Moving from hand-feeding formula to hard food

[clayman]

Hi guys,

as some of you probably know from my intro thread, I got a couple of female blue-fronted amazons on Tuesday last week. The older one is about 9 weeks old, the other one is two weeks younger.

I have been given pretty detailed instructions by the breeder on how to move from the hand-feeding formula to hard food (pellets, grains, and fruits/veggies). Still, given how crazy the girls go when the time for hand-feeding comes and how much of the formula they eat, I cannot help but think I am doing something wrong and I am in fact starving my birds. The hand-feeding formula is ZuPreem Embrace Plus, the pellets are Versele-Laga NutriBird P15, and the grains are Versele-Laga Premium Prestige Loro Parque.

When I got them, I was told to hand-feed them about 40-60 ml of the formula 3 times a day and to move to hand-feeding twice a day after a week. I had to wait before the pellets and the grain mix arrived (they arrived on Monday this week, i.e. almost a week after me getting the ladies) so in the meantime, I was giving them fresh fruits and veggies and kept feeding them the formula 3 times a day as I was told.

When the pellet/grain mixes arrived, I immediately offered my birds a handful of them and they seemed interested in trying them out. They did not eat much of them since they were not used to eating them but they did try them out, which was a good sign. Since then, they have got a bit of a grasp on how to eat both the pellets and the grains, but I guess they still take it more like a bonus rather than something they are going to be eating for the most part.

I still give them fresh fruits and vegetables every morning and the older girl is very interested in them (the younger one not so much, probably because she does not quite realize yet that she should use her beak to bite off a chunk; she is getting there, though, as I have been offering her various bits and she slowly learns how to eat them).

So, I am wondering if, given how aggressively they are thrusting against the syringe when I hand-feed them every morning and evening, they are in fact so starved that I should switch back to hand-feeding them three times a day (with the midday meal being, say, half the amount of the morning/evening one) until they learn how to eat the pellets and grains properly, or if they are just not interested in the pellets/grains because they know they are going to get a warm feeding mix every morning and evening.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if you need any other bit of information and I will be happy to oblige.

Thanks very much for your time, guys!

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[Auroras_Mummy]

I've never fed an amazon but we breed GCCs and I always follow the lead of the baby when it comes to weaning. The babies will start to refuse the hand feedings or eat less of it when they're getting more interested in the big kid food.
The pumping reaction to the formula is like a reflex, they have soft pads on either side of their beaks that when you touch them they will pump so keep that in mind at meal times, it may not necessarily mean they're starving hungry.

 

[labell]

A baby bird should always be allowed to wean at their own pace. Provide plenty of other fresh foods as well as the pellets you want them on. Cut up fresh foods that are different sizes as well. Many times they will start playing with their food at first but will start eating more of it.

It has never been my experience and I have hand fed more babies than I can count to have a day that they give up a feeding or hand feeding all together. It is a back and forth thing, one day they will eat more, the next day less because they have eaten more of the other foods you are providing. You will waste a lot of food during weaning but it is extremely important that you continue to provide it. You should also be weighing your babies at the same time daily, preferably before the morning feeding when they are empty.

A baby will start to refuse hand feeding and even drop a little weight as they get closer to fledging, please allow your babies to properly fledge, that is confidently learning to fly and land. It will impact their health and well being for the rest of their lives.