Questions about weaning

I've been reading here and other places to not get an unweaned baby. I am getting my Caique tomorrow and the breeder was telling me that she will be giving me instructions on hand-feeding, but it sounds like that's not a good idea to get her before she is fully un-weaned?

This breeder's MO is apparently that she will give the birds to the new owners when they are down to 2 hand-feedings a day. I just wanted to make sure this is standard procedure, or at least not a red flag.

This depends on which culture you're in. In more progressive countries that have laws for the health and safety of birds (such as banning leg chains), selling an unweaned bird (as your caique is) would be illegal. In more lax countries where there is less legislation, this is sometimes the norm. That being said, most breeders who keep abreast of new parrot information do not let their birds go until they've finished abundance weaning.

It is up to you whether or not you take your caique now.

I know I feel very uncomfortable feeding formula (I had to do it once when our little guy was very ill). For an inexperienced person, it's too easy to aspirate and kill your bird, or to heat the formula wrong and burn the crop, or to make the formula the wrong consistency and temperature and cause crop stasis. And because inexperienced people are inexperienced, it's hard for them to tell if something has gone wrong, especially since birds do hide their symptoms better than mammals. We often get people coming to the forum because their baby bird is ill and sometimes they don't realize how dire the situation is.

If I were you, I'd ask if they could make sure your caique was abundance-weaned first. Babies do sometimes regress when being adopted, so you don't want to cause more backsliding by accidentally force-weaning him (and force-weaning can cause psychological issues later on in life).

Selling unweaned babies is just breeders looking to make profit sooner. and yes, the chances of you actually harming or even killing you new parrot go way up, if you have to complete the breeders job.

To me this is a red flag. WHo knows how the babies have been treated and weaned up to now, if they are willing to sell early. Were the babies force weaned ( means gravage - shooting a whole meal of formula directly into the birds crop at one shot, via tube) ?
Were they played with and handled by people or just fed and put back into the nest box?

I know you want your caique, but you also want a parrot that will be healthy, well adjusted and eager to bond with people, right?

wrench13 said:

Selling unweaned babies is just breeders looking to make profit sooner. and yes, the chances of you actually harming or even killing you new parrot go way up, if you have to complete the breeders job.

To me this is a red flag. WHo knows how the babies have been treated and weaned up to now, if they are willing to sell early. Were the babies force weaned ( means gravage - shooting a whole meal of formula directly into the birds crop at one shot, via tube) ?
Were they played with and handled by people or just fed and put back into the nest box?

I know you want your caique, but you also want a parrot that will be healthy, well adjusted and eager to bond with people, right?

Click to expand...

I have played with her yes, so I can say she definitely has been handled and played with by people. She was extremely friendly!

Additionally, I did have the opportunity to watch her hand fed and she was definitely fed the way you spoke of, shooting the formula directly in via tube in one shot.

Would you recommend that I ask the breeder continue the hand feeding until completely weaned from the formula before I take her, I really don't want to mess this up.

I have also already purchased her.

Thank you so much for the response, btw.

I did some additional research, and the breeder does do abundance weaning. In the instruction pamphlet she gave me on weaning the bird, she suggests that I hand feed the bird until she no longer asks to be hand fed, rather than a hard schedule.

Also please read this article on importance of learning to fly
https://www.windycityparrot.com/blog/2010/04/13/flight-important-parrots/#ixzz62HloSvKV

Laurasea said:

Also please read this article on importance of learning to fly
https://www.windycityparrot.com/blog/2010/04/13/flight-important-parrots/#ixzz62HloSvKV

Click to expand...

Thank you, I bought the aviator harness 2 weeks ago and I'm watching the DVD on how to introduce it to her tonight!

I was also unaware of all of these advantages to teaching the bird flight, which is a relief, because I didn't want to clip her wings!

This is a very good article, even covers foraging s d diet toward the end
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/

So if you are intent on completing the weaning process, you will need:
A thermometer to check the temperature of the formula 102 to 98 deg F ,now youknow why.
set of stainless steel mixing cups, should be sterilized after each use
a small spoon with the edges folded up a bit, to make a chute - (whack the edges with a hammer a few times )
A accurate scale that can read out in gramms
A smallT-stand w/ suction cup base, used with the scale. Weigh every AM after the first bowel movement
Kaytee formual for baby birds
a variety of pellets appropriately sized and types, to tempt him when its time and offer when feeding
What we call chop-chopped up freash veggies of various kinds, also offered when feeding
The phone # of a trusted Avian Vet who has a 24 hr hotline, just in case of emergencies. Put it on speed dial,always good to have at any point in owning a parrot.


Do feed your parrot when the familyis having dinner- parrots are usualy flock eaters and they like eating with their family

Hey just wanted to give an update in case anyone was curious, but Artemis is full weaned now and it didn't go too bad. She dipped pretty low initially (129g), but after a vet trip, turned out that I wasn't putting enough of the baby food in so it was mostly water.

After the fix up, her weight trended upward and she finally is eating really well on her own and still keeping her morning weighing routine and she trends in the low 140 g's.

She's a real sweet heart and loves to explore her vocalizations, right now she is making a constant little chirping noise and always growls for mashed potatoes, spaghetti (without onions), and dried bananas.