Weaning questions

[jriley]

Well, Molly is finally giving serious indications of being ready to wean (she's a 6 month old U2). For the past week or so I've been giving her softened weaning pellets instead of her evening handfeeding because she wasn't eating much and now she's refusing the weaning pellets. She is now also only accepting 3-4 spoonfuls of formula in the morning. She gulps down the first spoonful and then is pretty disinterested in eating any more.

So-yesterday and today I didn't bother to offer the weaning pellets in the evening. She's a little whiny, but she's busily eating pellets, birdie bread, and seeds at the moment so I think she's able to satisfy herself. She didn't seem desperately hungry this morning, so I'm pretty sure she doesn't need the evening feeding anymore.

I'm wondering now if I should quit offering the morning feeding, too. It's such a pain in the rear to heat and mix the formula for her to only eat a couple spoonfuls. I'm just not sure if that would be okay to do or not.

She's eating on her own really well now and it appears she's eating a good portion of pellets every day. She is partial to the purple zupreem, which is annoying, but once they're all gone she'll eat the other colors. I also have Lafeber and Roudybush pellets in there, but I tend to find them half-eaten in the bottom of her cage. I'm not sure she's eating those at all. She's getting about 5 nutriberries a day (cockatoo nuts 'n nuggets, tropical, and golden harvest) and she eats about half to 3/4 of each berry before dropping it. She doesn't really eat fresh foods. I keep offering sprouts, broccoli, carrots, fruits, etc but she doesn't eat it. I was giving her a bean/pasta mix, too, and she liked that, but it seemed better to let her eat the pellets which are better balanced at this point since she isn't eating other fresh foods.

So-what do you think? Should I phase out the morning feedings? Maybe substitute the weaning pellets again until she refuses them? I have about 4 feedings' worth of formula left and I'm thinking it'd be silly to buy more if she's about to wean. I have plenty of weaning pellets.

Julie

[Tiki]

Hi Julie! It seems pretty clear that she wants to wean. Like you said, she is eating well on her own. Keep offering her a variety of the pellets she is accpeting and fresh fruit and veggies. Monitor her weight to make sure she is getting enough to eat. Has she fledged yet? She will lose a bit of weight before she fledges, this is normal.

[jriley]

Thanks! She's been flying well (though with a very slight wing clip) for the past month. I haven't been weighing her myself, but my vet says she's at a good weight and she has been pushing me to wean her (she says cockatoos can end up refusing to wean if you handfeed them too long). I might try offering the weaning pellets when the formula runs out and see how that goes. She usually goes straight to her food bowl after her morning feeding and pigs out. It's almost like those couple spoonfuls just take enough edge off her hunger so that she can settle down and feed herself. I have noticed on the couple days I slept in last week that I could hear her digging in her food dish before I came out of the bedroom (she's in the next room).

Thanks again for offering your opinion.

Julie