Hand-raising Smarter Birds

Many people wonder how to get better quality parrot-chicks? The answer is really in the good genes, proper nutrition and the fact that you get what you pay for!

In the USA and many parts of Europe, many breeders will not sell parrot chicks until they are weaned - i.e. self-feeding! In Singapore however, you will find that many people prefer to buy still hand-feeding birds. This is in the belief that the chick will bond better to their owners. However there are risks! Inexperienced owners often do not feed their baby birds enough or often enough. The most common cause is often that they are afraid of overfeeding or the owners give up after just a few gulps because the chicks do not seem to eat much. The reason the chick seems not very hungry can often be traced to the handfeeding formula becoming too cold! It must be about 39 - 42 deg C!

Poor nutrition at the stage when there the chick is undergoing an accelerated growth spurt often results in not so clever birds - I must make clear that this is just my personal opinion - although I have raised ot helped raised several hundred lovebird, cockatiels and parrot chicks. This I suspect is because the brains are growing at the same time as the feathers! For birds, feathers make the difference betwen life and death! Hence, I suspect since growing feathers are a higher priority, less nutrition goes to growing brains when there is not enough nutrients!

Buying baby birds from large-shipments has a similar risk! Unscrupulous "parrot factories" often pull the chicks out of the nest just before shipping to save food and labour costs! Notice some shops will use cheaper stuff like commercial baby cereals which costs much less that proper parrot handfeeding formula. Also note that parrots cannot digest the lactose in milk products!

Final word, choose whom you buy your baby birds from carefully! Spend as much time interacting with your baby bird just as good parents do with their babies - their kids often grow up smarter!

Rupert

Wow Rupert,
Wonderful piece of information

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