how to feed baby parakeets?

[Lynda Anderson]

Hello, is there anyone out there who has fed baby parakeete? My parakeet laid four eggs, two of them has hatched. I expect the other two to hatch in the next few days. I have never had baby parakeets before. I was told at the pet store where I buy my bird supplies, that you have to feed baby birds. I have no ideal how to this. I do not want to feed them wrong and cause them any harm or even kill them. I bought baby bird food and a syringe to feed them with but I am not sure how to do this. The syringe that the people at the pet store told me I needed seems to big to me. Any advice would be apprecited. Is it really nescessary to feed them or does the momma bird feed them enough?

[catschair]

I would give the parents a chance. I have been lucky and mine have always raised their clutches without my help. If you search on feeding, I think you will find a couple of threads on how to hand feed, but it is not quite as easy as the pet store seems to have suggested. Congrats on your new babies!

[Monica]

First of all, please do not listen to what any regular petstore tells you, many hire incompetent employees... thus it's hard to find a GOOD petstore that knows what they are talking about. (you might want to consider finding a better place to shop at)

Second, if you had to handfeed the chicks, how would they [the wild birds] survive in the wild without someone to raise their own chicks?

Thirdly, if you do decide to handraise them (not that you need to), you need more supplies than handfeeding formula and a syringe...

Here's an inadequate list of items that you should have on hand to handraise...

Proper Breeding Cage or a Large (flight) Cage
Pipettes
Syringes
Handfeeding Formula
Wooden Nestbox
SAFE Nesting Material
Incubator
Brooder
Scale
Thermostat and hygrometer
Thermometer for checking how hot food is
Heating Pad
Heating Bulb (i.e. Ceramic Heating Lamp)
Paper Towels
Humidifier

If you don't or can't get these supplies, or the experience needed to handraise babies, then you should have a few avian vets and breeders on hand/call in case of an emergency and chicks need to be handraised. To give you an idea, newly hatched chicks need to be fed around the clock every 2 hours, and as they get older the time between feedings increases... however it doesn't stop until they are 5-8 weeks old, sometimes older. Basically going from 12 feedings in a 24 hour, to maybe 9 with a bit rest at night, to six, later on to only 3 feedings a day, then only 1 until weaned.

Here's a list of great articles of Winged Wisdom/BirdsNWays website on handraising etc...

• Bountiful Weaning: Secret to a Happy Bird
• Breeding African Greys - Part II
• Handfeeding: Cornerstone to a Good Pet
• Handfeeding: Good Methods Make Good Pets
• How To Handfeed Finches
• Possible Hand Feeding Problems
• Raising Good Pets - From Breeding to Selling Part I
• Raising Good Pets - From Breeding to Selling Part II
• Responsible Breeding of Cockatiels Part III Handfeeding Chicks
• Responsible Breeding of Cockatiels Part IV Handfeeding Chicks
• Responsible Breeding of Cockatiels Part IX - Record Keeping
• Responsible Breeding of Cockatiels Part V - Brooders and Brooding Chicks
• Responsible Breeding of Cockatiels Part VI - Fledgling Cockatiels
• Responsible Breeding of Cockatiels Part VII - Socializing Chicks
• Responsible Breeding of Cockatiels Part VIII - Weaning Chicks
• Socializing The African Grey - The Early Days
• Sour Crop in Cockatiel Chicks

If you read through the articles, you may read that although there may be some benefit to handraising them, there are also dangers when improperly done.

You can find more information (or rather links to info) here... (same page but different links)
BirdsnWays - Articles & FAQs on pet birds, pet parrots & exotic birds - Breeding Birds, Mating, Weaning, Eggs, Nesting
BirdsnWays - Articles & FAQs on pet birds, pet parrots & exotic birds - Breeding Birds, Mating, Weaning, Eggs, Nesting


Thus, my suggestion is to leave the parents be, and let them raise the chicks. When they are about 2 or so weeks old, you can take them out of the nest a few times a day (but no longer than 15 minutes) to socialize them and put them back. As they get older you can increase the time that you handle them as they will be growing feathers. At about 3-4 weeks of age they may act as if they want nothing to do with you... however this is only normal behavior for chicks. Just keep interacting with them and they will be tame as adults, as long as you keep interacting with them as they mature.

And, by all means, congrats on the chicks!

[Joel]

Originally Posted by Lynda Anderson

Hello, is there anyone out there who has fed baby parakeete? My parakeet laid four eggs, two of them has hatched. I expect the other two to hatch in the next few days. I have never had baby parakeets before. I was told at the pet store where I buy my bird supplies, that you have to feed baby birds. I have no ideal how to this. I do not want to feed them wrong and cause them any harm or even kill them. I bought baby bird food and a syringe to feed them with but I am not sure how to do this. The syringe that the people at the pet store told me I needed seems to big to me. Any advice would be apprecited. Is it really nescessary to feed them or does the momma bird feed them enough?

First of all, you should not allow a male & female to occupy the same cage or interact outside of a cage, together, unsupervised, unless you ARE totally prepared to deal with the results of mating. Having said that, now you need to get prepared ASAP (immediately) just in case the parents abandon the chicks, etc...... Try to find tomorrow a local hand-feeder that you can get or hire to help you out if needed and/or to teach you how to properly get them to the weaned stage. Buy the equipment needed tomorrow if you are determined to go it alone. If you can't find a local hand-feeder, then go to some local bird only type pet shops where you will most likely find experienced assistance.

Make sure the parents have the following in their cage so they can feed to the babies: spray millet, a good parakeet seed mix, I would add some Zupreem Fruit Blend pellets in the cage also, some fresh well done scrambled egg (remove after 1/2 hr.), some fresh raw & well rinsed broccoli florets and some fresh warmed green peas (don't use canned veggies). I assume you already have cuttlebone in the cage for the parents.

After the babies are about 10 days old, I would add some healthy whole wheat bread (I use 15 grain bread - hearty texture) which is litely dampened and some raw corn on the cob (as fresh & clean as possible). Others here may also give you some more food suggestions that have worked for them.

Good luck - please don't wait but get prepared ASAP for the worst that could possibly happen.

[Lynda Anderson]

I would like to thank all the people who sent me advice on my new baby chicks. All the info I received was really good and helpful. I have decided to let the parents do their job, as they seem to know what they are doing and are taking real good care of the babies.I will add the foods that were recommended by a few of the replies. Again thank you very much.

[Monica]

The Healthy Bird Cookbook has a good list of foods that can be eaten! And several recipes! Great book!

I'm glad to hear that you'll let the parents care for them! And if possible, we'd all love to see pics!