Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2006 8:31 pm Post subject: help for a 8 week old please
Help Please 8 week old Kakariki
Please help i have been given a baby to try and rear as both parents died. Im guessing it is about 8 weeks old it has most of its adult plummage i think. He was on the bottom of the avairy looking rather sad. The breeder was going to knock him off i couldnt bare this so have tacken it on. So far so good after a day of baby chick mash from the local pet shop he is moving around and now calling out. He is feed 3 times a day via a syringe. I want to know how much he should be having (Mls) and what else i should be feeding him and in what sort of quantities p.s if it survives it will go back to the breeder. He is away alot at the moment and doesnt have the time to care for it. And has never hand raised one so is unsure.
A young Kakariki with full plumage should be nearly weaned. I would suggest you place it in a small cage and try the following method.
1) Early morning feed the bird with 5ml of food via the syringe.
2) Place a small bowl of budgie/canary mix in the cage along with some small chopped up prtions of greens and apple etc.
3) In the short term check the birds crop at night and if empty feed with another 5ml of food via the syringe.
As the bird learns to "pick" at the food in the cage remove the evening feed. Within 7-10 days the last feed should also be removed. The best way to know how much the bird is eating is via a set of scales. The bird will lose some weight in the initial stages but should quickly regain this.
To weigh the bird you can use a small cardboard box. Weigh the box first and then place the bird inside. Weigh the box again and the difference between the 2 weights is how much the bird weighs.
Hope this helps. If you have any more questions dont be afraid to ask.
We have a friend who hand rears many birds, 1 they had a problem with it feeding itself...
In desperation they placed another bird (mature burke) in a small cage in front, hoping it would copy the self feeding...
It worked... _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:21 am Post subject: re food
Hi there i have done most of what you have said he is in a small cage . I do feed via a syringe but he will only take about 2.5 to3 mls of food after that his bill clamps down and thats it i basically would have to force feed him and he pretty much just spits most of it out at this point. He is being feed like this 3 times a day. I will get some budgie and canary mix to day as i got a parrot mix for him as i did i wondered if it was to much for him which i beleive it is. As per greens i have tried broccoli but no intrest at this stage. Do i just add different types of vegeis and fruit at random (random being the type of fruit and veges). Thanks fdor your reply to.
It is no good just trying 1 or 2 veggies/fruit, give a varity check this thread out
http://www.kakariki.net/ftopict-12.html _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
As Steptoe has indicated it is better to give a variety of fruits in together. The bird will probably just peck at it at first but in time it will learn what to do with it's food.
If you can only get around 3ml into the bird with the syringe keep feeding 3 times a day in the short term. Place the seed and vegs in a flat type of container. You may find the bird decides to sit in the container but this can be good also as they quickly discover they can peck at the food.
Also make sure you have a small bowl of water in the cage. Kakariki will sometimes learn to drink before they start eating. Once eating dry seed they rely on water to soften the food in the crop.
Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 9:00 pm Post subject: re diet
today he ate or played (not sure) reasnably confident that he did eat carrot, broccoli and canary seed tomorrow i will increase mor veges and some fruit into his diet. He / she is alot more active and is responding to all the cooing he gets from my kids. Any other tips appreciated.
Go to softer veggies, peas, spinach, potato peelings and the like...and a little less of the harder.
Broccolli cali...the stems
And cop up fine, 1/2 a pea size _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:10 pm Post subject: 8 week old doing well
Wow it is so lively now and lives its food i have seen him today drink from his water dish, pick thru his dish of seed,corn,peas,carrot,patatoe,brocoli.kiwifruit,pear and apple picking out its favs 1st seems to be brocoli then corn and then even with seed and kiwifruit but in general hes eating everything i think i will knock of his morning feed now as he is struggling now and not at all keen to be manually feed. I think its almost ready to go it alone.
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