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Post by jusdeb on Sept 1, 2010 23:03:49 GMT 10
After the mysterious death of one of this clutch I may be a bit paranoid but I do feel concern for the oldest of the remaining 2 chicks.
The one I am worried about is not a real good feeder she (assume its a girl) bobs her head for the first 1/2 syringe of food then its a drop by drop feed if I can get her to open her mouth.
She may be older than I thought as she is fully feathered and starting to flap her wings , she seems curious and healthy and her weight hasnt dropped but she has only put on a few grams in the 2 days since I started feeding them .
Maybe Im comparing her to the littler one who screams for food and is a good eater , he looks to be pearl . she is Lutino and if she is like her Mum she is very quiet and sweet.
Ive been looking up slow crop even though there is no evidence of it not that I would know what to look for .
Any how maybe Im paranoid or maybe I need some feeding tips like should I be holding her beak open like Ive seen on you tube ?
Any tips would be fine for this rather anxious bird mother.
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Post by vankarhi on Sept 2, 2010 11:56:41 GMT 10
If she is fully feathered then I would be guessing she is almost at fledging age........but at 3 or 4 weeks (possibly 4 or 5 weeks by now) that is little young........maybe 5 to 6 weeks would be closer to the correct age for "fledging". Birds when handraising or even parent raised do go through a stage of not wanting to eat much just before they start to fledge or start learning to fly. So they eat less and they do lose weight.......they can lose quite a few grams.....
Cockatiels are usually fully weaned by 8 weeks.
My baby birds go through this stage and I call it the terrible age or the horrible stage........where some of them actually refuse to eat and it becomes very frustrating but I now just let them eat what they want at this age and put plenty of soft foods in with them like grated carrots and frozen veges (warmed up of course) and finely chopped apples/rockmelon/paw paw/pears etc and sprouts too and bits of toast etc etc. You should be able to start to introduce warmed up frozen veges to your little guys for them to start to taste test and even a millet spray ......... I am just guessing but maybe you do have the age wrong on the chicks?? It is possible ....... I sometimes forget how old my guys are and have to refer back to their hatch dates sometimes.
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Post by vankarhi on Sept 2, 2010 11:57:47 GMT 10
I will also add..........I am giving this advise without even seeing your babies and just by the description you are giving.......I am not a vet and if they do look sick (which you said they don't) then I would suggest taking them to the vet.
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Post by jusdeb on Sept 2, 2010 13:57:08 GMT 10
I think you are right about the age , we did have a car accident in the last few weeks and have lost the plot a bit , also she is flapping her wings .
She is acting fine , I gave her a millet spray and will start with some soft food this evening , I gave her a small feed of poly aid just now as she ate very little for breakfast just in case . Thanks for the reply .
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Post by vankarhi on Sept 2, 2010 15:46:00 GMT 10
you don't need to "feed" her the fresh stuff......just put it in a bowl where she can see it or scatter it on the floor of her cage so she can see it and she can "taste test" (as I say) and play with it as it suits her. Pretty soon she will be actually eating it but at first they just play and taste test.
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Post by jusdeb on Sept 2, 2010 16:01:50 GMT 10
Ok will do that ...thanks again
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Post by jusdeb on Sept 2, 2010 18:21:57 GMT 10
Still no big feed happening however I did offer the millet spray from my hand and yes she was into that , not much eating but she was getting them of the stem , she continued to do this in the hospital cage too ... rebellious little girl lol
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Post by vankarhi on Sept 3, 2010 6:37:25 GMT 10
keep feeding her formula until you can see she is eating food properly.......don't just give her the fresh stuff she needs to learn to eat on her own and this can take weeks. Even when they are with their parents the parents continue to feed them while they have just fledged until they are eating on their own. Even if you have to resort to a syringe.......not crop feeding........syringe feeding. I have had to change from spoon feeding my little eclectus to syringe feeding.......she is being a right royal pain in the butt at the moment and it will get worse lol ............. at the moment though I am also feeding a very young alexandrine and it is such a pleasure at the moment.........but I know that will change in a few weeks lol
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Post by jusdeb on Sept 3, 2010 11:03:19 GMT 10
will do ...thanx for the help
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Post by jusdeb on Sept 3, 2010 12:13:28 GMT 10
thought this pic might say it all ..look at the size difference .  |
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Post by vankarhi on Sept 3, 2010 14:03:14 GMT 10
oh she/he is definetly old enough to start on solid food....but because she/he is not used to it yet it will take a few weeks before she is eating enough to sustain her/him. Yes a big difference but that one could be the older one and the other one might have been the younger one and the one that died might have been the middle one??
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Post by jusdeb on Sept 3, 2010 14:14:03 GMT 10
Yeah the middle one was the one that died , am happy now thanks for your advice just had a reasonable feed and she had a go at a cooked pea which I mushed up in my fingers , she is now playing with the millet . I think she is going to be OK .. oh and will only take the feed if I dont hold her lol .
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Post by vankarhi on Sept 3, 2010 16:48:48 GMT 10
yeah they go through a hard stage araound time they start to learn to fly...or just before actually.....although I don't rememeber any of my tiels being difficult ....... they loved to have their food lol especially formula lol just keep an eye on them and make sure they don't lose too much weight and make sure they are healthy and active and their droppings are normal..........
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Post by jusdeb on Sept 3, 2010 18:56:16 GMT 10
will do.
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Post by jusdeb on Sept 5, 2010 11:36:28 GMT 10
little bugger flew today and steps up on finger ...not real fussed on formula but is trying new things , looking good
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Post by vankarhi on Sept 5, 2010 14:38:09 GMT 10
that is great news. Just make sure there is plenty of food for it to eat and nibble on and just keep trying the formula probably just morning and night and feel the crop at night to see if it is full (before offering the formula) that will give you a good indication of how well it is eating on it's own. I feel the crops of my babies before i take them out to be fed and when they are weaning I always feel their crops during the day too so I can see if they are eating or not.
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Post by jusdeb on Sept 5, 2010 15:03:46 GMT 10
Good habit to get into ( feeling the crop ) as Im only new at this , ...thanks for the advice .
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