Baby parrots - age to leave the breeder and what should they be eating?

[Mook]

I was reading a review about a parrot breeder in my area which I was considering messaging to enquire about getting a parrot from them. The review is mostly positive but criticises for a couple of things, namely that they breeder often re-homes the parrots too young. The person leaving the review recommends that a parrot should be fledgling age x 2 before being sold (so if that breed normally fledge at 10 weeks they shouldn't be sold until 20 weeks). These parrots are sold from 14 weeks onwards so long as they have not been hand fed for 2 weeks. Is this too early? What happens if they are sold too early? Do they struggle to settle in more or develop behavioural issues or something?

The other criticism is that this breeder weans onto pellets and not much else. They give the parrots only pellets one day and pellets and veg the next. Does this mean that a paby would be less adventurous about trying news foods later? Does the early sale age mean that there is still a good chance to encourage the bird to eat more fresh food when it is in its new home?

These questions are fairly theoretical at them moment because I'm not planning to get a parrot until next year. I'm just like to start research and thinking about these things in advance (also parrot research is more interesting than dissertation research).

 

[Spiritbird]

For a breeder to wein a baby bird on to pellets is a good thing. Many just use seed. I got my baby TAG at 13 weeks of age and started her on a soft mash of cooked veggies and crumbled corn bread. That may have been a mistake because she will not eat fresh, raw veggies. I must cook them and continue to make mashes. I think it may be best to start out on pellets and whole raw veggies.

 

[henpecked]

I don't know anything about the author of the review, but i would disagree with them. IMO baby should go to new home as soon as weaned. They may revert back to begging for food in a new environment, but that's a good opportunity for bonding with the new owner. You could just spoon feed wet mashed pellets with fruit/veggies added. Yes get your new bird to try fresh fruit/veggies as soon as you bring it home. I start long before they ever wean. This is the time in their life when their parents would be teaching them what to eat in the wild. Many younger birds don't know how to use their beak for food and struggle with hard/crunchy stuff. If you moisten pellets for them, remember to remove them after an hour or so, they will spoil much faster when wet . This is also true of cooked or "warmed" foods. Fresh will last longer and better for them, but whatever it takes to get them to eat healthy.

 

[paulhanlon]

My breeder lets his chicks go to there new homes at 12 to 14 weeks depending on how fast they complete the weaning process

 

[wenz2712]

I had Codie at 11 Weeks and she was fully weaned. I started off by giving her soft foods. Fruit and Veg, I chopped into very small pieces.

 

[IcyWolf]

I wouldn't go by fledging date, while most babies fledge around the same age, they don't always wean around the same age. For instance, with the budgies, I have some wean as early as 45 days and some take as long as 65-70 days, it all depends on the individual bird. I think 7-10 days after weaning is the ideal time to take a new baby home. This gives them a week of being solely on solid food before going to their new home. You want them to be confident in eating on their own so the stress from changing homes doesn't cause them to regress

Just my two cents

 

[henpecked]

I read that now, fledgling age, that makes more sense, that put babies at about 12-14 wks. Sorry i missed that first go around. i read" weaned age" into it. My bad.