Here is something Laurasea posted on another thread where someone got an unweaned baby by mistake:
2. Introducing Adult Food to the Baby
Many of the items you supply for the baby to play with during the weaning process should be food. These items should include not only the food you expect to be feeding after weaning, but also foods with all types of colors, shapes, textures and flavors. These items should include fruits, vegetables, and any healthy foods you may be eating. More types of food items will offer more chances he will like one right away.
Initially, the food should be in pieces no larger than a pea.. This size easily fits into the baby's mouth
Babies will readily eat off the ground before they will eat out of a dish. Try scattering the food on a sheet of paper in the bottom of his cage. Many hand feeders begin to withhold feedings with the belief that the hungry baby will eat on his own if the formula is withheld. This is a dangerous misconception and may cause long-term physical and mental disabilities. Babies well-nourished with formula are more curious and will look forward to trying almost all new food.
You will find that when babies start learning to eat solid food they will often go to the bowl and start eating right after you feed the formula Keeping the baby well fed will promote independence and shorten his weaning process.
3. Drinking: Don't Forget the Water
Mostly the baby will play with the water and wet his tongue but his body will not be telling him to drink because he is thirsty.
If you are not sure or if you think there is a problem, you can dribble a few drops of water into the mouth from the ends of your fingers. Do this while holding the bowl in front of your bird's mouth and he will quickly learn to drink.
4. Weaning Dynamics - Schedule
. Every baby parrot is as different. During this intensive growth period, a seemingly meaningless stimulus to us, can cause a "life alternating experience", resulting in a change in frequency of the baby's need to be fed and/or nurtured.
If of hunger and could slowly loose weight and become sick before he starts eating enough on his own.
Babies will often cry for food when hungry. As discussed earlier, they also need nurturing support that can come in the form of periodic feeding of a small amount of formula. In addition to supplemental handfeeding, you will also need to give the baby personal time and attention. Talking to, playing with, carrying around and other social activities are also needed to supply the trust necessary to develop high self-esteem. By only using formula to stop all the babies cry for attention, you can do long-term damage to the development of the adult bird. Lack of tactile and verbal pampering can produce a screaming adult that is uncertain how to gain attention without acting out.
5. General Concept of a Weaning Schedule
This is only a generalization to show what is possible, not what will actually happen. Remember all babies are different and none will actually follow this schedule. This is a dynamic process so there really is no such thing as day one, day two, etcetera. The process will start, stop and change over a several week period.
Phase 1. Skip the morning or mid-day feeding. Generally, the first feeding a baby will begin ignoring is the morning. He is so excited to get out of the cage and conquer the world, that he will show no interest in formula or solid food
Never skip the last feeding of the day. Healthy active babies will expend a lot of energy and be exhausted and very hungry in the evening. Night is also a period when the baby cannot eat on his own so we want him to have a full crop of formula.
Phase 2. Try to feed all three feedings so the baby will regain any strength lost from missing a feeding the day before.
Phase 3. Repeat phase one and two for a while. At this point you will be watching the feces for any changes in color and texture. Feces from the formula will be very consistent while solid food will cause variance in color and texture. You can sometimes detect food in the crop by feeling for food particles.
Phase 4. During this phase the baby will start to skip the mid-day feeding. You can also begin reducing the amount of formula for the morning and mid-day feedings. Alternate between skipping feedings and the amount fed at each feeding. As an observant parent, you will be watching to see if your baby has an off day that may require him to need more formula, feedings and/or nurturing.
Phase 5. Begin assessing the weight loss or gain and the stools to determine if he is beginning to consume more on his own
Extreme situations develop periodically that make it more difficult to determine if your baby is eating. A babyt may be able to get enough energy from one large feeding in the evening with just a small amount of solid food.
Important: A good rule of thumb is, if a baby looks healthy, is active, eats, and poops, then he is most likely doing just fine. .
Phase 6. The evening feeding is the last to go. Some very independent babies will wean very early while others can take months. I generally begin skipping the evening feeding on the days when I am not home or too tired. If you feel you have skipped the evening feeding and should not have, try offering formula early in the morning. If the baby is very hungry, he still needs the evening feeding.
As you begin skipping the evening feeding on a regular basis, use the morning feeding test to ensure he is eating enough. In the morning, do not feed right away, giving the baby time to eat on his own.
Phase 7. If your baby is not eating enough food on his own yet, you can repeat any of the phases as necessary. The baby will tell you if you are feeding too much by refusing the formula.
Important: For at least one month after weaning, inexperienced hand feeders should weigh the baby. Sometimes an active or sick baby will not eating enough and you will need to add a few night feedings. In this situation, you are not considering total weight loss or gain but looking for quick changes. This is a time of many new experiences in your baby's life. . An unexpected illness can cause the same problem and this will also show up as a more abrupt weight loss.
Important: Any time a young weaned parrot changes homes, it should be offered formula for a few days. Even a baby that is completely independent with high self-esteem will benefit from the nurturing component of handfeeding.
6. Weaning Tips
It is important to note that a bird that remains hungry for too many days will lose its appetite. You CAN NOT starve a bird into weaning, so do not try. Only a happy, healthy baby will wean on a reasonable schedule.
Play time and feeding time should not be associated with each other.
Every baby weans on his own schedule. Do not push - growth curves and schedules are only averages.
Babies that cannot fly because their flight feathers have been cut will lose 10 - 20% of their peak body weight. Properly developing babies that are learning to fly while weaning will lose 20 - 30% because of the greater amount of exercise. Babies with clipped wings will also take longer to become independent because they are not able to explore their environment and learn much slower than nature intended. Wing clipping is detrimental to creating an independent adult with high self-esteem because of the increased incidence of "bad stress experiences" due to lots of crash landings.
If you are not sure if the baby is getting enough nutrition, always error on the side of increasing the feeding frequency.
Don't forget the "nurturing" nature of the parent periodically offering food to the baby. As a treat, at any arbitrary time during and after weaning, the baby will usually accept a syringe of formula. All parrots should be periodically handfed throughout their life. This is an excellent treat for an adult and will aid in medicating if he should ever need to be medicated.
Watching the bird's stools is the best way to determine if he is eating. There will be different numbers, colors and consistency.
"Weaning Regression" is a prevalent problem in babies that were not properly nurtured from hatching to weaning. Birds that cannot fly are especially prone to be insecure and develop weaning regression.
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