few Questions

[Jasmineandme]

Hey everyone.
I have a few question's regarding raising little bubs
Alright here goes.
I have read here that you should feed left to right, than i read somewhere else that you should feed them right to left (when syringe feeding btw) So which way is correct and why?

The person who has Mork right now said that when he and his mate(whom passed) gave eggs they never fed them so she had to do it, but i am rather spooked about handling day old babies(i dont want to mess up their pretty little beaks, well overall i am nervous.. but i would try to keep the babies as long as possible with the parents)

I may have more questions along the way lol... but i think that should do as of right now..

WAIT.. one more lol.

When the parent is hand raising the bub, is it fine to pull it from the nest box, have it out for abit (to socialize and be handled) and give it some formula, and put it back into the nest box? so instead of having it on a full handfeeding schedule are you capable in short of giving it formula bit everyday, but still have the parent handfeed it.. or will the parent abandon it?

Thanks!

[TikkaLu]

Ok let me see if I can answer some of your questions...

Generally speaking it is safest to feed babies from the left side of their beak. I will admit I have fed older birds, with good feeding response, from alternating side to keep the beak in good shape. I am currently feeding what were day one babies (days 2, 3, and 4 now) and for the most part feed from the left but with little pressure as to not misshape the beak. I will often put the syringe just above the opening of the beak on upper beak and let formula drip into the beak.

As for you bird Mork, a breeding male? If so and you pair him up with a new hen there is a possibility that the new hen will feed the babies and that you will not have to do day one feeds. I would try this first, as feeding around the clock every 2 hours is a tiring task. If you check out a post I started "how long should I give her?" Imran gives some recommendations for this situation as well.

As for your question regarding removing babies from nest box while parents are feeding, I personally would not attempt this. For one if the parents are feeding there is no need for formula as the parents will be able to do a better job of feeding then us. I would recommend, if the parents are feeding the babies, that you pull the babies at 3-4 weeks, and take over hand feeding and at the same time can start socializing. This should still give you plenty of time to get the babies tame and should only require hand feeding 3-4 times a day depending on whether you pull closer to 3 or 4 weeks old.

Hope this helps.

[Jasmineandme]

Thank you very much that was very helpful.

Yes Mork is a breeding male, and i will plan on pairing him up with another hen.
So hopefully i wont have 1 day babies and they will be capable of parenting the babies till i can pull them.