New baby IRN Need info
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New baby IRN Need info
Hi everyone I am new to the IRN's but i have rescued larger parrots. This one is the youngest one i haver ever had. It's 4 weeks old on three feedings a day I have it under heat lamp at all times at about 85 degee's at all times. I am not a breeder but I do have experience hand feeding. My question is (and I'm going to have alot of them) When can or should I start feeding him babyfood carrots and peas and other stuff. God bless you breeders out there that take care of more then one baby at a time. This one has me so nervous. I weigh him every morning before I feed him and he is at 103 grams now. I named him Tango and I also live with an african grey(fred) an umbrella cockatoo (jasmine) a budgie (kevis). Any information you can give me will be greatly helpful. Thanks Donna
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Jade
Hi Donna!
I have hand raised 3 IRNs since they only had pin feathers and looked like little plucked chooks (which is how I named my pet bird 'Chookie'). Right from the start I just bought Heinz baby food (obviously the fruit varieties only) and used a plastic spoon to feed them. I just held their little heads up and put the spoon between their beaks and jiggled it a bit and they swallowed. When their feathers started opening up and you could see some colour, I started to give them also a bit of bread soaked in milk - they love it. I also just checked their crops to make sure they were always full. I took my birds (all from separate clutches) to work in a basket and didn't use a heat lamp. I am in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia so maybe our climate is a little warmer than yours, but I only used a few towels and they burrowed in and were alwas warm to the touch.
Basically its trial and error. I started them on really mushy foods that were similar in consistency to baby food - like kiwi fruit and banana. then they got a taste for the texture and I bought green grapes and cut them in half and held the grapes while they chomped on them. They mainly just sucked the juices. I did this as often as they needed until they were able to feed themselves and then I just put everything in a little shallow dish for them to help themselves.
If you have any questions, just let me know! I didn't let it stress me too much - they are heaps easier than babies!!
I have hand raised 3 IRNs since they only had pin feathers and looked like little plucked chooks (which is how I named my pet bird 'Chookie'). Right from the start I just bought Heinz baby food (obviously the fruit varieties only) and used a plastic spoon to feed them. I just held their little heads up and put the spoon between their beaks and jiggled it a bit and they swallowed. When their feathers started opening up and you could see some colour, I started to give them also a bit of bread soaked in milk - they love it. I also just checked their crops to make sure they were always full. I took my birds (all from separate clutches) to work in a basket and didn't use a heat lamp. I am in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia so maybe our climate is a little warmer than yours, but I only used a few towels and they burrowed in and were alwas warm to the touch.
Basically its trial and error. I started them on really mushy foods that were similar in consistency to baby food - like kiwi fruit and banana. then they got a taste for the texture and I bought green grapes and cut them in half and held the grapes while they chomped on them. They mainly just sucked the juices. I did this as often as they needed until they were able to feed themselves and then I just put everything in a little shallow dish for them to help themselves.
If you have any questions, just let me know! I didn't let it stress me too much - they are heaps easier than babies!!