Anyone out there with any expierence mothering baby cockatoos? My first walk around after getting over the flu I found a young bird. We've been feeding it with a syringe as it won't eat solids. I'm concerned it's not getting enough tucker and tried giving the bird to wildlife rescue. Unfortunately, they are flat out at the moment and have no room for him/her. Help!!
Thanks, Ann
New baby sulper crested cockatoo mother needs advice
Bit surprised that they haven't put you on the right track since you're doing their job for them.
A good interim food is cooked rolled oats (no milk) and something like weatbix. If you bend up an old teaspoon into a sort of pointed shovel you can shovel the food in.
Longer term there's a product you can buy called Granivore which is a balanced mix of nutrients suitable for it.
TB, Scott picked granivore and parrot pellets up from the vet. We've been mixing granivore with banana and syringing it in. I'm just concerned because he is not eating solids. And he's looking a bit sad around the neck where he's plucking his feathers.
I can't fault wildlife rescue. Our area about 70% stateforest, national parks and reserves. Lots of injured animals including cassowaries, echidneas, wallabies and sugar gliders. As volunteers they can only do so much. The lady I spoke to was going to try and get on to a bird guy but I haven't heard from him yet.
Thanks for the advice :) Ann
Depends a lot on what's wrong with it Ann. Nature's mould isn't perfect, not everything that comes out of it is fit for survival. Years back some friends found a young Sulphur-crested without feathers. It's a reasonably common condition. They knitted a jumper for it and it had a happy though featherless life with them. One day it fell off its perch and damaged itself fatally. I really missed it, such a character, like all cockatoos. But just the way it raced around all bald with its jumper on made it even more comical. You really need to find out why it was in the state you found it.
TB, you're spot on about that. The wildlife rescue lady said that even if he died at least it was in a loving environment with food in his tummy. The alternative could have been being eaten alive by green ants. Ann
Nature doesn't waste anything, it's the biggest recycler of all.
So is my veggie garden :) Ann
The bird is lucky she (or he) found you! I've helped to hand-raise several parrots. As I recall, they often do not eat solid foods for... some weeks. But do fine on specially formulated baby bird food fed through a syringe. Kaytee makes a hand-feeding formula for baby birds, also a weaning formula for adolescent birds. I have some with me here in Hanoi in case my (adult) African Grey gets sick.
Good that your baby is taking food through a syringe: it may be someone's lost pet (hand-raised baby) rather than a wild bird. If wild, it must be pretty overwhelming to suddenly be with a bunch of humans. Plucking is a way of dealing with stress. Unless very young, wild birds often don't do well in captivity. Lots of fluids are important, including fruit juices. Good luck!
I do not mean to butt in, but I am a retired breeder of exotic birds and I was told to check in here to see if I could be of some help. If you still need any assistance please feel free to contact me at JBerger431@aol.com. I will be happy to help you if I can.
Pogonantha: Any update on your little bird? I hope the little fellow is eating and doing well.
When we were on vacation years ago my husband bought a young Indian Ringed Neck Parrot from a pet store. It was a rainy day and we were bored and out for a drive, and happened to come across a pet store and decided to go in and "just look" ... yeah, right! My husband ended up buying a young Indian Ring Neck Parrot. We bought the large cage and all the toys, seed and trimmings! I kept noticing that the seed didn't seem to be disappearing. Come to find out the poor little fellow was starving ... it was too young to even be away from it's mama. My husband called the pet store which was across the other side of the state from us. They told him the babies were all cracking seed but obviously that was not true as our little guy was not eating. We went to a local pet shop and purchased syringes and supplies ... don't remember what the food was but my hubby fed that little bird with the dropper/syringe thing for quite awhile and it did eventually begin eating fruits, vegetables and seed on it's own.
Feather plucking can be caused by parasites, environmental issues as well as stress. Our bird went through a phase of plucking. He didn't have any parasites on him, the veterinarian couldn't figure out what was wrong and luckily it wasn't excessive and didn't last for long. We figured he must have been stressed about something. We had him for about eight years and we both began working long hours and didn't have the time to spend with him so eventually gave him to a lady who raised birds. She had a female Ring Neck and the two birds became mates and produced a clutch of babies.
I hope your rescued baby Cockatoo is happy and doing well. I know nature has ways we don't always understand but I commend you for taking in that little one and hope he/she survived and is doing well.
Thank you everyone for asking. He is eating off my hand 3-4 times a day and seems to be happier and healthier. At night I put him in a cage but during the day I lift off the top of the cage and stick in a few shoots of bamboo which he hangs out on and chews. Occasionally he hangs in the bananas by the creek bank. Here's a few photos. Can anyone guess his age? Warm Regards, Ann
Back end of Shaggy. You can see he hasn't all his feathers.
Hangin out
What a scrawny looking little beggar! But he's got loads more feathers than the one I mentioned earlier. Looks like he's settling in well, be interesting to see if he manages to get all his feathers. I'm not good at guessing age (not even for people). If you're at the foot of the mountains it would get pretty cold at night during the dry season. You'll have to knit him a little jumper like those friends of mine did for theirs.
TB, it can get down to 6 but only once or twice a year. I pull his cage in with us in the house as the current temp cage isn't python proof.
I know he's a bit scrawny but he's on baby parrot mush and I'm like an old Italian cane farmer's wife going "Eat! Eat!" all the time.
In regard to knitting, I'm afraid I'm barely domesticated and don't indulge in the woolly arts :)
Ann
Well done Ann! He is looking beautiful!
Ann, I do not mean to butt in as I said before, but being the old bird lover that I am, I just must ask if you have weighed your little baby?
It is so important to be sure they are gaining the weight they need to stay healthy and once a chick is old enough to pick at food, a variety of soft foods such as beggies, fruits, soaked monkey biscuits can ge placed in small dished in the cage. They will generally not eat sufficient quantities to sustain themselves and hand-feediung should continiue until they can maintain their weight on their own.It is sometimes helpful to steam the veggies in the microwave such as sweet potatoes, carrots or even apple. Be sure you do not offer pits or seeds except those from melons. Others may be toxic. Soaked monkey biscuits (warmed in the microeave, bread, cheerios or fruits loops also are a fun thing to feed and they love them.
Larger birds take from two to five weeks to wean completely from hand-feeding.
A chick is completely weaned when it no longer requirs any hand=feeding to maintain its weight. Tbeh should be conitored closely for 7-10 days after the last hand feeding. They whould then gain a little weight and level off. The chick must eat enough to maintain the weight to be considered weaned. If they loose weight, you may have to offer some hand feeding formjula once a day to stimulate their appetite. Neverr fill the crop to capacity during weaning of they may start to vomit and regress aback to formula.
When they begin to stretch their wings and prepare for their first flight about the same time they are weanedss they will need to be caged or wing clipped so they will remain where you want them. They need a perch low in the cage and food bowls should be placed on thea bottom of the cage at first so they learn to balance.
Thought this may help. I am not good at guessing age but i would say maybe this bird is somewhere about 3 or 4 months old. That is a guess with what I can see. It could be older but a vet would be able to tell you better. You will need to have the bird checked soon as well to be sure he is healthy. You are doing a very good job of keeping him alive.
Jenn, thank you.
JB, You aren't butting in, I need all the help I can get and I appreciate you sharing your knowledge. I am hand feeding him 4 times a day and occasionally weighing him, but I should do it in a more organized fashion. He doesn't seem very interested in seed. There is loose seed, sunflower seeds ans a seed ball in the cage but I think he picks at the ball out of boredom more than anything else. Is there anything I can do to encourage him snacking on seed in between meals? Do you think 4 times a day is adequate for a bird his age? He weighs .6k Is that seriously underweight?
I was actually hoping to release him when he can fly. I only found him about 200 meters from our house and hear mom and dad squawking constantly. I'm happy if he comes in for a feed and then does his own thing but I'm not sure how feasible that is.
I had contacted wildlife rescue but I may just see if the Vet discounts rescued wildlife. I know they do alot of work on Cassowaries in our area.
Anyway better go check on my new baby!! Ann
It is so difficiult to even guess what the proper weight of the chick is because I am still not sure how old it is. It is more important to know if a chick is in good weight for its body size. There is no correct weight for a particiular type of chick at any given stage of development. That is why we monitor our chicks from day one when they hatch. Since we have missed that part of this chick it will be almost impossible to even guess. If you can examine the bird, locate the keel of the breast. This is the bone like line that runs up and down the middle of the breast. The breast muscles are attached to both sides of the keel. Ideally they shoud be well rounded with NO indentations. If you draw a line from the left side of the chick, over the keel and across the right side it should look like a U not a V. If the breast is not plump and rounded the line will tend to be very sharp at the keel giving the apprearance of a V. If the baby had not been well-hydrated from the first day, the chest will appear a bit thin.
When I wanted to make a baby eat more grain, I would put it on a flat paper plate on the bottom of the cage and mix cheerios with it and maybe cut up an apple or throw in a grape. They love to forage because that is natural. You must be so careful the bottom of your cage is clean so they do not eat bacteria when you do this. In a clean cage you can put all the feed on the bottom and let them play and eat. I used grates but you must be careful they do not get their feet caught if they are not used to a grate.
If you are still feeding four times a day, that baby may be younger than we expect, or it just is a "Miss Piggy" who loves the formula. If I were you I would start to keep a record for your own use. Date, Weight, amt of formula each time fed. It should decrease as the chick eats more veggies, etc. Throw some broccoli on the bottom the cage also if you have it. How many K's are there in a Gram. We weigh our birds on a gram scale. Sorry, I am not up on the K's. JB
P..S. If you are going to let the bird go when you are finished weaning it, you need to feed it the kind of food it will be finding in the wild before it gets there. Think like a bird.
JB, I'm originally from NYC so I understand your conversion dilemma :) There are 1000 grams in a kilo so he's about 600 grams. He used to be a v but has developed a u shape. Thanks for the food advice. I'll try it in the morning when he hasn't been fed or let out and maybe bored and hungry. Luckily, have some fresh broc in the fridge. One more question please. Do you think I should worm him yet? In the Tropics worms are a fact of life and our entire family and dogs get wormed regularly. It's part of the joys of tropical living. Thanks again for all the great advice!! Ann
Oh my God, I have not a clue about the worming. I never wormed a bird in my 10 years of breeding. Dogs, Cats, yes, but never a bird. No need of course. I think you are doing a wonderful job with your little one. If you want to know more about me when you have time, check out my website www.JBsbirdsandmore.com...I also have an ebay store that has nothing you would want but if you want to see what people in NYC area buying check out http://stores.ebay.com/JBs-Birds-and-More Enjoy. 600 grams sounds good but again, I have no idea how old he is. Do the V and U thing and you will be just fine.
Enjoy. Hugs to you all. JB