hand rearing feeding

Deano · Post by **Deano** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 6:14 am

Sorry if its been covered on here before, but i did a search and could find anything specific on the topic,

My irn is about 4 week old and im hand feeding it, 4 times a day at the moment, i dont want to feed it too much or too little, what im doing at the moment is feeding till the crop is extended but not to the point where its too tight if you know what i mean, is that what others do when hand rearing,

thanks

pinkdevil · Post by **pinkdevil** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 4:01 pm

As a guide, feed aprox 10-12% of body weight in formula, eg chick weighs 115g, feed aprox 11 - 12 mls of formula.
But this is just a guide. I usually try to feed reasonably close to that, but mainly just go by look/feel of crop and when the chick seems to have had enough. I feed until the crop feels "spongy" without being hard or too soft.

Do you weigh your chicks first thing in the morning before a feed?

Deano · Post by **Deano** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 4:15 pm

Thanks for the reply Pinkdevil

Unfortunately i havent got any scales to weigh something so small, but ive just been feeding basically till the crop is firm but not hard or stretched,

But he / she is getting bigger and growing more feathers by the day so im guessing everything is ok,

thanks again for the help