Monday, November 2, 2009

Weaning Babies


The easiest "starter" food for baby parakeets is spray millet. Fuchsia is now sharing a cage with other babies who were reared by their parents. They all have spray millet available, as well as Petamine breeding formula because it has a soft powder mixture that may make it easier to eat. Typical parakeet seed is also present.

Several water sources are also in place. I have two cups of water and two bottles hanging on cage sides. Smart youngsters will find everything they need, but I have one that seems slow to mature and want to make finding water and food easy. Although all the others learned to eat right on time, one had to go home to his parents twice in the past week because he wasn't eating on his own and begged the other babies to feed him. They didn't.

Watch your babies closely to be sure they're eating. If not, you may need to put them back with their parents and wait a few days before taking them away again. Sometimes you will know it's time to remove them when their father starts chasing them instead of feeding them.

Most often, however, you will see them in the feed dish eating and leaving seed hulls behind. Empty hulls are a sign that they are successfully eating on their own.

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