# Question on hand feeding



## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

Not sure if this is the right spot So if not y'all can move it to the right spot 

but I'm considering hand feeding the rest of Sun Dance and Goldie's babies (and no worries i know how  )

but my question is if i start hand feeding them Do they have to be permanently removed from the nest box? or can I feed them and then put them back in the nest box? or would that end up being an over feed if the parents go to feed them after I already did 

I wasn't planning on hand feeding them, but after the youngest died today i'm considering it, even know the other 4 seem to be getting fed i really just don't want to take any more chances 


Also at their ages how many times a day would they need fed? .. here is the ages 

Oldest is 21 days old (today)
2nd oldest is 20 days old (today)
3rd oldest is 19 days old (today)
4th is 18 days old (today)

I already have the hand feeding formula and syringes (but I'm going to pick up a few more because mine are becoming a pain in my back side, the little black rubber stopper wants to pull off and get stuck inside the syringe)


the reason i have these question's is because the only bird I hand Fed was Roxy (my lovebird), and I didn't have her parents Just her and I wasn't sure if the amount of feedings a day differ between species

plus it was like 6 months ago since i hand fed her and i can't remember how many times she was eating a day at this age


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## CindyM (Jun 10, 2008)

You can put them back in the box. I have the parents feed them to. I do it at night after I get home from work and before bed. Just look at their crop to see if it is full before you feed them. If it is dont feed them. The food has to have time to leave the crop. The way i did it is when I heard them eating from the parents I would take them out and feed them. Good luck


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## Bea (Jul 26, 2007)

I would just let the parents do it, there is more chance of crop infections and complications if you're hand rearing than if the parents are feeding.


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

oo ok 

what if i leave them out of the box and just go ahead and hand feed them? will i still have a higher chance of crop infection?


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## Bea (Jul 26, 2007)

Once you step in an start hand rearing the chances of the formula being not quite the right consistency, or not quite the right temperature, or the brooder being a little too warm or a little too cool - any of those variables can cause problems. Now obviously a lot of people do it successfully, but lately i've been hearing that cockatiels are particularly prone to crop infections when they're being hand reared, and that if at all possible it's best for the parent birds to do the job for as long as possible.


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

ok thank you, I won't intervene unless i have to
which hopefully I won't have to 

maybe 5 babies was just too much for them


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## Sophia (Aug 11, 2007)

Good Luck!


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## Bea (Jul 26, 2007)

atvchick95 said:


> ok thank you, I won't intervene unless i have to
> which hopefully I won't have to
> 
> maybe 5 babies was just too much for them


It could have been, or they could have over fed him at one stage and stretched the crop so that it couldn't empty properly. I had that happen with a budgie baby once, but that was the only baby in the clutch it happened to and the parents never did the same thing again.


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## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

Bea said:


> It could have been, or they could have over fed him at one stage and stretched the crop so that it couldn't empty properly. I had that happen with a budgie baby once, but that was the only baby in the clutch it happened to and the parents never did the same thing again.


Thank you - that takes a load off my shoulders  

I know when we get the older ones out - i always tell them they're little porkers , i weighed them last week, when we take them out this evening or in the morning I'll weight them again 

and see how much differnce there is in a week(it hasn't even been a full week i don't think, i'll have to look in my records.)


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