Green cheek conure hand feeding and brooding questions

[Seanson]

I am looking for some more opinions.

I have read that some people pull the babies from the mom at 12 hours after hatcing.

Then other people say to leave them with mom for the first three to four weeks, then they get the beneficial bacteria and such from the parent.

Other people say three weeks is too long to leave with the parent, because it will have a hard time transitioning to formula.

If you are going to hand feed, at what age do you pull your chicks?

What is your favorite type of substrate for the brooder? Pine shavings? Paper based?

Also, what formula do you like the best? I have been using kaytee, and I have heard some people don't like kaytee as a brand, and I should use zupreem. Would there be any problems if I changed to a different formula?

Thanks in advance!

 

[SilverSage]

If you pull a gcc the day it hatches you will be feeding every 60 minutes the first week, 2 hours the second week, and 3 hours the third week, around the clock. How fun does that sound?

Also, at that size of baby can be killed by HALF A DROP too much food; this I know from experience!

I prefer to pull at about 3 weeks; later if the parents will let you handle the chicks regularly.

I use Kaytee Exact because it’s the easiest to get. If something goes wrong like bugs get into my formula supply I can just run to petco or petsmart and grab a can to use while my new bag gets delivered. If I used anything else in my area and something happened to my supply I would have to SWITCH to kaytee until I could get more of whatever I was using ordered.

I use untreated course aspen or pine shavings. COURSE! NOT FINE! The paper doesn’t seem to keep the babies clean, and is often treated with fabreez-like products which are deadly to birds.


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[SilverSage]

Oh, and here is a picture of my darling girl Titan the day she hatched, and as an adult. Her sister Hero was killed by a fraction of a second distraction where I took my eyes off her while I fed and she aspirated on a fraction of a drop of formula and died in my hands. In my opinion, day 1 feeding of birds that small is a last resort, not standard operating procedure. It’s just too hard to feed them safely. Bigger birds like macaws are a whole different ball game.

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[Seanson]

Oh, and here is a picture of my darling girl Titan the day she hatched, and as an adult. Her sister Hero was killed by a fraction of a second distraction where I took my eyes off her while I fed and she aspirated on a fraction of a drop of formula and died in my hands. In my opinion, day 1 feeding of birds that small is a last resort, not standard operating procedure. It’s just too hard to feed them safely. Bigger birds like macaws are a whole different ball game.

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Wow, Titan is gorgeous! I like the name too! I'm a bit of an astronomy nerd, and have seen saturns moon, Titan many times through a telescope.

Thanks for the helpful info, and sorry about the baby you lost.

 

[SilverSage]

Thank you,

Losing babies is part of raising birds. If you raise them, you WILL lose some. I always ask new breeders; are you committed enough to make the losses worth it? What I mean by that is, are you going to stick with this long enough and be dedicated enough to learning that when a baby dies you are able to take that and save babies in the future? Not just yours but others as well?

That tip about needing course shavings instead of fine shavings, that’s a dead baby. What I know about washing new cages with vinegar, ALMOST dead birds. My obsession with record keeping and exact weight measurements? Dead baby. My absolute rage when people think they don’t need to buy all the right equipment AHEAD of time? Dead baby. Even my insistence that it’s cruel and dangerous to clip babies before they learn to fly comes from a DEAD BABY.


I know there is a whole lot of ugliness in this post; some long time members even are probably shocked to hear how much death is involved in bringing new life into the world.

I don’t say this to stop you from raising birds, what I’m saying is BE SURE this is what you want and then NEVER be afraid to ask questions. And then question the answers! Half of what is done in aviculture is done “because it’s always been done that way” so don’t be afraid to be extremely skeptical.

I may be exhausted and I may have had a bad day, and this MIGHT be me on a soap box. Oops.


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[Seanson]

Thank you,

Losing babies is part of raising birds. If you raise them, you WILL lose some. I always ask new breeders; are you committed enough to make the losses worth it? What I mean by that is, are you going to stick with this long enough and be dedicated enough to learning that when a baby dies you are able to take that and save babies in the future? Not just yours but others as well?

That tip about needing course shavings instead of fine shavings, that’s a dead baby. What I know about washing new cages with vinegar, ALMOST dead birds. My obsession with record keeping and exact weight measurements? Dead baby. My absolute rage when people think they don’t need to buy all the right equipment AHEAD of time? Dead baby. Even my insistence that it’s cruel and dangerous to clip babies before they learn to fly comes from a DEAD BABY.


I know there is a whole lot of ugliness in this post; some long time members even are probably shocked to hear how much death is involved in bringing new life into the world.

I don’t say this to stop you from raising birds, what I’m saying is BE SURE this is what you want and then NEVER be afraid to ask questions. And then question the answers! Half of what is done in aviculture is done “because it’s always been done that way” so don’t be afraid to be extremely skeptical.

I may be exhausted and I may have had a bad day, and this MIGHT be me on a soap box. Oops.


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Your good. I didn't see ugliness, I saw honesty and good info. Thanks for that.

It also bothers me, when people buy a pet, THEN join a forum to ask what then need. For every pet I have had, I have done lots of research, and their habitat is up and running, testing temps etc, before I bring the pet home.

Now, to the pine shavings, I went to a couple places that sell pet bedding, and I didn't see anything that said course. It just said pine bedding. I don't want to get the wrong stuff.

 

[SilverSage]

I have to order my pine bedding because all I can find locally is the fine stuff.


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[itzjbean]

Thank you,

Losing babies is part of raising birds. If you raise them, you WILL lose some. I always ask new breeders; are you committed enough to make the losses worth it? What I mean by that is, are you going to stick with this long enough and be dedicated enough to learning that when a baby dies you are able to take that and save babies in the future? Not just yours but others as well?

That tip about needing course shavings instead of fine shavings, that’s a dead baby. What I know about washing new cages with vinegar, ALMOST dead birds. My obsession with record keeping and exact weight measurements? Dead baby. My absolute rage when people think they don’t need to buy all the right equipment AHEAD of time? Dead baby. Even my insistence that it’s cruel and dangerous to clip babies before they learn to fly comes from a DEAD BABY.


I know there is a whole lot of ugliness in this post; some long time members even are probably shocked to hear how much death is involved in bringing new life into the world.

I don’t say this to stop you from raising birds, what I’m saying is BE SURE this is what you want and then NEVER be afraid to ask questions. And then question the answers! Half of what is done in aviculture is done “because it’s always been done that way” so don’t be afraid to be extremely skeptical.

I may be exhausted and I may have had a bad day, and this MIGHT be me on a soap box. Oops.


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Ugliness? No way -- I see knowledge, insight and honesty. Thank you for sharing, even from this one post I have learned a great deal.

 

[LordTriggs]

I'd be surprised if you had never lost babies sage. With the numbers you deal with over the years it's inevitable. If I was told by a breeder that they never lost a baby I would assume they're a liar, human error is very much real and when in a position of responsibility consequences happen