Hand-fed vs. Hand-raised

[Hufflepuff]

For my general education, is there a difference between a hand-fed baby and a hand-raised baby?

 

[henpecked]

I think handraised would imply more interaction with the baby. These words can be thrown around to make any deal sound better. Visiting babies would be the best bet. many sellers would tell you anything to make the sale. handfed doesn't guarantee a well socialized baby and neither does handraised.

 

[Birdman666]

What does any of it really mean?!

Depends on the breeder... it's like most advertising claims.

Your bird will have fresher breath and whiter teeth because of it...

I go by how the bird behaves.

 

[Hawk]

For my general education, is there a difference between a hand-fed baby and a hand-raised baby?

Well I'll offer up my opinion and experience on that.

There is a difference between hand feeding Properly and just hand feeding.
Verses a parent fed bird. The point in this is that it is the time you spend with the baby bird, which is handling it, feeding it, talking to it and of course loving it.

Handled in this manner when young promotes a very tame, and loving birds. It is my opinion that this is a very critical stage in a birds development because babies do not know the difference between wild and tame...Proper time spent at this age along with proper feeding and handling techniques will have the out come of a very good natured bird.

A hand tame bird is one that generally stays with the parents until fledged. They are played with and handled while still in the nest and fed by parents.

A hand fed on the other hand is one that is taken from the nest at around a week and a half and fed by the person every 3 to 5 hours depending on bird. This is done until they are weaned at around 8-9 weeks. Babies then learn very quickly the up up or step up command and are not at all afraid of your hand.

Hopes this helps, it's my opinion of course and there are many others on here with more experience with babies than I so keep watching the posts.

 

[Birdman666]

Yeah, but those claims are so loosely tossed around these days, I just don't believe it anymore.

YOU CAN TELL a bird that gets handled, and interacted with vs. one who does not. The way they interact with you is... just different.

 

[Hawk]

Yeah, but those claims are so loosely tossed around these days, I just don't believe it anymore.

YOU CAN TELL a bird that gets handled, and interacted with vs. one who does not. The way they interact with you is... just different.

That's very true and I agree.

When spending the last 6 months searching for an Ekkie, before finding Tyler( Male 5 months old). I would frequent a handful of Avian stores and rescues to try and inter act and handle some of the ekkies. You can tell which ones were handled and inter acted with and the ones that weren't.

One thing I noticed is that the hand tamed and hand fed theory dose not always apply because I see so many rescue birds that apparently were hand raised/fed that were apparently not treated right and revert to being reserved and cautious about being picked up, or are a bit aggressive.

I think the key is interaction with the bird from babies to present age to provide proper socialization and good natured bird.

3 of my birds I have interacted with since they were just very little things and brought home after weaned. They are very good natured, especially my Grey.

My Zon on the other hand was a rescue and you can tell the difference, sometimes she reverts back to a past, maybe old memories of previous owner, I don't know, and attitude flips. I think her total interaction prior to me owning her was a bit limited. You can tell the difference.
But took her a few months after bringing her home and working with her. She is set in some of her ways, yet learning what I deem unacceptable in behavior and is getting better. It's work in progress, but overall is a sweet bird, and she wants to be. Just think there is some memories in her that pop up at times. I have learned an answer to a question I have always wondered about....do birds retain memory? I believe they do. What do you think?

 

[Birdman666]

The bird that gets loved on, and played with, generally speaking, actively seeks out people to get loved on, and play with, and loves everyone back.

The bird that doesn't is fighting his wild survival instincts... is this person going to try to eat me? Is this safe? Not sure I want to do that...

The difference is night and day.

 

[JerseyWendy]

A more important key word would be 'well socialized'. THAT makes all the difference in the world right there.

Most creatures will grow when merely fed, but not all will 'thrive'.

The more handling, the more interaction, the more adventures, the better for the baby.

 

[Hawk]

A more important key word would be 'well socialized'. THAT makes all the difference in the world right there.

Most creatures will grow when merely fed, but not all will 'thrive'.

The more handling, the more interaction, the more adventures, the better for the baby.

Amen!!!

 

[Hufflepuff]

So I gather there is no industry standard for either term. Thanks for the replies.