IndianRingNeck.com

Hi All

For those of you who handraise your chicks, I was wondering if you could share some information. Firstly, at what age do you remove the chicks to handraise them? Secondly, at that age, how many times a day do you feed them? Thirdly, how long is it before the feeding frequency tends to drop back?

My guys have just started nesting and I don't know if I want to let them breed or not and if I do let them breed, I'm trying to decide whether to handrear or not.

If I do handrear, I'm hoping to do some co-feeding of the babies as demonstrated here: http://www.aussiebirds.proboards.com/in ... read=10702
Since both of my birds are tame, there is a small chance this could work but I don't really know if it will. I'm hoping this will work so that the chicks can get the best of both worlds: get used to people and get the care of their parents.

Ellie.

Hi Ellie

You will find a lot of different breeders will give you slightly different dates as to when you should pull the chicks from the nest, different amounts of feeds per day etc.

View the sticky in this section, it is a good guidline to go by, I admit, I do not follow it perfectly though.

This is what I do:

1) If i ring my birds, I take them out of the nest between 10-12 days. As I am not doing that this year, I am leaving the babies and only pulling them between 17-20days(unless my eagerness overcomes me and I pull them sooner.)

2) I put them in a box with holes in the lid, shavings at the bottom and a baby blanket to hide and snuggle into. If they get too hot, I move the baby blanket away or open the lid so fresh air can circulate.

3)Ideally you should start with 4 feeds a day, but I have found that 3 can be sufficient. I feed my babies at 6:30am, 1:30pm and 7:30pm. If i find their crops are empty earlier, then i will shift my times so I can give them an extra feed. I find that when they just come out of the nest they are used to receiving small feeds frequently throughout the day, so for the first couple of days I will feed them smaller amounts more frequently. Wait until the crop is empty before the next feed as it can cause problems if it is not.
at about 5-6weeks you will notice the babies interest in food is starting to drop back a little, I drop their feed to twice a day, by 7-8 weeks I am generally down to 1 feed a day. From the time the babies feed starts to drop, I start putting cooked mix veggies or grated fruit in for them to experiment and play with. It encourages them to eat. I have also found, the more colourful the bowl is, the more willing they are to try it(birds are by no means stupid and I honestly believe they see colour). I use both syringe and bent teaspoon. I have some batches that refuse to take from syringe(although much less messy and much easier to control amounts etc) and yet willingly gulp off of a spoon.

I would love to let the parents co-feed like Charlie's parents did, but my pairs are not my pets in the house. I know it may seem like a lot of hard work initially but it becomes like a rythm and routine and seems so easy once you get the hang of it. Also, with only one pairs babies you will find it goes so quickly and before you know it all the babies have been fed.

Good luck, and don't hesitate to ask more questions if you need help.

Carmen

Thanks Carmen. This is really great information.

I priced a brooder the other day from the Parrot Society and was shocked to find out it was $600... but my understanding is if it is warm enough when you pull them from the nest, you don't need one.

I'm trying to ascertain whether I could fit in looking after the babies with my other commitments. My husband isn't keen to be tied down to it so I'd have to be able to do it on my own. If I can't fit it in, I won't let them breed. I'll have to freeze the eggs or shake them up or something...

I'm noticing although Janey will leave the cage briefly, she isn't willing to be too far from her nestbox for long now even though there are no eggs in there yet. She doesn't seem particularly energetic at the moment, so i'm guessing her body is preparing to lay eggs. After what seemed like weeks of her crouching in front of Charlie begging for it, he finally seems to be obliging her.... so it's all happening in our birdie household now! I started showing Janey that I can open the back of the nestbox so I'm hoping that it won't completely freak her out when I open it next time!

Thanks again for the info. It will help me make an informed decision!

Ellie.

Hi Ellie

Brooders are extremely expensive. I have not had to use one though. On a very cold night if I feel the babies need a little extra warmth I will fill my hot water bottle(with warm, not hot water) or warm up my wheatie and wrap it in a hand towl so as not to harm the little ones.
I have had one experience where I had to help a baby out of the egg and the mother would not accept it so had to take it out of the nest. We kept it in a smaller box and used an infra red light shining onto the outside of the box to keep it warm. We had to get the distance right between the 2 but once we had the temp right it worked like a dream.
When they are about 3weeks though they generate enough heat most of the time to keep warm enough. You shouldn't have any problems in that respect.

From the time they start mating it is generally about 3 weeks or so before they start laying. You will get other cases where they will start before or after but its a rough guideline.

All the best
Carmen