Want to hear about your experiences

I have been researching and researching feeding baby birds. I have read many posts of both people who were experienced and some with little to no experience when bringing home babies before they are weaned. I would like to hear from you guys as to what brought you to the first time feeding your babies. How it went. If you had any complications. If it was worth it to you in the end, etc. I know this is a touchy subject with bird lovers but I'm curious as to your experiences.

Almost 14 years ago I met a wonderful, caring bird breeder who bred the type of parrot I was looking for (Yellow Naped Amazons). When me met, we instantly hit it off and have become BFFs since then. When her Amazons finally laid eggs, hatched, and 3 weeks later she pulled the babies, she invited me over so I could watch and learn how to handfeed. Now please bear in mind, that I didn't get to actually handfeed any bird until my Hunter and her brother were 10 weeks old.

The first time was VERY scary, even though my friend was right there with me, guiding every step. It took me 2 weeks to feel comfortable enough doing it, and at 12 weeks I brought my Hunter home - on one handfeeding a day.

I've helped handfeed many baby birds since then, from cockatiels to macaws, and it is a wonderful experience IF you know what you are doing.

I would never recommend to anybody to buy an unweaned baby bird, unless they are trained and comfortable with the rearing process. Temperature of formula must be right, consistency of formula, amount needed, making sure not to aspirate, etc.

Was it worth it for me? Absolutely!

Hey and welcome to the forum. I would recommend the book"Parrots, handfeeding and nursery managment" by Howard Voren and Rick jordan. You could buy it used on amazon.com for a few bucks. Not so much to convince you one way or another but to show you that's there's so much more to it than just feeding . IMO it's a great way to bond with a parrot ( my own zon of 42 yrs as an example,handraised wild caught baby). It doesn't seem like a big deal to us who do it all the time, but to someone new, by the time you learn the do's and don't it's too late. You really need someone with experience to take you under their wing , so to speak.