How To Handfeed Parrots

A number of people contact us each year to purchase an unweaned baby. On one hand we are very protective of our babies and discourage the average pet bird owner from attempting it. We tell them that anyone can handfeed if everything goes right. Experience tells you when something is not right and correct and quick action can save the life of the baby.

On the other hand, a wonderful breeder took Debra and I under her wings years ago and mentored us through the handfeeding of our first bird, Kiwi. Every handfeeder has to start with their first bird.

In order to explain what handfeeding entails, we created a handfeeding handbook a few years ago. This handbook explains the minimum requirements of handfeeding and touches on the basic equipment, stages of development of baby parrots, nutritional issues, temperature and humidity, etc. We published it on our website, J-Birds.com, to educate well meaning customers in the complexities as well as to provide a basic how-to for someone that has a baby and has not been properly trained.

We have had compliments as well as criticisms but the majority of responses have been positive. On one hand, some people feel that if you publish a document such as this it will encourage people to try to handfeed. On the other, several respected bird people have told us that some people are going to buy babies at bird shows anyway and our handbook may have saved many young parrots lives.

- posted by J-Birds @ 9:51 AM |