danforth@ramius.llnl.gov (Bill Danforth) (01/31/91)
I've got a pair of 'tiels that have laid 3 eggs recently. My question is what food should I prepare for the parents to use to feed the young, when they hatch? This is the first time for both me and the parents, so any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Post or email replies/advice Thanks in Advance Bill Danforth
ooblick@intercon.com (Mikki Barry) (02/21/91)
In article <757@llnl.LLNL.GOV> danforth@ramius.llnl.gov (Bill Danforth) writes: >I've got a pair of 'tiels that have laid 3 eggs recently. My question is what >food should I prepare for the parents to use to feed the young, when >they hatch? Cockatiels get really strange when they are raising chicks. They often eat foods they would turn their beaks up at before they hear the sound of "cheep cheep cheep" coming from the nest box. Our standard cockatiel brooding stuff consists of Zeigler pellets (most any type of pellet will do) and a mixture of petamine, vionate, and nekton s. They also get fresh kale, and small fruits and veggies, as well as canned beans (they love the stuff when they are feeding). It's a lot of work, but it makes for very healthy parents and chicks. The next decision you will have to make is whether you wish to pull the chicks for hand feeding. If so, we use purina AVN pellets ground up, mixed with baby cereal (dry) and nekton lori food. We've tried some of the commercial formulas on the market and they seem to cause crop impaction. Mikki Barry
greg@uc780.umd.edu (02/21/91)
>I've got a pair of 'tiels that have laid 3 eggs recently. My question is what >food should I prepare for the parents to use to feed the young, when >they hatch? > >This is the first time for both me and the parents, so any other advice would >be greatly appreciated. Congratulations... we are a little further along in the same scenario, so hopefully our recent first time experience can be helpful. With the eggs laid, you can continue to feed them as you would normally - a balanced diet. You will probably want to add some nestling food - ground seed, available at most places which are well stocked for birds - to get them accoustomed to it. When the eggs hatch, you will note a SHARP increase in the amount of food consumed. Again, a balanced diet is the important thing, but you will want to provide them with plenty of fresh water, and foods which they can "digest" quickly - nestling food, soft vegetables (our mother bird has gotten quite attached to baby corn). >Post or email replies/advice > >Thanks in Advance > >Bill Danforth Gregory Wright BITNET: GREG@UC780 Internet: greg@socrates.umd.edu "A bird in the hand is one less bird chewing on your antique chair."
stewartw@cognos.UUCP (Stewart Winter) (02/23/91)
In article <27C2E8E5.10DE@intercon.com> ooblick@intercon.com (Mikki Barry) writes: >The next decision you will have to make is whether you wish to pull the >chicks for hand feeding. If so, we use purina AVN pellets ground up, >mixed with baby cereal (dry) and nekton lori food. We've tried some of >the commercial formulas on the market and they seem to cause crop >impaction. Have you tried NutriStart? It is expensive (about $35 for 5 lbs.), but it is an excellent product. We have handfed lovebirds (from 4 days old), cockatiels, and large parrots on this and not had one single problem. It is made with rice and absorbs huge quantities of water. This eliminates crop impaction by bonding the water into the food - we have tried other commercial products (Lakes, etc.) and I've never seen anything that came close to it. On the big parrots you could (using weight-gain graphs) actually see what day the bird was switched from the NutriStart to a diet much like the one you recommend. Stewart -- Stewart Winter Cognos Incorporated S-mail: P.O. Box 9707 VOICE: (613) 738-1338 x3830 FAX: (613) 738-0002 3755 Riverside Drive UUCP: stewartw%cognos.uucp@ccs.carleton.ca Ottawa, Ontario The bird of the day is .... Fire Finch CANADA K1G 3Z4