Burned Crop?

Oh, god. I hope I did not hurt my baby bird.

Our birds still get formula, and we are always very careful when we administer it.

This morning, I guess I wasn't as careful as I usually am, and I feel so horrible right now, because I don't know if I hurt one of my babies.

I gave Bacci our Amazon a dropper full, and he took it no problem. I then filled a dropper and gave it to Loki, our Yellow Collared Macaw, and she immediately shook her head and spit it all out. I didn't know what happened for a few seconds, but then thought that maybe it was too hot, so I tested it and it WAS hotter than usual. I immediately gave her cold water, which she drank quite a bit of. I cooled the food, and she ate some more.

I am monitoring her, she seems OK. A little nippy, whereas that behavior had started to subside. I feel terrible. We will be monitoring her all day.

Does anyone have any experience with this situation?
I feel like a real As#@!*E.

What temp was the formula when you gave it to them?

Feeding both birds from the same formula bowl and/or syringe opens up the possibility of cross contamination, should one of them have a bacteria, fungus, virus or other malady that the other does not. One bird's physiology may be able to handle these health situations while another may find its system severely compromised.

If the formula is all prepared at once, each bird should be fed from its own bowl and with its own syringe. Decent digital cooking thermometers are readily available at inexpensive prices.....there again, don't test temperatures between bowls if you have been feeding out of either bowl.....get a separate thermometer for testing different formula bowls simultaneously.....

Temp was 109
She seems perfectly fine now, but we are monitoring her.

We originally fed them with separate droppers, but after having them together for a month, with no problems, we thought it was ok. We will switch back to separate droppers and bowls.

You might of been ok as the food might of gone down the wrong pipe and they will throw it back up. Did you get them at the same time from the same breeder??? I've seen a lot of breeders use the same syringe/utensil and bowl of formula, but it is proper to keep them separated.

Always, always, always check for hot spots. Take temp. readings in multiple places before feeding.

It's really easy to overlook, and it can be really bad if you mess that one up.

Hopefully, this was just a scare.

THIS is exactly why I don't want to get involved in hand feeding babies anymore. I find it incredibly stressful!

Hand feeding can be stressful and tiring! I've done enough of it to know better....lol

MikeyTN said:

Hand feeding can be stressful and tiring! I've done enough of it to know better....lol

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I've done it with large macaws, amazons, and CAGS, but I prefer not to. I am always afraid I will accidentally kill them...

I'm the behaviorist... not a breeder!

Loki seems fine. Eating fine, playing. I would have noticed something by now, if she was injured, right?

Yes, you would have!

GREAT news about Loki!!!

BirdyMomma said:

Loki seems fine. Eating fine, playing. I would have noticed something by now, if she was injured, right?

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Yeah, you would have seen a very swift decline.