6 week old buttercup IRN, tips advice please?

[Amandastander]

hi guys and ladies. So I have a 6 week old baby IRN, the problem is they didn't give me much feeding advice, she is eating aviplus softfoods which they said I must give her a dessertspoonfull in the morning and again at night. I don't see how I can sustain her on that amount of food. My uncle who bred ringnecks years ago says 1 teaspoonfull every 2 hours! That sound too much again. Does anybody have the correct amounts and millilitres per feeding and how many times a day? Trainingwise she was only fed and returned so she is semitame, a bit scared obviously its a change for her but she's not really nippy. I've gotten her to step up and she likes the shoulder, she also nibbles at my mouth often as if to try feed from me or perhaps for comfort? Keeping the kids away from her for now as I feel they will overwhelm her. She just really still tries to fly off a lot when someone approaches me. All advice appreciated, I've never handfed before. I have a greygreen with a disability so he's very dependent on me, but doesn't like cuddling, I would love if Piper became a cuddler!

[willowisp71]

Hi there,

I hope someone with more experience than me can give you a more informed answer, but I would agree that 2 x dessert spoons per day is DEFINITELY not enough, (the nibbling at your mouth could possibly be your IRN asking for a feed?).
At a guess, and this is only what I have learnt from reading heaps of other post's on this site, your 6 week old IRN will need at least 3, maybe 4 feeds a day. And I'm not sure if it's too early yet, but you could also start supplementing his/her diet with soft cooked/mashed vegies? Again, I'm not sure at what age to start this, but at some point you'll want to start putting seed out for him/her too, so they get used to cracking seed, and fresh fruit/veg when they're old enough.

Again, here's hoping someone more experienced can point you in the right direction, but most definitely increase your birds feed's in the meantime. Their crop should be full after each feed, if that helps any?

Good luck!

[Amandastander]

Thanks so much. I've gotten some great advice and tips from Carmen at Mcmillan birds via email. Also learnt that Piper is in fact approx 8 weeks of age! She is starting to show interest in her peeled seeds I provided as well as loves her veg! She's just too cute!