks, handfeeding chicks, hand feeding problems, handfeeding problems, handfeeding, hand feeding,

Welcome to the Avenue! :starshower1:
 

dollfish

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I'm also using Nutribird for my African Grey.
 

RobbinHood

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Thank you, I really appreciate all the links Zara, I am eager to learn all that I can. I will consider all of your replies and advice.
 

BrianB

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I've been using Mazuri for the last few years and I've had really good results with it. I also feed their regular maintenance formula and breeding formula to my adult birds. I used Kaytee for my first bird but then started having issues with it separating after being mixed. That's when I switched to Mazuri. I work part-time at a local exotic bird store and they recently switched to Tropican hand feeding formula. I'm not sure what they were using before, but the last shipment came with a warning label from the state of California stating that it contained known carcinogens. That was the end of that.
 

melissasparrots

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I used kaytee exact for many years. They had a major recall a few years ago that scared some people off. Some people also don’t like the company in general. However, when I compared weight data gathered from my parrotlets and amazon babies when I fed Zupreem embrace vs kaytee exact, weights were similar and slightly higher on the exact. Feather quality, weaning times and overall health were the same for the two formulas.
 

Jehri

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I've been using Mazuri for the last few years and I've had really good results with it. I also feed their regular maintenance formula and breeding formula to my adult birds. I used Kaytee for my first bird but then started having issues with it separating after being mixed. That's when I switched to Mazuri. I work part-time at a local exotic bird store and they recently switched to Tropican hand feeding formula. I'm not sure what they were using before, but the last shipment came with a warning label from the state of California stating that it contained known carcinogens. That was the end of that.
You wouldn’t happen to have to have a pic of that notice would ya?
 

Matto

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I prefer Hagen Tropican. I don't like Roudybush because it did not hold a temperature, which made it a pain to deal with. But the birds did fine on it. I also like Kaytee. In my opinion most formulas are more or less the same and will do fine, just use what is convenient for you.
 

Matto

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I find syringe-feeding to be easiest but you do have to be more precise with the temperature. Some people find that birds wean faster when spoon fed. Overall not much of big difference. Do what is convenient.
 
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