handrearing gcc

[Birdsofallsorts]

Hi i'm about to handrear some GCC how long can they go between feeding. they're around 20 days old. Also any other help would be appreciated

[Mothi]

I think I recall that you have stated before you know about how to hand fed a baby bird. If you are not 100% on that, I highly suggest you talk to breeders directly if you don't have previous experience raising a clutch of babies. You do need to learn somewhere though, but be armed with as much knowledge as you can.

This is a link that I really do like, but it is about cockatiels.
http://www.cockatiel.org/articles/handfeeding.html

It had been a while since I last hand fed birds when I got my GCC so I had to brush up on some knowledge. Things to remember is, what temperature to feed and keep the babies at, how much they should be eating, how often they should be eating. Remember that all birds are individuals and some variance can exist. It is on you to recognize when you cannot follow things by a book and possible complications to look out for.

When Yazhi was about 3 weeks old when I got him he was being fed only 3-4 feedings a day from his breeder. I noticed he needed more so I was feeding him 5 times a day. Since I only had 1 baby to worry about, the number of feedings was all catered to his needs alone. He was also taking in about 4-5cc each feeding. Keep in mind that this is just one bird and not set in stone how to raise an entire clutch of babies. Like I said, his feeding schedule was all catered to his needs only and was not determined by other babies present. Just like when he was with the breeder, his feeding schedule was influenced by his clutchmates who were all bigger and much more developed than he was. I honestly think that his clutch may have had 5 babies and yazhi just happened to be the last baby in line. Maybe the next to the last one was a dud, which may explain why the others in his clutch were so much futher along than he was.

You want to make sure you don't starve the chicks. You also don't want to over stuff them where the formula back flows and the chick vomits. Don't burn the crop and make sure that the crop doesn't get sour. Don't expand the crop too large or too fast. These are all things to know and be watchful of. Even better if you can keep records of each baby and their weight, how much they are eating, and anything else of importance. But I know as a breeder, if you have a lot of babies, that sometimes is not an easy thing to do.

Not only think of what you have to do now to hand fed either. Understand how you increase food intake and when/how to decrease feedings. Understand what it means for a baby bird to fledge and what happens during this time to their eating habits. Make sure to abundance wean them as well. Plan ahead to what may come and be prepared so you don't end up freaking out whenever something new happens and you need to get caught up fast to what is going on. Stay ahead of the game. And research research research.

Good luck with the babies.