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
and kindly send me the video link about my problem friends
kindly someone help me that my birds a so much loudly noising .and i have a couple but they are fighting so what i do and also biting kindly give me a right way what i do.
i got my lutino ringneck at around 8weeks old, he was not fully weaned, he didnt eat for a long time after we brought him home until i gave hime some of the ‘baby bird food’ i went out and brought. So glad i didnt have to syringe feed him and he took it of a spoon 2-3 times then went to the fruit and vegies we put out. The woman we got him from didnt warn us he might not be eating right, but his feet were already starting to become misshapen from the tiny cage with no perches that we ‘rescued’ him from. I said then that i would never get a bird that young again unless theyre fully weaned.
People should go to the store and spend time withe the bird they are getting until they are weaned. The bird becomes aquainted with it’s future owner. The parrot shop where I bought my grey recommended that and it works…
Gosh how horrible. We got our cockatoo when she was 6 months…that’s young enough for me. And she is sooo bonded with the entire family…my hubby and 2 grown daughters even without being the breeder.
I agreed with you learning to feed a young bird is a job and Half. I got Money at the age of 8 weeks old Money is my African Grey Congo. He was my dream come through. For about 12 weeks and with lots of patience and love he learn to eat from heavy liquids to solids I gave him no less than the best. It was like feeding one of my own children. Talk to him and give him kisses slightly wrapped up in a medium towel, clean his beak after eating to the point of washing it and having a small towel to teach him good manners. Money is now nearly one year old and he is the family baby, He is great with everyone. Has developed a vocabulary of at least 100 words and can even hold a conversation with you. He also lets me know when I am in a bad mood and I don’t know it.
Thanks, Chet for putting out such valuble facts about our beloved “fds”
Very good article Chet on weaning . We bird lovers , though eccentric need to know these things . Also want to thank you Chet for emailing these articles on to me / us and I do read them all . There is a guy they call The Dog Whisperer who understands dog language but you Chet are The Parrot Whisperer for sure . I have 3 parrots and do so appreciate your sharing knowledge with me / us !
As i wrote in an other comment to day, I am parrot breeder more then two decade.I make also hand feeding but never ever give over a young parrot before was perfect weaned.Some people was angry about me because this, but I always saying that i am responsible of the life from the little chick and will give him over when he can eat alone and is enough strong.I have no incubator, and let the parents look after the babys two -two and half week, and only then i take out the young chicks.During the years i found that if i leave the chicks by the parents in the youngest age, they will grow up helthier and better after then when i begin to feed them. I t was very sorry to hear this story about the poor african gray. A responsible breeder must explain what can happen when somebody who hasn’t the experience will take the young chick home before he is weaned,and not surrender to the request from the buyer
Thank you for all your articles and especially this one. I am a bird breeder and I do not sell any of my babies until they are weened and have had their first flight. I do not cut wings until they have had a change to fly. I introduce fresh food at an early age. If someone wants a young bird I will take a deposit with the understanding they must visit the bird on a regular basis to help with the feeding and bonding. Even an older bird will bond with someone. Peaches Corner
I would just like to add that you don’t need to get a bird so young that you have to hand feed and wean them. We got our green cheeked conure at 4 months old and she is almost a year and she has bonded with us so much so my husband(who has has other parrots) was surprised. It all comes down to how you inter act with your bird and their temperament. Just like people come in different temperaments so do birds.
That story is so sad but all too true. As a bird lover, I did it the lazy way~~~purchased eggs and went from there. Ppl don’t realize that they have approached a bigger challange than raising newborn kids. A newly hatched bird has no idea when they are full! Mother Nature left that up to us, when there are no bird parents.The birds have to be fed a lot more often and you have to know when and how much, or we will sadly be reading another story similar to this one. Thanks for the advice to newbies and even old hands with birds. It is up to each of us to educate other. No matter what animals you have, raise,or breed, we all need to share our information with other owners, breeders, or friends so we don’t loose anymore animals needlessly. Please take this advice, and really get to know what can be fed to your birds, many loose them, sadly from something they innocently think the bird can eat!! Having their wings clipped and nails clipped are just as important!! Thanks to all of you for your input and advice. After 20 yrs I am still learning from this site Thanks to All
How heartbreaking! I’m so glad I was too afraid to bring my tiel, Rufus home and finish his hand-feeding, even though the shop offered. I had already read how tricky it was and was very surprised they even offered to show me how to feed him so I could take him home early. Another point for studying up on a pet before committing to one.
Adopt from the local shelters instead of from a breeder if you can. The shelters are overrun with homeless birds. Not all will be right for you but giving just one a loving home helps! I have found that birds will bond with you at any age if you show them enough patience and love. Euclid was a rescue – 32 years old and aggressive to both men and women. He would fly to attack them. He is not that way with me at all. http://www.youtube.com/user/MsDolittle111?blend=1&ob=5#p/a/u/1/hC3uF6K7xk8 He is my second rescue bird. Maya would shred the hands of anyone that tried to hold her. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49GO6pH95i4 I have a B&G and an African Grey that I bonded with at a young age and they are no less loving then Maya or Euclid. So please – try and rescue first if you can. :)
Knowing how to hand feed correctly is an important skill every bird owner should learn not just the privileged breeder! I am a breeder, and hand feeding is often used for administering medications and assisting ailing birds. I make a practice of giving warm formula to all of my birds even adults, every once in awhile. It makes them more receptive to medicine if necessary. This person sounds ignorant.
Excellent Post. Thanks! I have a Sun Conure who I brought home after it was cleared that she was fully weaned……For 3 months, I visited her twice a week at Patterson Bird Store. She is now 6 years old! Thanks again!
This is very sad, I do handfeed and have done from Parrotlets to macaws, feeding 2 quakers now. I have only 9 years experience but still learn everyday. I love handfeeding but it does take alot of time and commitment… Plus the patience.. lots of love..
It’s only half the problem. The best animal experts and avian vets recognize that handfeeding by humans is a huge problem. And Never done in any qualified exotic animal breeding program in the zoological field unless Absolutely necessary. Sexual and social imprinting Has to happen in the nest for any animal that flies or the young die as soon as they gain flight. The natural parents teach far too many things humans can’t. Like not biting! And separating the babies from the natural socializtion the ‘Parent Deprivation’ (The real description of hand feeding) causes damages them severely as adults. Stating with sexually imprinting the babies on humans. NO hand feeding program gives the babies anywhere near the time and attention they are evolved to learn from during vital growing steps. Mixed Parenting is the more educated way to raise parrots. The mother and father teach essential lessons (And food acceptances!) and humans interact during the process so we become Flock, not parents and potential mates. Babies should stay with the parents and clutch till fledging if possible. Fledging is also vital in the young birds development! Breeders tend to ignore this well understood process because it cuts production to maybe a clutch per year per pair. Hardly the income they envision when compared to pulling eggs early and triple clutching every pair or pulling very young babies for hand feeding and getting almost that. Money rules in business and until the pet trade consumer stops buying parent deprived pets the abuses and huge behavior problems after the birds mature won’t stop. For instance, parent raised birds are known to almost never overpluck or self-mutilate. Wouldn’t a lot of parrot owners love to have that sort of happier companion?
Thought I’d share my bird’s story. Proof that you can have a strong bond even if you were not united at a very early age. They bond to the person they trust and who cares for them I got my cockatiel when he was around 4mths old, fully weaned, never hand fed or sociallized with people. He was afraid of people and hands in particular. Through caring and confidence, he’s become the most social bird I know. He loves every person who walks in the door and is strongly bonded with my dogs. To my stupid mistake, one year after getting him, he escaped outside and flew the neighbourhood in circles for at least 15min. After he landed (location unknown), my dog and I walked the neighbourhood in search of him, calling him. When we got within earshot, he sure let us know where he was, he was the loudest bird on the block. He was waiting in a tree and so happy to see us! (I was afraid he’d be loving the freedom but he flew down to me to go home) Its another year after that and he is still very social. Our bond increases all the time. He is clicker trained now which I hope will keep him safe and help us become reunited in the event of another stupid mistake on my part.
Thought I’d share my bird’s story. Proof that you can have a strong bond even if you were not united at a very early age. They bond to the person they trust and who cares for them I got my cockatiel when he was around 4mths old, fully weaned, never hand fed or sociallized with people. He was afraid of people and hands in particular. Through caring and confidence, he’s become the most social bird I know. He loves every person who walks in the door and is strongly bonded with my dogs. To my stupid mistake, one year after getting him, he escaped outside and flew the neighbourhood in circles for at least 15min. After he landed (location unknown), my dog and I walked the neighbourhood in search of him, calling him. When we got within earshot, he sure let us know where he was, he was the loudest bird on the block. He was waiting in a tree and so happy to see us! (I was afraid he’d be loving the freedom but he flew down to me to go home) Its another year after that and he is still very social. Our bond increases all the time. He is clicker trained now which I hope will keep him safe and help us become reunited in the event of another stupid mistake on my part.
I`m glad to read the comments, of store owners, and breeders howm take astand
I feel for this lady but I would like to dispel the belief that you should not buy a pet from a pet store. I bought my hahns macaw at a pet store and I asked them if there was room for negotiating a price…they offered then and there to contact the breeder and within 5 mins came back and offered a lower price and also gave me the name of the breeder…I have had Peanut for 2 yrs and he is a wonderful sweet and gentle bird. Petland also called me 6 months after I purchased Peanut to see how things were going…I shop there for toys etc…(not food) and they still remember him and me.
Excellent advice
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