wondering about hand feeding?

birdman5000 · Post by **birdman5000** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 6:42 pm

i want to hand feed the chicks my irns will hopfully hatch i know to take them at two weeks old but i was wondering about the formula.

I have seen exact parrot feeding formula that is "good for most birds" at least thats what it says on the label but when i finished feeding my macaw the breeder gave me exact feeding formula specificaly for macaws. Is there a formula specifically formulated for irns?

and the most important question.

I read that if it is the first clutch that your birds are raising you must let them raise and wean it all by themselves otherwise they will reject future clutches at the same time you took the first one.

is this absolutly true? and if it is, can one remove one or a few of the young for hand feeding and the remaining chicks will be taken care of by the parrents without impacting the instincts of the parents to finish raising their young during the next clutch?

just thought id find out for sure before trying anything :?:

Mazziemom · Post by **Mazziemom** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 7:24 pm

Ok, most questions I'm so not helpful with... but the formula one.

I know about the formula because we often get birds in such bad condition that we have to hand feed them in order to keep them alive. Not pretty.

Macaw formula is formulated to be higher fat, which they need. We feed them nuts and such as adults, but chicks need it too, hence the special formula.

IRN's dont require that high fat diet.

Athena

birdman5000 · Post by **birdman5000** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 11:37 pm

thanks a lot

i new they needed more fat some macaw species need even more than most

but i never new thats why the macaw formula was different and i can use the stuff at the pet store down the street rather than driving to the next city to get different kinds at the bird farm.

Post by **Datsun and Family** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 2:44 am

Two weeks is pretty young to pull from the nest, you can easily pull at 21 days (3 weeks) and still have lovely tame babies. All the ringnecks I have raised were pulled between 19 and 23 days.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:19 am

I would take them at 2 weeks or a bit younger, Ringnecks are very timid even when they are pinning. It is pretty hard to feed them if they are scared of you. The younger the better.
I use Vetafarm H/R Mix, it is an Australian brand and it contains no soy products so there is no risk to the babies at all. If a h/r mix does have soy products in it (which most do) there is a possibility that it will be fatal to the birds, i don't want to risk the lives of my babies so i don't use those particular brands.

I took all my birds first clutches out for handraising, i let them feed the babies for the first 2 weeks then i did the rest. I think if you take babies from day 1 there is a chance the birds will abandon babies when they hatch, but IMO that is a myth. All birds have the parenting instinct

Mazziemom · Post by **Mazziemom** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 9:59 am

Buddy and Alice both did 3 full weeks with parents before being fed... and both are wonderful birds.

Athena

birdman5000 · Post by **birdman5000** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 7:48 pm

thanks to all of you