IndianRingNeck.com

Hello friends
I am Mujeeb, from India, Working and living with family here in Qatar. Myself, Wife Suhara, 2 Sons Maasoom & Meshaal aged 17 &16 and little daughter Minnah aged 5. With almost 200 plus birds in our aviary our family is big. Mostly the inmates are softbills (Finch varieties, Diamond Doves, Californian Quails and some Fancy chicken breeds) My daughter is very fond of the birds and infact her demand for a pet of her own compelled us to adopt a IRN baby from one of my breeder friends. We had heart broken with "Jannah" our first IRN female's death while we were on vacation to India. She was with our friend, but within one week she was died, he said refusing food. She was very affectionate to me and flew back to cage with my calls aftter flying away once. The new baby (will call her "Jannah" if she is female, so will refer as "she") is 3.5 weeks old now (photos not able to attach saying "file too large" ) we hare hand feeding now. My friend said this baby was only chick of a nest, may be the reason was the only one not yelling out of 6 babies i given to choose. At home also seldom screaches. We are feeding her 5 times a day. After fed she like to go back to her nest (A wooden box with wheat bran spread on bottom) This is the third day and i believe she still miss her mother and sad. I had few worries as she doesnt lift her head often either for food (for feeding we force open the mouth and feeds)or while moving, instead crawls with head down. Her feets all okay. She is not making much sounds, except low screaching while afraid of big noises i think. Hope any of you can clear my doubts which worries me. I don't want her to starve to make loud noise and hold up her head for begging for food. Thanks for your time for hearing me friends. Wish you all a good day.

Hello Mujeeb,

Hello and welcome to our Indian Ringneck forum! We have the nicest family around I promise. It's true many of us are super busy, but we all try to stop in to help any new members, such as yourself--we all strive to leave unanswered posts--this is a goal that can sometimes become tedious--but we try. Should you not be able to find an answer, search the forum as we have literally thousands of posts.

Anyways, let's answer some of your questions.

Firstly, let me give you my condolences about losing your last little bird. It's amazing how these birds can quickly find a big spot amongst our hearts. I know my life would be empty without my birds and they are the center of my universe. These birds, like all birds, are excellent at hiding their illnesses. One of my other females who I was attached to died suddenly. One day she was fine the next day she passed away. I was shocked! So I can empathize with you!

Also, the baby that you are feeding is only roughly 4 weeks old. At this stage the baby is helpless and spends a great deal of time with his parents. Because of this, babies at this stage tend to be shy and will hide away. For example, when I'm socializing young ringnecks they often try to hide themselves amongst the blankets or pillows as it is unnatural for them to be out of the nest at this stage. That being said, I would not worry about the baby trying to hide away. This is just the natural process that you should wait out. ;)

As far as the baby not wanting to eat, it could be one of two things -- a sick ringneck or it might be your view. Let me ask you this, how full is her crop getting, are you feeding the food warm, and what are you feeding the baby bird?

If the bird is sick I would run it to a veterinarian immediately. At such a young age these babies are highly fragile and their immune systems are not fully developed. In fact, the bird could have a bacterial infection or some type of other virus.

If you cannot get to the vet your best bet would be to keep the baby warm. At four weeks of age the bird needs to be around 85 to 95°F. This warmth is essential as the baby cannot regulate its own temperature and will stop digesting its food if it becomes too cold. If the baby slows its digestion down, then there is a greater chance of bacteria growing inside the crop which will then require medication from a certified avian vet.

Come to think of it, this could be a reason the baby is refusing to eat. Also, you had mentioned the bird cannot pick its head up. This is also normal for younger ringneck too. These birds can be quite clumsy up until eight and 10 weeks of age.

The good news is your feeding the bird five times a day and that seems quite normal. I would not force-feed the baby anymore and just let the baby set the pace. I wish the photos had uploaded as it would've given me a better idea of what's going on. Have you tried reducing the size of the image before uploading?

I know when I'm feeding babies and I come across a bird who does not eat as much as its clutch mates I'll feed more frequently rather than larger feedings. See if that tactic works. Also, the babies love their food warm--if it's cold this also stops the feeding response.

Again, welcome to our forum and we hope to see a lot more of your posts in the future!

I hope this helps but it's so difficult as I cannot see the bird nor my an avian vet.


Best wishes, ;)


IMRAN-C

Hi Imran
Thank you for finding time to wishing me in details and keep me out of my doubt. Thinks are improved a lot within 3 days. "Jannah" started calling us when she is hungry. We changed her food to "Quiko" hand rearing formula and changed the syringe to a small and convenient one. Now she is happy and consumes the food cropfull and ready to spend some time with us. I showed her our aviary and she is keen in walking to explore it. All the inmtes to gather to to greet her but none of them brave enouph to get close to her to say helo as although she is baby, her size is much bigger than them and more over she is a hook bill. I didnt gave her much time there afraid of any infection from other birds. Now the habit of digging a hole while I put back her into her wooden box also reduced. Thanks once again welcoming with great assurance.

Mujeeb