I am writing this post at the request of someone who once lost a baby African grey to what she calls ” total ignorance on my part”. She learned a hard lesson at the expense of a baby bird, and she wants no one else to make the same mistake.
She searched for, and found, a breeder who was willing to teach her how to hand feed so that she could take a grey home to begin bonding with it in the early stages of its life. A couple of weeks after she brought the bird home, she got it in her head that the formula was too thick for such a small bird, and began diluting it to the point where it was nearly the consistency of water. The result: malnutrition and eventual death.
Many new owners-to-be seem to believe that the bonding process with a baby bird begins during hand feeding.People think that a bond with their new bird will be stronger if they do it themselves.This is not true. During hand feeding, a baby bird learns about trusting humans in general, not just a particular person. A bird will go on to have the closest of bonds with the human being who takes her home to love and care for her for the rest of her life.
Many inexperienced people are taking birds that are too young home to do a job that is not for the unqualified.There are MANY things that can go wrong during the hand feeding process: aspiration, crop burn, crop stasis and bacterial infection, to name a few. You may have never heard of some of these terms, which is reason enough for for you not to consider hand feeding.You have to know how to recognize that the crop is not emptying as it should and what to do in that event. You need to know how to monitor the baby’s weight gain. You have to know when and how to begin weaning. It is SO much more than simply syringing food into a beak. Even the most experienced lose birds from time to time.
The process of weaning onto solid foods is even trickier. There is much damage that can be done to parrot whose sense of security is compromised during this crucial period in its emotional and social development. Aside from those risks, a bird that is weaned poorly may not ever develop proper eating habits. This will affect its health for the rest of its life.
An ethical and responsible breeder will not let you take home an un-weaned bird, and you should not demand the right to this experience with the bird you intend to buy. Any good that you feel might be done in the area of bonding through hand feeding yourself will be overshadowed by injuring (or killing) your bird during feedings, or by emotionally damaging him with improper techniques.This will certainly negatively impact your relationship with your bird.
Let those with experience raise your bird until it is ready to be delivered into your care. You can then bond with an emotionally secure and healthy bird that is ready for life in a new home.
Author Patty Jourgensen specializes in avian health, behavior and nutrition and has been working with and caring for rescue birds since 1987.
48 comments
As a breeder who hand raises many different types of parrots, I do not let anyone take a bird home unweaned unless they have already hand reared a bird they currently have. We have been handfeeding babies for 26 yrs. now, and unfortunately we still lose one now and then. Many babies have been saved that could have passed thanks to Dr. Labonde and Dr. Summar, our Avian vets who taught us some life saving techniques. Always be sure to have an Avian Vet. check out your baby bird within 2 weeks of taking him home, as the transition can often be tramatic and cause weakness in their immune system.
could anyone tell me at what age will i give my alexandrine pellet food,or fruit ,im still spoon feeding him .his age is about 10 weeks . and i also have a conure his age is about 8 weeks.when con i give them solid foods pls can someone answer me.
i have a cockateil she does not want to bond at all.. all she does is hiss and bite. i really don’t want her anymore she has been with us since Christmas….she can sing so beautifully and learns quickly but the biting and hissing its just unbelievable.
I wish to tell everyone who is going to buy a bird to pay strict attention to the type of cage they buy. I bought a beautiful Sun Conure from PetSmart and a cage that they recommended. I had him for a few short months and on Thanksgiving day he died. I couldn’t figure out what killed him and then I noticed that he had been chewing the paint off the cage. It wasn’t the paint that got him, but after research I found out that the cage was imported from China and was made of galvanized metal. I can’t prove it, but after finding out that galvanized metal is toxic to birds I reached this conclusion. Maybe everyone else knows this, but I sure didn’t. PetSmart would do nothing for me. I am now boycotting their store for selling this type of cage and not warning people.
I brought home a 9 month old Harlequin Macaw that was still being hand fed. The breeder allowed me to bring her home on the condition that I continue to hand feed her. She was already on solid food and one hand feeding per day when I brought her home. Six months later, she still enjoys being hand fed every other day. At this point, it is a matter of her bonding with me. She enjoys it, so I indulge her. She’s a sweetheart.
I also am the 3rd owner of a bird at its age of 20 years. The bird has been with us now for 19months. My wife acquired it as a rescue but it picked me as its mate! Thanks to Vickie for sharing her ‘prolapse’ experience. I have been worrying that the ‘bonding’ is getting too strong. So more proof that adult will bond. Time to ‘fully weaned’ depends on the bird. In Macaws 30 months is not unknown to be fully independent. Another thought – parent reared beats hand reared every time! Hand rearing leads to shorter life expectancy due to development failings that parent birds do not ‘create’.
I’m the third owner to my 25 year old umbrella cockatoo, Kosmo. I got him when he was 11 years old. I don’t think our bond could be any closer. I don’t think it matters what age you get them, it’s how you treat the birds once they are part of your family. Kosmo was neglected and abused and it took me about a year, and changing his name, to gain his trust. It’s not necessary to hand feed to create a bond!
I always feel guilty when it comes to buying a bird. The birds I have “owned” have uusually come to me via owners no longer able to care for them (life circumstances). My attitude is that once I have agreed to care for them, it is my resposibility to ensure their quality of life (not merely their survival).
very true.i lost 5 babies in over confidence.it’s a fake fact that the breeder tells you to buy an unweaned baby so it will bond more quickly with the owner.later after few years recently i took a fully weaned alexandrine parakeet from a very famous breeder and wow it’s so strong and active.eats watever i serve and is extremely friendly.frens never get unweaned babies coz wrong feeding method and delay in feeding intervals can lead to death.i will share my story asap.
So sorry!!! I have a huge problem a’s well, I’m hoping you can help. We moved into new apt. & all has gone bad here. They bang on walls, cabinets etc. They scare my Red Lord Amazon who is only 6yrs. He’s very sweet, but now, he’s attacking me. I know he loves me, I’m his mama. What do I do? Thank you!!
My 3 mos. old Grey slowed down to his spoon feeding ONCE a day, and was eating Harrison Pellet from my hand when I was visiting him at the bird store. The staffs who were spoon feeding my Grey, said that he is cracking little seeds, peanut shell and is totally weaned. I brought my Grey home last week, and he has been wanting me to Spoon feeding him TWICE a day, and eating non stop on other food; Foraging fresh fruits/vegetables, Chopped veggies, lentil, brown rice, Harrison Pellets,Spoon feeding at 6 p.m., then followed Table food in the evening with us. It’s like a non stop eating… I took my baby grey to the Avian Dr. this morning, and the Dr. told me to STOP all the spoon feeding. My baby Grey has strong appetite and eat all day! So different, than what I heard from the staffs at the bird store. My Grey is definitely healthy, active and playful. Waiting for the results of Twitter’s blood work this morning.
My 3 mos. old Grey slowed down to his spoon feeding ONCE a day, and was eating Harrison Pellet from my hand when I was visiting him at the bird store. The staffs who were spoon feeding my Grey, said that he is cracking little seeds, peanut shell and is totally weaned. I brought my Grey home last week, and he has been wanting me to Spoon feeding him TWICE a day, and eating non stop on other food; Foraging fresh fruits/vegetables, Chopped veggies, lentil, brown rice, Harrison Pellets,Spoon feeding at 6 p.m., then followed Table food in the evening with us. It’s like a non stop eating… I took my baby grey to the Avian Dr. this morning, and the Dr. told me to STOP all the spoon feeding. My baby Grey has strong appetite and eat all day! So different, than what I heard from the staffs at the bird store. My Grey is definitely healthy, active and playful. Waiting for the results of Twitter’s blood work this morning.
what age is generally thought best to take home fully weaned??
Of the story of hand rearing a baby bird. Pls people and beware of any but any toxic spray like insect killer, wood polish, air freshner spray to let your house smell fresh spray near your birds at any time or burning coils for moscitous they can die, before your know it. Do not feed them grapes with seeds. Cages, toys must be natural and not coloured with any colouring liqued that got any toxic supstance in, feeding bowls and bells must be from stainless steel. Your bird can get Iron poisoning and die. Just a few tip from a African Gray lover!!!
i lost my bird by it bonding too much!!!! she thought i was hers alone she ended up haveing a prolapse suvived the opp but i lost her a few hours latter :(
Thank you for your advice about never taking home a baby bird that is not thoroughly weaned. This information is very valuable. To other people out there that do not understand, please do not be so selfish to the baby bird as to risk it’s life for your satisfaction.
Cheers to those who heed this advice, shame to those who don’t.this Conure wasn’t weaned until he was 5 months old. A long wait but well worth it!
Weaning and hand feeding a bird is not something for an amauture thats for sure. I have weaned all 9 of my birds and they are healthy happy birds. However I read up on the subject and even spent time at the petshop observing and feeding some that would eventually be my birds. That supervised experience made it that much more reassuring that I was doing the right thing. Most breaders and bird shops are happy to teach especially when it means an eventual sale. After the first couple of birds I started weaning them at home both I and the birdshop were comfortable with that. I would say do not shy away from it the experience is awsome but do with care and education.
I have two white face cockatiels, I am not sure how old they are or what sex they are. They eat very well,and are becoming very use to us now. They were given to us because there owners were moving and could not take with them. One of them has started rubbing it self on the food dish. Seems to feel good by the way it acts. The other just watches and so far does not do this. I know they are happy healthy birds. I am wondering why the one has started doing this rubbing thing. Can any one tell me why it would be doing this. My birds do not talk so I think they are boys maybe brothers. All I know is they do not like to be apart for any length of time. The sleep in separate cages at night and that is alright with them because they are next to each other and covered up so they can still be close to each other.
I am a bird breeder of 10 yrs. A lot of people think that hand feeding a young bird is easy. I promise you, it is not, so many things can go wrong. I only sell young birds to another professional breeder that has several yrs. experience. Some pet stores might sell you a unweaned baby and show you how to feed it, but it takes more than afew minutes to know what can happen by just one mistake.I can usually tell by just talking to a potential customer if they are even ready to take on the responsibilaty of taking care of a bird. It all looks easy but there is a lot of hard work involved. So please research the good and the bad before you add a feathered friend to your family. We don’t need another bird out there looking for a good home!
Where I can learn if I want to become a breeder?
This is SO true. My sister hand-raised my African Grey, then gave her to me when she was 6 months old. She is totally bonded to me and barely tolerates anyone else – including my sister.
I too bought an unweaned beautiful baby macaw and did my best to hand feed the baby as well as introduce it to almost solid food. This was a tricky process and honestly it was easier to potty train birdie than it was to wean her. I was lucky and didn’t make too many awful mistakes, thank God. Because that bird did nothing bue LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. Now, more than 21 years later, I still have the most loving best friend in the world. Thank you, Lord, for guiding my ignorance away from disaster and to the most amazing relationship ever.
Hi Chet I completely agree with you i had my CAG when he was 6 weeks old and believe me it was the scariest thing i ever had to do was to take of this little thing. If i ever take on another CAG it will be once it has been weaned. I sympathize with this person who has lost her african grey.
My cockatiel, Baby, was perhaps 6 weeks old when I got him, and had been at the pet shop for a week already. He was taken from his parents at maybe 4 or 5 weeks old. He literally didn’t even quite know how to dring water properly and would sometimes choke on the water he’d inhale. I sometimes wonder if his being taken from his parents so young is why he seems to have such an awful fear of abandonment. If I leave the room for even 15 or 20 seconds he will absolutely panic about it. I’m thankful that anything that seems to traumatize, frighten, or upset him does not seem to last – 5 minutes or less after he gets really upset, he seems to consistently recover himself and to be just fine. So, he may have been weaned already, and he has bonded to me quite strongly, but I think he might be better adjusted if he’d stayed with his parents a bit longer. But, when all is said and done, he sits on my shoulder most evenings after he’s gotten tired and puffs up his facial feathers and contentedly grinds his beak, so I guess it’s all good.
-
1
-
2
NextLeave a comment