Suplimental hand feeding 5 week lovebirds

Mom is doing a good job feeding her babies, but to help hand tame them I want to also do some hand feeding. Per:
https://theparrotuniversity.com/arthandfeeding1#basics
I feel somewhat confident, since these little guys are so old, feathered, and able to perch.
Question is on formula, all the pet shop had was Kaytee Exact!
Ingredients:

Ground Corn, Ground Wheat, Corn Gluten Meal, Ground Oat Groats, Wheat Middlings, Soy Oil, Dried Whole Egg, Soy Protein Isolate, Dried Beet Pulp, Soybean Meal, Ground Flax Seed, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, L-Lysine, Wheat Germ Meal, Brewers Dried Yeast, Vitamin A Supplement, Salt, Algae Meal (source of DHA), L-Arginine, Fructooligosaccharide, Choline Chloride.....plus....

I have a large mix of high quality pellets, and huge quantities of ground pellets(mixing with the sprouts for the adults). The ingredient list on these pellets is much better that the Kaytee! OK to make a slurry/paste with this? Or just go the human baby food route?

Bumping back up on the list.

Does anyone have any ideas? Would it be a mistake to offer the babies some millet while holding them?? Want to hand feed but not sure what is ok and not ok!! Please help!

David & Heather, if your nearby store only sells the Kaytee Exact handfeeding formula, then I'd use it (for the time being). Many baby birds have been raised using only Kaytee. The ingredients may not be as 'good' as you'd like them to be, but I wouldn't risk feeding the chicks with a homemade mash until you know for sure they do well on the Kaytee supplemental feedings. Know what I mean?

And yes, you certainly can offer millet!

How are things going with the wee ones???

JerseyWendy said:

How are things going with the wee ones???

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Going very well! They will step up, can fly(majorly caught us off guard), and readily eating most anything put in front of them! Since everyone is getting much better food, the plucking has stopped and they are now covered in pin feathers. Mom still won't allow them out of the nest though! She is no longer in a panic when we handle the little ones. Adults are now eating sprouts, pellets, fruits, and SoaknServe!
Thank you for asking!!

WOW!!! That put a HUUUGE smile on my face!!! You and Heather must be over the moon! GREAT job!!!

My next step is to find homes for everyone. Really no response from the forum, and I didn't want to go near CL! My daughter is telling me, if I do list them there, I have to ask for a rehome fee, to chase off flippers. This bothers me, I feel like I am trafficking in slavery! Her suggestion, post it that way, but once I have a good home for them, refuse to take the cash!

Wanted to add, I understand why some breeders clip their babies, 5 minutes of complete panic, for us! How can something so young so completely kick our butts with it's flying skills?

Flboy that's what I did with some puppies I needed to find a new home for. If I was in Florida... Aah I probably have enough fids to take care of anyway.

If I was closer I'd definitely take one! They're gorgeous.

Great update, David and Heather! Happy to hear they are doing so well! I know you'll be able to find homes for them.

I would be very cautious doing supplemental feeding IF the parents is feeding them. The only time you would ever do that is IF they're not feeding them. You could easily cause crop rot when you do supplemental feeding. It takes awhile the seeds that they feed their chicks to digest. If you feed formula on top of that, it could easily go sour within their crop before they ever reach the point of digesting it. Kaytee have done better on their formula now then they have in the past. BUT I'm still cautious using it.....I've been using Embraced by Zupreem. Like I have suggested to you before, yank the chicks and hand feed them fully. Due to the fact their back looks plucked.

MikeyTN said:

I would be very cautious doing supplemental feeding IF the parents is feeding them. The only time you would ever do that is IF they're not feeding them. You could easily cause crop rot when you do supplemental feeding. It takes awhile the seeds that they feed their chicks to digest. If you feed formula on top of that, it could easily go sour within their crop before they ever reach the point of digesting it. Kaytee have done better on their formula now then they have in the past. BUT I'm still cautious using it.....I've been using Embraced by Zupreem. Like I have suggested to you before, yank the chicks and hand feed them fully. Due to the fact their back looks plucked.

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Thank you for the warnings! Since everything I read said they can start eating almost anything at this age, 6 weeks, we are only giving them pieces of apple, etc. more of a simple taste and a way of getting them used to be handled!
They were being plucked severely when we first got them, whether by parents or each other, it has stopped completely!they are a complete pile of pin feathers and are running us ragged with their flying skills! I am sure they were starving, food bowls were completely rotted and the water dish was black!
Again, thank you! I didn't even recognize the plucking until you pointed it out, then it was obvious!! Very sharp learning curve!

Welcome to my world. IMO there's nothing wrong with the kaytee, i've used it for many years. Heck, i used to use cream of wheat cereal. I would pay attention to the freshness date however.usually dated for a year, i'd get the freshest i could,vitamins go away with age. Store in a cold ,dark place.

I've had parent birds plucking the chicks so I pretty much know the signs. Lovebirds have always been easy for me to wean in the past, it should be a easy process. I'm glad they're growing back those plucked feathers though.