How late can I start handrearing?

[morry]

Hi

I have been in the market for an eclectus chick for a while now and I have recently been offered a 6 week old chick that is currently being raised by its parents. Is it too old to successfully start handrearing it now?

Thank you for the help

 

[LordTriggs]

do you mean for you to hand-rear or for the breeder to?

 

[morry]

I mean for me to start handrearing.

I am concerned I will have trouble getting the bird to feed.

 

[itzjbean]

Many breeders choose to remove chicks from the nest and start hand-feeding anytime after two weeks so six weeks is not unheard of. However, it is not recommended for those who have never hand-fed or are not experienced with raising an unweaned baby bird. SO many problems can and do happen, often resulting in a dead baby bird.

A reputable, responsible breeder would never offer an unweaned baby for sale. This is frowned upon on this forum and my suggestion is to find a new breeder, one that will wean an Eclectus for you so when you get it, so you will get a baby that can eat on its own and has been properly weaned. Depending on where you live in the world, we here can offer suggestions to some great breeders in your area.

 

[LordTriggs]

why do you want to hand-feed them yourselves? Considering the monumental list of potential ways the bird can die from hand-feeding and costs it makes little sense to. Also I would guess that the bird would be unwilling to feed from a syringe at that age being used to the parents. Also like bean said, a reputable breeder doesn't sell a bird without making sure they're weaned. In some places it's actually illegal so if you're in the UK for example or majority of mainland europe you would be asking the breeder to break the law for you.

I'm guessing you've been told in the past that rearing a bird yourself makes them like you more? It's completely bogus and is just something spouted by bad breeders to get more cash in their bank account, it offers no benefit to you.

What I will say as well is a parent reared bird can become a wonderful pet, my conure was parent reared and friendlier than a lot of hand-reared birds I have seen, it just takes a bit of extra work at the start

 

[SilverSage]

Also, eclectus are one of the hardest species to hand raise successfully. This is a terrible idea.


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[morry]

Also, eclectus are one of the hardest species to hand raise successfully. This is a terrible idea.


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What do you mean by successfully raise and why are they so difficult ?

 

[itzjbean]

Also, eclectus are one of the hardest species to hand raise successfully. This is a terrible idea.


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What do you mean by successfully raise and why are they so difficult ?

To successfully raise = weaning the bird without it dying.

I'm no expert, but I do know that Eclectus have different, more specialized dietary requirement than other parrots. They do not do well on pellets and need a variety of fresh fruits and veggies on a daily basis to thrive.

 

[tashawithanekkie]

Google brought me the following

BirdsnWays - Possible Hand Feeding Problems

weaning

The Process for Hand-Raising Eclectus Parrots - Eclectus Parrot Information

looks like you might want to wait another few weeks and let the baby wean itself . . .

 

[SilverSage]

Successfully = weaning a live, healthy bird that isn't mentally and emotionally damaged.

Eclectus are difficult because they have an extremely weak feeding response so it can be really hard to feed them enough without aspirating them. NO ONE should just dive into hand feeding for the heck of it and an eclectus is the LAST species you should try, not the first.

And to repeat what has been said, no ethical, descent person or knowledgeable breeder is going to sell you a 6 week old chick and NO ONE who cares about their birds would EVER pull a baby from the nest and hand it straight to a novice. Whoever is selling that bird doesn't give a rats left foot if the baby lives or dies they just want the money with as little work as possible.

If you want a parrot please seek out a decent breeder who actually cares about their birds.


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[Cashclan]

I am a total novice, I bought my first pair of African Grey breeders April 29, 2017 and had my first egg May 2017. They had three eggs, two hatched and when the youngest was about 21 days I started hand feeding them. I’m getting ready to start hand feeding another clutch in about ten days, same parents, laid three eggs, two hatched.
With that being said, I have NO experience with Electus, and my Greys are my first experience with parrots. I had no problems, but, I met a man that was within five hours that was willing to let me come for the day while he showed me how to hand feed the baby birds.
Have you ever fed baby birds formula before? I would think at six weeks they should be get ting pretty strong on their eating response. If you haven’t hand fed formula before do you have access to someone who is willing to teach you? Are you VERY DILIGENT in keeping to the schedule?
I thought many times I needed to have my head examined for taking on such a big job. I breast fed all my children so I wouldn’t have to mess around with bottles , washing, heating, and making formula. Here I was at 6am, 10, 2, 6 & 10:00pm mixing up formula at the proper temperature and feeding my birdies and then washing up the syringes and mixing bowls, sometimes I would be so tired and just want to go to bed but couldn’t!!!
So...if you have sticktoittivness, will do the job properly even when you don’t want to, have someone to show you the proper way to feed (maybe the breeder) then all I can say is it the MOST rewarding experience you will have if you are successful but you will be devistated if you aren’t. Good luck on whatever you decide

 

[SilverSage]

The bird is also twice as old as it should be to start hand feeding and will likely have to be force fed if pulled now.


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[LordTriggs]

just checked some videos and wow, Eclectus babies have 0 feeding response. Looked at about 3 separate videos at different ages, the only one who showed even interest in feeding was an 11 week old, even then there was 0 head bobbing, he was merely licking at the syringe and pulled back after 2 seconds then began trying to run away from the syringe. The others (an 8 week female and a 4 weeks female) were actively doing whatever they could not to feed including attempting to run away, keeping their beak closed and the 8 week old actually went to bite the person holding the syringe. Once they began eating they seemed to enjoy it but absolutely no head bobbing.

Morry I have no idea if you've ever hand-fed before but seriously it is a rough time for a bird that enjoys food let alone a bird that shows no interest. If you want an idea of how hard hand-feeding can be check this thread out http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/70494-macaw-vomiting-lung-infection.html with an easier to feed bird there were so many problems resulting in 3 times the vet bills than the cost of the parrot and a lot of stress which can't be good on the person's health

 

[SilverSage]

Having personally hand fed several species I have to say macaws are the easiest I have ever done.


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[LordTriggs]

yeah they seem to enjoy it the most. I look up the videos just cause I love hearing baby bird clucking and begging noises

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

The only bird I ever "hand fed" was a baby English Sparrow that had fallen/got kicked out of his home by his parents,that my neighbor found in her yard,I was thirteen at the time . that was almost 50 years ago lol!

I don't know how I did it..a lot of reading up and asking a vet a bunch of questions,but Chii Chii grew and thrived,and fledged,and was a happy fella..until the neighbors CAT snuck up on him one day while he was eating bugs an' stuff in the grass,and I didn't see/notice that damn feline

"Fluffy" got her just deserts when she got hit by a car a couple weeks later..




Jim