# Thinking of HandRearing...Seeking advice



## questionare (Jul 9, 2012)

Hi there,

I am expecting egg's hatching in 8-14 days from now, and thinking of handrearing the chicks. I have been reading, and I do plan to pull the chicks for handrearing when they are 3weeks old, 

As I read, I have to feed them three times per day, spreaded between 7am and 11pm.

I went to the pet shop, and asked for handrearing formula, and what I found is "CeDe Handrearing";as in the following link:
http://www.foodforbirds.co.uk/productdetail.aspx?proid=114

This will be the first time I try such thing, and am seeking any tiny advice from the breeders here.

Thanks in advance,


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## Erinsmom (Sep 7, 2012)

I just wanted to say congrats on the babies and best of luck. I have 2 babies I am going to handfeed starting a week from Friday. They are my first so sorry no advise though....yet


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Is it wild bird food? I only ask because its in the wild bird products section of the website and it might not be right for tiels.

Also, the directions on it are wrong for feeding. The water temp needs to be between 104 and 106 degrees for feeding, otherwise the babies will have digestive issues. You can boil water and keep the cup with the formula in the pot to keep it at the right temp. Best of luck!


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## questionare (Jul 9, 2012)

thanks roxy.

What do you recommend for forumla brand, I can order it online.

Thanks..


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I use kaytee...I realize they had a recall earlier this year but everything is OK with them now. I've also heard lefarber(sp?) is good as well.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> I've also heard lefarber(sp?) is good as well.


Lafeber Nutri-start and Zupreem Embrace are both good handfeeding formulas.


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## questionare (Jul 9, 2012)

tielfan said:


> Lafeber Nutri-start and Zupreem Embrace are both good handfeeding formulas.


Thank tielfan,

One question, if I have pulled the chicks for hand-feeding, can I return them back to their nest after feeding, or I should put them in a seperate nest other the one they hatched in?

Also, can I just handfeed them one or two meals, and let their parents provide them with the other daily meals? well I still have them tamed?

Thanks,


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

> Also, can I just handfeed them one or two meals, and let their parents provide them with the other daily meals? well I still have them tamed?


This is called co-parenting and works very well. You would feed them like a morning feed and an evening feed and let the parents handle the rest. If you go this route you can leave them in the same nest with the parents.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I co-parent my chicks and it's great - the babies get the benefits of parent feeding as well as the benefits of handfeeding, and if you have to skip a session the parents will pick up the slack. With co-parenting, the babies will never have completely empty crops so they won't eat as much formula as a completely handfed baby would. It may be helpful to keep the parents away from the babies for half an hour to an hour before you handfeed so the babies will be at least a little bit hungry.

When it's time to take the babies out of the nest for handfeeding, it's best to put the parents in a different cage first. That way you won't have to fight with the parents while you're collecting the babies, and the adult birds won't be alarmed by the sight of an empty nestbox.


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## questionare (Jul 9, 2012)

tielfan said:


> I co-parent my chicks and it's great - the babies get the benefits of parent feeding as well as the benefits of handfeeding, and if you have to skip a session the parents will pick up the slack. With co-parenting, the babies will never have completely empty crops so they won't eat as much formula as a completely handfed baby would. It may be helpful to keep the parents away from the babies for half an hour to an hour before you handfeed so the babies will be at least a little bit hungry.
> 
> When it's time to take the babies out of the nest for handfeeding, it's best to put the parents in a different cage first. That way you won't have to fight with the parents while you're collecting the babies, and the adult birds won't be alarmed by the sight of an empty nestbox.


Thanks teilfan,

Seems co-parenting is a more suitable route for me, instead of hand-rearing. One question, can I pull a single chick at a time to feed, and let the other in the nest? I am asking because the parents are untamed at all, and I can't move them to another cage when feeding the chicks, so I plan to pull a single chick at a time, so this way the parents won't be upset. Or I can pull them all at once, and feed them, and get them back to the nest? I don't want the parents to abonden them...

Thanks,


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I've never pulled one baby at a time but you can try it if you want to and see how well it works.

If you can't put the parents in a different cage, you can keep them out of the nest by blocking the doorway. The parents will try to get back in the nest (especially the male), so you need to block the door in a way that won't do any harm if the parents manage to push past it. Stuffing a towel in the doorway works pretty well for me. So far they haven't been able to get past it, and it's soft and lightweight so it won't hurt the birds if they do manage to push their way through.


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