Indian ring neck baby

[angelisis]

Hello everyone.

I am new to this forum and very new to have IRN
I was given a baby just yesterday that is not weened as yet so i am feeding him/her every 4 hours or so but let his crop empty completely overnight before his 6 am feed this morning. apparently you have to do this atleast once a day so it will ot get blocked.......he/she has no name as yet but for typing sake lets call him a he. he has all his pin feathers on his wings but they are just showing on his body. if you need a photo for a better idea of how old he is then let me know....i was told he was roughly 6 weeks old.so here is my questions......

1. am i feeding him correctly? the man (breeder) gave me the food wich i add warm water too and feed too him every 4 hours give or take, i got on the size of his crop and then just touch up allowing it to completly empty overnight as i did last night....is this right?

2. if give him just warm water one feeding spoon full as i feed him is that enough water or should i water down his food more? it is the consistancey of say porridge at the moment.

3. how long do i feed him for?

4. when do i offer seed/pellats fruit? how do i knwo he is ready?

5. I have him in a conainaer of sorts that i refresh at every feed.....goodness they are stinky little maggots LOL.....he is placed on top of my fish tank light so his box stays warm and it is working well but how long will this have to go on for MY FISH NEED SLEEP TOO

thats it for now i think I may think of more questions as they arise but i must say he is certianly been fun and i am falling for him already. it has been a hard time around my home of later (my old dog has not been well) and the new baby has made us smile and he has not even been here 24 hours. I think i can safely say i am a goner

any help at all would be grateful. there is alot of stuff online about IRN's but nothing if your hand raising to help.

[Mikaela]

The breeder just gave it to you? No instructions?

He should be eating about 10 cc's of formula about twice a day and ALWAYS have seed and fresh fruits or veggies in the cage.

You have to change it out OFTEN. Birds wont eat anything that has began to rot, too smart for that. To avoid this, I give them raw corn on the cob if Im going to be gone for some time.

He will have to be then, converted from seeds to pellets but we have much time to worry with that.

Ringnecks ween themselves really, thats my experience. They simply refuse a feeding one day and thats it, weened and on seed, veggies and fruits. He will begin refusing to let you feed him because he will wonder over to the seed dish and realize, THIS ROCKS!

Good luck hun, let us know if you have more questions. We are here and boy are you gonna need us. tee hee.

Gotta love ringnecks!!!

P.S. Go get a dropper at least 10 cc's. It will make your live SO much easier. Be careful though and come back before you start using this method so we can show you how.

You can drowned your bird when hand-feeding. Thats why I like the dropper. Very controlled amount. You insert it into the LEFT side (only) of the beak and push the formula in at your baby's eating speed. It varies, my baby drank it up, some baby's take a bit at a time.

VERY IMPORTANT:

You MUST feed only from the left side of the beak. NO EXCEPTIONS.

[angelisis]

ack. well i am feeding from the front with a bent spoon and the breeder told me to feed him untill his pouch/crop is full.
10cc's twice a day?? really is that all?? does not sound like much.
how much is that in mls?
i shall show you a picture of what he looks like may help with advise your griving me, give you some idea of the age.

[Ringneckmom]

Your baby could be about 6 weeks old. It is hard to remember what they look like at that age.

When you feed you need to make sure the temperature of the food is between 105 and 108 degrees fahrenheit. If it is hotter then you can burn the crop.

You are doing right by feeding 4 times a day right now (in the morning (7 or 8am), lunchtime (12 pm), dinnertime (5 pm) and right before you go to bed (10 pm). When he starts to refuse eating at a feeding on a frequent basis is when you reduce a feeding. When you get down to 3 feeding go ahead and have some food in the cage for them to pick at like pellets, seed and millet. I would wait to introduce veggies until he is down to 2 feedings a day.

For heat - try a heating pad under one half of the container to keep warm - being as he does not have many feathers right now - you may also want to cover the top some to help keep the heat in the container. If he is too cold then you may run into some problems with digestion.

IRNs do not take a lot of formula so 10 ccs is about right. If you are using a bent spoon then keep doing that (using a spoon - you do feed from the front). It is the best way to feed if you have never fed a bird before as it will be harder for you to aspirate it. When the crop is full it should feel kind of like a water balloon that is not real tight. And yes, you need to make sure the crop empties at least once during a 24 hour period, like overnight, otherwise you may have things like crop stasis etc to deal with. The food consistency sounds about right - just make sure it is not too thick. I have always compared it to the consistency of pancake batter. He will get his fluids from the formula you feed him - no need to give water by itself at this time.

I would also make sure to keep an eye on his weight. Use a gram scale to keep records of his weight so you can make sure he is not losing weight and is gaining on a steady basis.

If at all possible, I would try to keep in contact with the person you got the bird from for any advice you may need as well. It is sometimes easier if there is someone in person to help with questions and concerns.

[Mikaela]

WOW

I had no clue that baby was THAT young. The age might be fudged a bit. 8 weeks?

I agree whole-heartedly with all of the advice given by ringneck mom. Awesome post. I just wanted to add, the temp is VERY important and that you shouldnt heat it in the microwave.

The water needs to be the right temp when poured into the formula to make it the right temp to feed. It will take a few times to get it right, thats ok. I use a digital thermometer to read temp.

Good luck!!!

[Ringneckmom]

Thanks Mikaela.
I forgot to mention about using a digital thermometer to see what the temp was.

Age ? I really can't remember. I would say as long as he is eating and gaining then whatever age you want to use would fine.

I am curious as to why you got one at such an early age? Did you want to do this?

[Mikaela]

Thats my concern, may we have more history?

You said 'someone gave it to you' and mentioned a breeder.

More history would help us understand more of what we are dealing with. I was floored when I opened that pic. I thought we were dealing with an 8 wk old IRN. Like mine when I got him. He may have been 10-12 here TOPS.

[angelisis]

hi everyone. thanks so much for the posts

@ Mikaela. when i read your post i sort of got the feeling you were indeed talking about an older bird that is why i posted the picture. :)
I am glad i did now because it has helped.
thankyou both so much for what you have said it has assured me a lot I was getting really anxious.
here is some history you asked for. the breeder has two pairs of IRN's and i get the picture from reading your forum and how I am with animals in general that while he enjoy's his birds they are not tame, he breed's them for a hobby then either gives the chicks away (aka mine) or sells them. he seems to know his stuff as far as he can look after the birds and seems to from what he tells me looks after them well (he has a temp controlled room for the chicks, heat pads etc etc) but i really think he does it as a hobby.
the reason why he gave me mine so young he said was because it was better to get it real young so it bonded with me but in saying that he may have had his hands full and wanted to palm off a cppl. I did not tell you all that i have another chick as well, one week or so he says. older than mine that has all it's feathers but can not walk properly yet and just wants to hide, it is just deciding now it seems it is so over being hand fed formula wich stands to reason from your initial post Mikaela, the older bird is doing what you say, however that is a mute point as my aunty an experienced bird person is going to take it tomorrow because i can not and did not want two birds but he told me he gave it to me to keep mine warm. which stands to reason, the bigger bird is snuggling up with mine and doing it's job.
anyway thats how i wound up with a bird so young. A great regret it would seem from the things i have read here and stuff i have read on the internet. do not get me wrong I am not at all concerned by trying my darnest to get this little baby the best of everything to survive and spend the time i need to see it become a happy healthy and clever little IRN but I so wished now the man would have left it with it's mummy a little longer. seems to me it was a little irrasponsiable to give a chick so young, even if he had the best of intentions.
as far as keeping in touch with the breeder, I know it would be good to call him if any hassels with my new baby should arise or I could call my aunt but i would rather ask here if i can because 1. the breeder may not be able to help with the issues i might have as i want to have a tame IRN not one in a cage to look at.
2. although my aunt has raised many birds/parots, I could call her anytime so there is no problem there. but I will come here too.:)
thanks again for you help. i will update soon no doubt or be back with more ?????
thank you so much.
p.s I will buy a digital themometor today.
p.p.s I am only going from memory and he said my little baby was about 5 -6 weeks old. sorry guys but if you want i could call him to get exact date when he popped from the egg. just let me know.
:)

[Ringneckmom]

Honestly, the age to me does not make any difference. Unless you just want to know the hatch date for celebrating Birthdays etc.

I will say that it is a complete rumour about having to hand feed a bird for it to bond with you. I have several birds that I did not feed and they are totally bonded to me. I do think it is easier to handle most birds if they have been hand fed, but you do not have to do it for them to bond.

It sounds like he just didn't want to be bothered. I used to breed for a hobby also and I always hand fed my babies before they were even offered for sale. I think it just depends on what the person wants to do and how much responsibility they care to take on. A bird raised by its parents can still be hand tamed, but it is very difficult to do and sometimes it never happens.

You can hand feed a bird, but it is definitely more complicated than most people seem to think. It is better if they have learned from being with an experienced handfeeder in the case of complications.

Two birds together will help with warmth, but if you provide the proper warmth to them then they can be raised alone. I have raised several single chicks with no problem. I would normally put in a tiny stuffed animal with them so that they could curl up next to it and sleep. As long as you make sure they are warm enough they should be ok. If you see them shivering or tightly balled up then they need more warmth. If they are spread out and panting then they are too hot.

I will be glad to help as much as possible, just let me know if you have any other questions.

[irlgirl]

just noticed your baby very cute is it an albino? if it is you may not know if it is m/f if not dna tested. Because they dont get a ring being albino. Goodluck with the hand feeding, you have come to the right place for help.