Weaning questions

[fishstick600]

So my 5 month old U2 sydney is getting 2 feedings a day right now. .when should I start backing him off and cut out the morning feeding? Do I just cut it out or start to lower his amount in the morning? Also hes not really eating much during the day..what can I do to encourage him to eat on his own more?

 

[fishstick600]

Bump.......

 

[PolyParrotParent]

It's kinda difficult to tell when a baby parrot needs to be dropped from one feeding to the next. Right now my boyfriend and I are handfeeding a 6 month old blue and gold macaw and a 5 month old sun conure. The sun conure basically weened himself, but our macaw has been a bit tougher. We found that changing the flavor of pellets (we are weening him onto Zupreme, so they have fruit flavor, veggie flavor, and nut flavor) helped get him more interested in food. We also cut back on the amount of formula we gave him each day by a few ccs, usually about 5. Then, we started alternating days that we fed him his morning and night feeding. For example, one day we would feed him twice and the next day we only fed him once. We also started giving him cooked cinnamon oatmeal (don't use powdered cinnamon, just cook the oatmeal with a cinnamon stick, then take the cinnamon stick out before you feed them). Ours really seems to like that. You can also try cooked pasta or anything else that comes close to the same temperature as the formula. I know that I'm talking about a baby macaw, but it should help with the cockatoo. By cutting back a little bit of the formula and alternating days when you feed your cockatoo twice will make your cockatoo become more interested in the pellets you're giving them. You'll unfortunately have to deal with that begging behavior, but it will make sure your bird doesn't become too dependent on the handfeedings and will keep them from being moved from two handfeedings to only one too soon. I really hope that helps!!

 

[moni.k]

A rule of thumb is that the larger the bird, the longer it takes to wean. I have an eclectus that I hand fed since I received her at 8 weeks old. She weaned herself at around 5 months old. I am not pro force weaning and would prefer the bird to wean themselves. I know of other cases where the bird took 10 months to wean. It really depends on your bird.

However, there are tips to show interest in food. For example Nalani loves corn, soybeans and sprouts. So I always offered her plenty each day along with mix fruits and veggies. This helped her show more interest in the food. You can also soak organic pellets and offer that, or make a mash of food mixed in oatmeal. This gives a similar consistency of the hand feeding formula, but has a bunch of fruits and veggies. After about 2 weeks of Nalani showing no interest in her morning feedings, I only gave her evening feedings for an additional month. This continued until she rejected the evening feedings.

My golden advice is variety. Offer cooked food, fresh food and mashed food throughout the day.

Hope this helps!! and good luck with your new baby.

 

[fishstick600]

Ive cut him down to 45ccs in the morning and have been leaving him pellets that were soaked in water. He picks at the pellets. I skipped his morning feeding today to see if hed eat more on his own and by his poo it looks like he did. Hes not big on vegies but hell pick at them..I tried a nut/dried fruit mix and he barely touches it. I'm trying tho he loves watching me pretend to eat his food lol

 

[fishstick600]

Got him down to 35ccs in the morning. I'm thinking of cutting out the morning feeding next week

 

[fishstick600]

Well I think ive gotta sydney down to one feeding. Starting week two and he is gaining weight. I just weighed him and he is 1 pnd 2.2 oz was 1 1.8 yesterday and I think 1 1.6 sunday. Hopefully he doesnt become a fatty lol