Eclectus Hatchling Diet 0-5 days

Hello Community!


I have read that for Eclectus Hatchlings its good to add a pro-Biotic Yogurt to the formula. I will be using (Vetafarm Neocare) Can anyone recommend a Brand of Yogurt available in Australia. We have access to "Yukult" and a Yukult Alternative. The rest just all Regular Yogurts to me.


Is Yukult OK? or should I not add any at all. Also, How much in a ratio or percentage or weight should I add?


Under any other Circumstances I would leave the Hatchlings with mum for 3 weeks but she doesn't feed them and has only ever hatched one egg and it died. When I examined the baby it seemed extremely dry and its crop was completely empty.


So this time (Any day now) if one does Hatch we will be rearing it ourselves. Got all the equipment. Confident we can do this. We have experienced parrot breeders next door for extra advice but they don't have Eclectus.



If her eggs are "Duds" (inactive) and no baby arrives, then we will incubate her eggs in around 4 or 5 moths time when summer ends (and she has had a chance to recover, so I would still love to know about the yogurt.



Also any other and extra advice would be most welcome. Particularly things that are not so obvious, like the Pro-Biotic thing as this will be our first hand rearing of any Eclectus (although not our first parrot).



P.S. I think that Passwell Brand rearing formula recommends the ProBiotic Yogurt on the instructions on the back. But we will be using the Vetafarm brand anyway (NeoCare)



Thank you

Good morning!

I'm no expert in hand-feeding hatchlings, but I thought I would give this thread a bump. I'm hoping some of our resident breeders or experienced hand-feeders might chime in on whether pro-biotic yogurt is a good addition to ekkie formula and the ratio required if so... or with any thoughts as regards a solution to a mommy bird who isn't stepping up in rearing her hatchlings.

Now, with my disclaimer regarding my experience level - or lack thereof - with hand-feeding already stated, here's my two cents regarding the mommy issue. From what I've heard, one failed rearing is not necessarily indicative of a bad parent. As I understand it, bird parents who botch the job the first time around are not exactly uncommon. Sometimes they initially drop the ball as new parents, only to rally with subsequent hatchlings.

And another possibility is that the mommy may have sensed a problem with the chick - a likely failure to thrive. Nature has a rough way of dealing with such chicks, unfortunately.

In either of these cases, what many breeders tend to do is watch closely and pull the chicks if it seems they are not being nurtured and fed. As such, my purely second-hand derived advice would be to prepare yourself for hand-feeding: formula, thermometer to ensure proper warming of said formula, brooder, and personal availability for round-the-clock feeding. (I don't recall the exact frequency, but I believe it's around once every 2 hours for the first 7 days, then every 3 hours maybe the next 2 weeks? Again, check me. I'm just going by what I've read.)

Lastly, keep in mind that ekkies have a weaker feeding reflex than other parrots. As such, successfully hand-feeding them tends to be more difficult.

Here is a link that might prove helpful. It pertains more to people buying unweaned babies, but while it is not specific to your exact situation, it does have valuable info for what you might need to raise a baby bird: http://www.parrotforums.com/breeding-raising-parrots/74363-so-you-bought-unweaned-baby.html

I didn't want to be the first one to say it, but Anansi is right on the money there. First time parrot parents are pretty notorious for messing things up. I even had one experienced breeder tell me greys take 3 clutches before they will get it right on their own. IDK how true that is, but if this were my pair I would continue to give them the chance to start the chick, but be ready to jump in if needed. From day 1 is just ever so difficult for both the handler and for the chick. They *really* benefit from their parents if possible.

My ekkie breeder friend tells me that "domesticated" ekkies are terrible. Most of the time they don't know how to mate. And the ones who do figure it out don't know how to be good parents. So you're in for a ride.

Yakult is drink for human consumption. It is insanely sugary. Yes, it's a probiotic, but there's a reason why people buy Vitagen Less Sugar - because they are all sugary probiotic drinks. I would not give it to a baby parrot, let alone any animal, despite my love of Yakult.

Be careful with ekkie babies. They are picky beyond belief. If they seem to be rejecting food, it's not normally because they're weaning - it's normally because the formula is the wrong temperature or wrong consistency. And wrong temperature could be just a few tenths of a degree off.

Be careful also what formula you use. Ekkies react differently to different formulas. And I've seen several babies have off-colour feathers due to the breeder using the wrong brand (like the females having splotchy orange feathers instead of proper red feathers). In this part of the world, Kaytee is generally ok. I'm not sure the other brands, and I unfortunately forget the few brands that cause feather discoloration.

Final thought for now, ekkie babies can take longer than most to wean. It's not uncommon for them to still require formula at 9 months. So you should be prepared to keep them for that long before selling (and I do strongly recommend that you keep them until they're properly abundance weaned because inexperienced people will not know how to handle these picky formula eaters).

Avian digestive bacteria= not even the same inter-species. Yogurt is not helpful for a lactose-intolerant animal (even though the unsweetened kind can be used in a pinch to hide meds etc).

So it would seem that Neocare includes some Pro-Biotic Compounds. This is according to: https://birdsville.net.au/hand-raising-baby-birds/vetafarm-neocare/


So the Hatchling we were waiting on had died. We waited till 5 days past the latest possible due date, candled and there was no movement. I am quite experienced with Chicken egg candling, The Air Cell was massive (Very close to 50%, maybe 45%). I have a feeling humidity was an issue. We are going through a drought here ATM. For e.g. the last week has seem morning RH% around the 10% then falling as low as 2% ass the day progresses. (Huge Fire Danger here ATM).



I have done Eggtopsy's before, but without more knowledge, toxicology, post mortem tests etc, it doesnt reveal very much and it really upsets me. I get a little emotional coz they are just so beautiful and innocent.



Her (Mum/Nicki) Nest Box is a Large 'L' Shaped design that I built from Ply Wood. I suspect because of the Dry air, all moisture is gone from the Wood and any moisture that mum (and sometimes dad) introduce is quickly absorbed by the dry nest box. We allowed her to make one more clutch. One Egg was a dud/failed to fire, the other is in our incubator now. The Egg is due to hatch between the 4th and 6th of Decemeber-2019. Candles it this morning all looks well except air cell appears a little on the small side. But I will start another thread to talk about this process as I started this thread regarding Neocare/Hand Rearing formula and the issue of Pro-Biotics.



Thanks for all your input and feel free to come see me in the other thread.