# Feeding issue with 4 week old



## wendykn1 (Jul 19, 2010)

How can i get a 4 week old to eat ? Had to pull from nest, parents won't feed her and plucked her head bald. It's been 2 days and she won't eat, I don't want to have to force feed her. What would you suggest ? She was the first and only baby for this pair.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Try feeding her from a spoon, you may have to shove her face in it a couple times before she realizes its food but that should work.


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## Erinsmom (Sep 7, 2012)

two days no eating....scary call and avain vet or a local breeder and get help QUICK. It doesn't take long for them to dehydrate or starve at that age especially


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## wendykn1 (Jul 19, 2010)

I have had to force feed my 4 week old baby cause she doesn't want to eat. She is in a cage with 5 younger chicks that weren't being fed by their dad and mom died. The 4 wk old is from different parents , who stop feeding and were plucking her. Is it normal for a 4 week old to try and feed other younger babies in cage with her?


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It's not unusual for chicks from the first clutch to help the parents feed chicks from the second clutch, although the first-clutch chicks are usually a little older than 4 weeks at that point. So she might be trying to feed them.

Another possibility is that she might be trying to get the younger babies to feed her, which can be hazardous to the little ones. I hope she gets better with the handfeeding soon. 4-week chicks don't adapt to handfeeding as easily as 2 to 3 week old chicks, but she must be hungry and ought to accept it once she realizes it's food.


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## wendykn1 (Jul 19, 2010)

they are not from the same parents


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I know. But I don't have information on situations like that, just on first clutch-second clutch relations. It's common for weaning-age babies to help feed their younger siblings. Your baby is at fledging age rather than weaning age, and I don't know whether the "helping" instinct kicks in that early. It's possible that it might, but it's also very possible that the 4 week old might be trying to get food from the only birds nearby.


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