IndianRingNeck.com

I have a baby IRN that is about 6 weeks of age that I brought home on 2 feedings a day. I have experience handfeeding cockatiels and African Gray but this is my first IRN. He will kinda pick at millet and seed and acts hungry when I take him out to feed. But he will only take one or two tastes of the formula and then doesn't want any more. He "talks" to me and loves to sit on my shoulder or be held. I am concerned that he may not be getting enough to eat. His droppings look OK. It may be that he is just settling in and I am over anxious, but I don't want him to lose too much weight. Any help you experienced breeders can offer would be much appreciated.

Hi,
I'm just having my first experience with a weaning IRN. I don't know the exact hatch date, but my guy is eating pretty well on his own, although the breeder was handfeeding him twice a day when I got him from him. He showed me his method and I've been nervous every time I've had to feed him. My IRN is eating seed, pellet, vegetables and millet spray also. He also chowed down on one of those honey treat sticks. I still worry he's not getting enough formula. I've only had him since Saturday. Sometimes he seems to eat alot and others not too much.
Are you using the same method to feed this baby as the breeder was? Maybe he's being picky about that or something. The breeder showed me the dixie cup method, but I had so much trouble with that that I got a syringe and it works much better for me and the bird
I wish you luck. I know how nervous you must be as I'm in the same boat. Keep me informed how it goes ok?
Lynne

Hello Judy & Lynne

Most baby ringneck will wean when they are 10 weeks old; however, if the ringneck is kept by itself expect a 11 – 12 week weaning period.

To help your ringneck wean, you can start with warm sweet yams or mash potatoes. This helps your bird adapt to solid foods. Get creative and spend time with your ringneck while weaning. This encourages weaning.

Never starve your ringneck during this stage. I know you might think that your ringneck will need to be fed forever, but that’s not the case. Once you are sure your ringneck is happily eating on his/her own you should start to gradually cut down the feedings. Your ringneck will eventually refuse your attempts to hand feed it.

Also it’s completely normal for ringnecks to start to refuse food just before weaning. This helps the parrot drop weight and prepares it for flight. If you think your ringneck is not getting enough food just feed more throughout the day. I’ll explain.

If your ringneck eats only 2 cc’s of formula and you think that 3-4 feedings is not enough for the bird, feed it more throughout the day. So kick the feedings up to 5-6 at 2 cc. It helps a lot! So again, increase the amount of feedings. Just make sure you don’t make to much formula if you know your bird is not eating it all. Throw away any excess and remake fresh formula.

Hope this helps and good questions!

I.C.

Wow, I should consider myself lucky. My India can't get enough formula. She is a little piggy. She would eat 50 cc's a day if I let her despite the fact she spends alot of time playing in her food dish.

I need to learn what is enough at this age? 20 cc's a day? Less? If less, how much?

hey there! oh i got my bella on monday and she is such a darl! i love her... ok but im abit confused with all this weaning stuff...
she is six weeks old but but i was told only to hand feed her a syringe at night so thats all im doing and giving her fruit seeds and vegies thoughtout the day.
should i hand feed her in mornings with the sryine?
also my breeder said to stop weaning her in about one and 1/2 weeks should i be weaning her off at 10weeks? thanks heaps!

Any advise given is just a guide, you dont *have* to start weaning when the breeder tells you. Every bird is different so it should be up to the bird when it wants to wean. If you drop the feedings in order to make the bird hungry enough to eat solids this is forced weaning.

My babies have trouble eating so when they should be on 3 feeds a day at 4 weeks they are on 4 feeds a day because they dont eat much. Make sure the crop is empty before feeding.

encourage the babies to try the wet food, try soaked seed or pellets and they will learn from you so you have to eat the soaked seed too, or at least pretend.

If they are eating during the day you can drop to one feed per day, if they arent I would suggest 2-3 feeds a day still until they start to be interested in solid food.

Perhaps around feeding time offer a dish of soaked mix first when they are hungry, if they dont eat then suppliment the formula, leave the soaked mix there for a few hours then take it away as it goes off. Again in the wild they learn what to eat from other birds, in your home they learn from you.

We offered veggies before feeding from our fingers, since they think all food came from our hands, lol. They would nibble and at least get a taste. Then we tried cucumber- boy did they go crazy over that! Once they realized it was food they began eating everything in site.

Hi
i posted a comment somewhere in this website a couple of weeks ago about weaning my IRN. He will be 12 weeks old in a few days. I was advised that i should keep 2 hand feeds and he will refuse them when he is ready....which really does not look like it is going to happen any time soon. He is a fantastic bird when he has his 2 hand feeds a day, he is quite and pretty mellow. BUT if not, he is a pain in the arse squawking all day long. I have tired just reducing the amount that i feed him in the feed and he still is not satisfied. He can eat fruits and veggies but does not go anywhere near his seed. I have tired myself pretending to eat the seed to show him but thats not really working. It doesnt seem like he knows how to forcefully use his beak? cause he doenst bite yet or anything.
I just need some help on the topic. And if someone can tell me the average age they should stop taking the hand feed (if there is one).
Thanks

Jessica You can try just one feeding at night now and add some baby food fruit or vegitable, I usually start out with baby apple sauce or mixed veggies. Don't worry sometimes when you are trying to wean just one baby they take longer raising a whole clutch most of the time it's the oldest baby to teach the others what to do. During the day put pellets and millet with him and the fresh fruits and veggies in mid morning or afternoon but don't leave them in his cage more then 2 hours, fresh food spoils fast and not good for them to eat it after 2 hours.



Donna P.S. You can give him apple juice too!

untill your bird begin to eat enough himself, i think 2 handfeeding per day is ok (one about 11 am and the other before sleep at night).
when a bird denies to take his handfeeding i found useful to handfeeding him 2-3 hours after sleep at night.
for the weaning period i have found that millet sprays, peanuts and fresh corn on the cob are the best food for starting, so have these all day in the cage.

when you are trying to wean just one baby they take longer raising a whole clutch most of the time it's the oldest baby to teach the others what to

Hi I have a baby ringneck and wen I first got em he was nt Eating n was loosing a lot of weight. And now it wants food all of the time and nw its geting nice n strong but struggling to walk bcoz da mOther sqaushed da babies n his legs are my gud at awl and I am feeding it 4times a dat 15ml must I increase or decrease his food?? Plz help

how old are he? and do you know his weight?
what do you feed him?

He is 6weeks old yes I weigh him before n afta feed n I feed him handrearing phase 2

4 times in a day is ok at this time
your baby must be around 120 gr, is he?
you must give him around 12-13 ml per meal.
the 10-12% of his weight.

Okay but he is not weigh that he's weight is about before feed its 70 n afta feed its about 80 so it only picks up about ten,mls and from this morning it is refusing the food n only eeatin abt 5mls n half-hour later his crop is empty I'm really confused wats gwein on with it not sure if he is ready for solids because he is nibbling on the saw-dust

Plz I'm waiting for a response.....

it looks that the baby start his weaning stage, but he is young for this.
Try to give him 1 meal at the night, 2-3 hours after sleep,
normally in the middle of his sleep he accept the feeding.
Does the baby lives in a nest or something similar box or lives in a cage?

Okies what do u mean 1meal at the night ?? So how many times a day? Still 4times or wat? And he is in a fishtank n he is so nice n warm all the time.

Until he begin to eat alone you must give him 4 meals a day.
The bird must increase his weight.every day until he finaly weight 120 gr.
A night meal with help him to take the remain food of the day.
Maybe it is better to cover. outside the 3 sides of the.tank with a dark paper , he must live normally in a safe nest.... at this age

Lol I'm so sowi I still dont understand about the night feed??? I feed it. 4times a day at 6am 11am. 3pm. N at 6pm. So must I feed it here about 10again?? I'm absolutely sorry plz explain the night feed to me??

if he doesn't eat enough all the day, and he refuses to accept more food
you can try to give him a meal in the night, 10-12 pm
normally he will sleepy and accept a good meal.

I have a 6-7 week old IRN I thought I would give him a "special treat" about 4 days ago of mashed sweet potato, cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, peas and corn. He absolutely loved it so the next day I tried some Mango and kiwi fruit mash. Ziggy loved that too. I started mixing small seed in with his formula and now he is down to one formula feed a day. He loves all vegetables but he is obsessed with Peas, cucumber and kiwi fruit. I leave him a constant supply of fresh fruit and veg (changed over several times a day to stay fresh) I also put seed in among the fruit and veg and he has a nibble at it. Millett sprays are a loved treat also

Hi Donna. Is that Purity baby food? My babies don't seem to be eating and I'm getting so anxious! I've had them for 5 days. They're straight from the parents, out the nest about 2 weeks. Not sure how old they are. I'd like to try the baby food If it's going to work for them

Donna wrote:Jessica You can try just one feeding at night now and add some baby food fruit or vegitable, I usually start out with baby apple sauce or mixed veggies. Don't worry sometimes when you are trying to wean just one baby they take longer raising a whole clutch most of the time it's the oldest baby to teach the others what to do. During the day put pellets and millet with him and the fresh fruits and veggies in mid morning or afternoon but don't leave them in his cage more then 2 hours, fresh food spoils fast and not good for them to eat it after 2 hours.



Donna P.S. You can give him apple juice too!

Maureen36 wrote:Hi Donna. Is that Purity baby food? My babies don't seem to be eating and I'm getting so anxious! I've had them for 5 days. They're straight from the parents, out the nest about 2 weeks. Not sure how old they are. I'd like to try the baby food If it's going to work for them

Donna wrote:Jessica You can try just one feeding at night now and add some baby food fruit or vegitable, I usually start out with baby apple sauce or mixed veggies. Don't worry sometimes when you are trying to wean just one baby they take longer raising a whole clutch most of the time it's the oldest baby to teach the others what to do. During the day put pellets and millet with him and the fresh fruits and veggies in mid morning or afternoon but don't leave them in his cage more then 2 hours, fresh food spoils fast and not good for them to eat it after 2 hours.



Donna P.S. You can give him apple juice too!

Aplogies if I've read this incorrectly, but if they're only two weeks old they cannot be weaned yet. Weaning is the process of converting them from chick formula to adult food. Please contact your breeder. You should still be hand-feeding formula. http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... ?f=1&t=799 has an approximate age list of stages of feeding.

If I didn't understand correctly and they've been supposedly weaned for two weeks already from the breeder, then did he include the food that they have been eating? Continue with that. And I find millet sprays useful. Also, the above link has more weaning information at the bottom of the first post.

There's a great recipe by Sally Blanchard called "Glop", which is linked in the 'What to Feed Your FID' sticky topic in this section which contains baby food. Sally is considered an expert in the psittacine world.