my cockatiel is a month and a half old. I’m feeding her three meals a day of 10/15 ml of A21. She always seems dissatisfied with the food, after I ignore her for a while she stops crying but if I interact with her she starts again. Play a bit with the panic ear and if he offers her a courgette, he tastes it and takes a few bites every now and then. Do you think I’m doing well? Is it normal for her to cry so much?
Hi,
Cockatiels are known for this – more than other parrots it seems. But if you think about it, in the wild, this chick is still in the nest and one parent is there with the chicks. When the parents move around, the chicks know food is coming so they beg. You have to be careful not to handle a young chick too much. When it begs, it’s probably best to stop the handling and let the chick sleep. You can start leaving foods in the container for the chick to start exploring. You should offer a variety of foods, usually before each feeding. You will throw away a lot, but this is the best way for a chick to learn to eat. Offer cooked rice with mixed veggies, served warm, some thickened formula is a small dish, warmed, some pellets – soaked now, but soon you can offer dry and add a dish of water – once the bird is in a cage. A small amount of cooked egg is OK at this age, and a small amount of millet spray. But you must be careful not to offer much millet – and no loose seed – or this is all the bird will want to eat. We do offer a foraging diet that is balanced just like a pellet, but it contains whole human grade seeds with the hulls removed. A nutritionally balanced binder is added, so the bird gets complete nutrition in every bite. You can crumble these Nutri-Berries to begin with while the bird is leaning to eat. Put this variety of foods in the cage before each feeding, and leave the room where the chick can’t see or hear you. Wait about an hour, then feed the chick. Eventually the chick will start to self feed, and will eat less and less formula. You will stop the middle feeding and then the morning or evening and sometime after 8 weeks of age, the chick will reject the formula because it is full from self feeding. Do not force the chick to wean – they wean at different rates. Most will wean between 8 – 12 weeks, but some take a bit longer. While it is important not to force weaning, it is also important to encourage weaning by giving the chick the alone time with the variety of foods to explore.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
