# Stunted Baby-How do they develop?



## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

I have 2 stunted babies due to large clutch and them being the last 2, one will be 9 days old tommorrow and weighed this morning 7 grams, its like the size of a 2-3 day old, and its eyes are starting to open (lol), the second is going to be 7 days old and it also weighed 7 grams this morning, they both are the same size, but really small for thier age, thier 5 other siblings are all developing normally, and as of yesterday i relieved mom and dad of feeding duty and took the whole clutch for handfeeding. the oldest will be 2 weeks old tommorrow so theres only a weeks difference between the first and the last, and well within the first hatchday i got 2 babes, then the next night I got 2 more, then a day went by and i got the 5th and so on until i assisted the directionally challenge baby number 7 on the 19th, does anyone know what type of growth to expect and when they will catch up in size to looking like an older baby, i just want some growth, lol, im feeding as the crop emptys 10% of thier body weight, adding yogurt into 1 feeding a day and the formula is not a 1 and 2 but i stopped the 1 and 3 as it was really watery (i used that until the crop got rid of all seed) and now work with a 1and 2.5 kinda mixture, but over the next couple of days i will work it down to a 1 and 2, please any advice would be a help, i know they have gained some weight since i took over feeding them, but im talking size.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

If they are gaining weight and eating OK, they will be fine!

Midget, a baby Cockatiel from one of the clutches I hand-raised this season, was pretty stunted, by the time she got to 3 1/2 weeks old, she was still the size of a 1 1/2 week old, however, she ate really well, she was putting on weight and keeping the weight on, she was the last one to wean (turned out to be a big pig too), and she ended up still being the smallest out of the 3 by the time they went to their new homes, but no different to the other 2! She actually bossed her 2 siblings around a lot, and they put up with it, yet they were twice the size of her.. :lol: But she would always let them know she was boss and didn't let the size of her get the best of her (or get in the way), she thought she was a big adult at heart.


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## rubyduby (Mar 22, 2011)

The only problem I found with stunted babies , is that they do seem more prone to illness which is pretty obvious i guess as they are weaker than their siblings.
I tend to try to leave them with the parents and just top up their feeding wth additional hand rearing formula, that way they do seem to get antibodies from the parents, but they do seem to grow quicker and the additional feed makes them able to beg.
I have hand reared two from virtually birth one developed illnes and dies at 14 days 9that one was unbelievably tiny and may have had other issues.
The other grew to full size and full feather but continued begging incessantly and was found dead one morning it was not assimilating the food and basically starved to death, despite additional help.
The last youngsters two left in the nest with 'top up' grew happily and healthily and 'caught' up with the others with a month or two


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

i was leaving with parents and supplementing, but followed susannes advice and pulled them, im sticking with the watery formula because they didnt put on weight yesterday, and their fed pretty much ever 2.5 hours


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## rubyduby (Mar 22, 2011)

Are they eating well? the thinner the formula then less food they are getting so they probably wont show noticeable improvement till the food is thicker...


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

they gained a gram today and now are 8 grams each, i feed them every 1 1/2 to 2 hours they get a formula that is just a little bit runnier than apple sauce and digest it really quickly, they are very lively and have a healthy apetite.


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